Winter Starts From Finland - Ruka World Cup Ski Resort First to Open in Northern Europe

KUUSAMO, Finland, October 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ruka ski resort  in Finnish Lapland opened the ski season yesterday, 23^rd October 2012. Ruka has been the first resort in Northern Europe to open the ski slopes during the past 10 years - offering unmatched snow security through the season.  

Ruka is Finland's most popular ski resort located in Northern Finland, only 30 km from Russian border. Ruka area has 25 000 beds, 34 slopes and 21 ski lifts.

FIS World Cup starts at Ruka 30^th November

Ruka has hosted the FIS World Cup Nordic Opening (cross country, nordic combined and ski jump) for 11 years in a row. This year also the FIS Freestyle Mogul Skiing World Cup starts at Ruka 15^th of December. Ruka also hosted 2005 Freestyle World Championships. Ruka is a real World Cup Resort, as it hosts more world cup events during the winter than any other ski resort in the world.

9 months of snow and over 200 skiing days

Ruka is well known among the international World Cup Ski Teams as an early season training location. In November and December the national ski teams from over 30 countries will visit Ruka to train and compete in several World Cup events.

Ruka is also a winter wonderland for families, offering outstanding slopes and dozens of other activities in unspoiled nature. PanParks-sertified Oulanka National Park is just a few kilometres away.  

Ruka summer-skiing slope is normally open until early-June, offering in total 230 days of skiing - only European year-round glaciers can top this.

Unique Ruka pedestrian village is ready

Ruka has undergone several phases of development to become an international holiday resort during last decades. Ruka pedestrian village offers over 1500 visitor beds in several hotels, 15 restaurants, 10 shops and underground parking for 320 cars in a compact mountain village right by the ski area and also the wilderness of Lapland. Guided activities in the nearby Oulanka National Park and the surrounding arctic nature are a great way to experience the area further.

20 % share of international customers targeted to double

Today 20 % of Ruka's visitors are international, mainly from the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The target is to double the share of international visitors to 40 % by 2020.

Links:

• ski.ruka.fi - ski resort pages (http://ski.ruka.fi/frontpage)
• http://www.ruka.fi regional pages (http://www.ruka.fi/winter_eng/)
• Facts about Ruka (http://www.ruka.fi/facts)
• Ruka Webcams (http://ski.ruka.fi/webcams)    
• Ruka Nordic Opening official pages (http://www.nordicopening.com/en/)
• Picture galleries for press:

Further information:

Ville Aho
Sales and Marketing Director
Ruka Ski Resort
GSM +358 400 895987
[email protected]
http://ski.ruka.fi & http://www.ruka.fi

SOURCE Ruka Ski Resort