Santa’s Cabin, Lapland

Santa’s Cabin sits high on a fell in Finnish Lapland at the ski resort of Levi. It is an iconic Christmas location made popular on social media.

Facts

• Distance - 1km

• Difficulty - Ski slope - Black and Red runs

• Time - Sunrise

• Season - Winter

• Elevation - Ski slope

Access

This location is at the Levi ski resort near Kittilä, Finland. It can be accessed in winter by snow shoe hike or by skiing a black and/or red run before going off-piste.

Photo Location

The cabin is off the 11 slope at Levi. As you ski down the slope you will see the cabin on the right. Whilst still above the cabin in elevation, go off-piste to the right and carefully approach the cabin. The balcony can be accessed from the rear of the cabin.

Map

Outline

This cabin is a movie set created for the Finnish Christmas movie ‘Joulutarina’ and is Nicholas’ home, high up on a fell in Lapland. The structure is sturdy and it’s possible to go onto the balcony.

Detail

The nature of the approach when going off-piste varies. Sometimes it’s deep powder, other times it’s ice, with everything in-between. Take care in this area. The view from the slope side gives a background of forests and lakes in the valley below and in deep winter, the trees and indeed the cabin itself can be frozen solid in thick snow and ice because of the weather on the mountain.

What To Bring

Appropriate clothing is a must, and in winter when the daylight hours are short a tripod or Platypod will be of great benefit. Knowledge of how to ski confidently are important for these slopes. Expect it to be busy at certain times because this is a hangout for locals and tourists alike as they ski the slopes of Levi.

Gear

I used an iPhone 12 Pro Max and made adjustments in Adobe Lightroom Mobile for the cover image.

Settings

64mm, 1/60 f/1.6, ISO250

The information in this post is geared around how I got the featured shot, and as such the information may or may not be true to other seasons.