Ruka: the back story

About Ruka: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

The idea of skiing on Ruka fell arose in the 1930s, when ‘downhill curve skiing’ reached Finland from Canada. The first slope opened in 1954, and a family business has shaped the resort since the 1970s into one of Finland’s best-loved ski destinations, with a season of more than 200 days.

Curve skiing on the fell

The idea of using Ruka for winter tourism arose in the 1930s, when a new pastime called ‘downhill curve skiing’ came to Finland from Canada; on the unprepared forest slopes, the only curves were the trees skiers swerved to avoid. The first slope, today’s Front Slope, opened in 1954, the first lift followed in 1957, and in 1962 Rukatunturi Oy built Kaltiomaja, the first place to stay and eat.

A family business

In 1970 a chairlift reached the Front Slopes, and in 1971 Juhani ‘Jussi’ Aho, a doctor from Espoo, became the main owner; flights to Kuusamo began in 1974. Rukakeskus has run the slopes since 1973, and after a change of generation in 1999 his children own the company. In 2000 it launched the Ruka MasterPlan, by Ecosign, to grow a year-round, international resort around car-free pedestrian villages and ski-in, ski-out beds.

A fell on the edge of Lapland where the snow arrives first and leaves last.

The longest season

Ruka skis for more than 200 days a year, which the resort says is more than any ski area in the world outside the glaciers. The 2026–27 season runs from 2 October 2026 to 2 May 2027, helped by a First Snow Track of stored snow in the village from mid-October. There are 41 slopes and 22 lifts, a 201-metre vertical and a longest run of 1,300 metres, plus the FIS-rated Ruka Park, the Battery Run mogul course and the Ruka Coaster, the world’s northernmost mountain coaster.

Light in the dark months

Kuusamo does not have a full polar night, the resort explains: in December there are about three hours of daylight, and about five in November and January, but the snow makes winter surprisingly bright and the slopes are floodlit morning and evening. January and February are the best months for the northern lights on clear, cold nights, with Juhannuskallio, Valtavaara and Konttainen good places to look up, and the Polar Night Light festival brightens the village from 15 January to 7 February 2027.

Every budget

Ruka publishes its prices: an adult day ticket costs €58 at the ticket office, online tickets are 20 per cent cheaper until 30 November and 5 per cent cheaper from December, and Ski-Inn guests staying four nights or more save 30 per cent. A new village is growing at Saarua and Ruka Valley, linked by the Village-2-Valley scenic gondola, and the Break Sokos Hotel Ruka is under construction in the village, planned to open for winter 2027–28.

Our advice: come in early winter for the cheapest lift tickets and quiet slopes, or in March and April for long, bright spring days. Keep a day for Oulanka National Park and a reindeer farm, and fly in through Helsinki.

Ruka in brief

From Rukakeskus and Ruka-Kuusamo Tourist Association (ruka.fi), October 2026.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Ruka: the back story before you go.