Unhola
Memories from Finland
In Finnish, ‘Unhola’ is a poetic word for the state of being completely forgotten. During our trip, despite the boulders being climbed on before and the woods being walked and foraged in, everywhere had an untouched feel to it, as though you were the first person there. This was a refreshing change from more ‘classic’ destinations I’ve opted to visit in the past, and a lack of written information or posts online slowed things down and allowed more playful discovery.
Falu Red (Fâ-le) - Is the colour of the paint commonly used on the wooden cottages and barns in Scandinavia. The name comes from the city of Falun in Sweden, where residual sludge from the copper mines is combined with linseed oil and rye flour to make a strong anti-weathering paint. During our time in Finland, most of the rural buildings we came across were painted in this hardy red, which sat nicely among the autumnal colours. Despite the absence of obvious copper mines, granite was abundant. In some places, speckled silver, others a rough orbicular red, and by the sea, often so smooth they might never be climbed.
The crags here are far apart and not densely populated with lines. It is a common practice in the Finnish climbing community to avoid overpacking the crags, stick to obvious lines, and avoid link-ups. The areas aren’t large, and with few climbs, you tend to travel with a specific climb in mind, making a pilgrimage to a particular boulder. I found that this gave the climbs more respect and a deeper connection; I would remember them far longer than tearing around a 30-boulder circuit in Font or Switzerland, and likely forgetting a few weeks later.
The surroundings massively enhanced the ‘pilgrimage’ and overall experience of climbing here. The area around Helsinki is incredibly flat and thick with dense forest. At first, it seems an unlikely place for any climbing, and even as you’re walking along the forest paths, it feels like you shouldn’t find any rock. The dense evergreen and birch make it feel claustrophobic, but now and then, you reach a clearing or patch where the spruce are young and fluffy and the light comes in. These patches get more sun and are vibrant with colour and flowers. The forest is broken up by granite island-like plateaus, covered in mosses and lichens. The path changes from a dirt track to granite pavement between the moss, then back to the trees. Occasionally, you pass a marshy patch or pool reflecting the amber leaves. The rocks are camouflaged by moss and dappled light through the trees, and only appear when you are a few metres away.
In the woods, the boulders are more angular, with steep faces and sharp arêtes, with trees and shrubs growing out of the cracks and breaks. The rocks make a great plant pot. Climbs often take some cleaning and preparation as they quickly return to nature. Some felt eliminate based on moss; there were likely more holds under the green carpet, but cleaning was kept to a minimum. Closer to the sea, there is an entirely different feel. It is more open, with rounded rocks and fewer holds. They sit on the shoreline overlooking the sea inlets with fishermen and kids on jet skis. The sea is a murky grey/green and very low in salinity, which allows the nature around it to be as vibrant as it is.
Finland isn’t your typical bouldering destination, and most people associate it with ‘Burden of Dreams’, but the area offers so much more, fun and engaging climbing at all levels. We did, however, spend a lot of time under BoD! It was great to watch Aidan deep in his projecting process, and I learned a lot about the small details and intricacies you can begin to focus on when you try something so close to your limit. The holds were far too small for me, so I spent my days at Lappnor foraging and taking pictures. Aside from foraging for climbs, the mushroom foraging in Finland was the best I’ve ever experienced. We found kilos of chanterelles, winter chanterelles, and hedgehog mushrooms… I even found some lion’s mane, which was cool!
At the start of the trip, everything felt very green and fresh, but over the two weeks we were there, the leaves were turning golden and beginning to fall. Towards the end of our stay, each morning there was a harsh frost and a few days of light snow. The wind from the Baltic Sea was, well, baltic, and we were glad to have packed extra layers and have the sauna at the apartment. Aidan was even looking into buying a gas heater! We didn’t meet many local climbers, but a certain duo, Juho and Rob, stood out. On one of the coldest days, we were all complaining and struggling to get going at the crag when these two turned up. Rob was sporting a thin military surplus jacket, and Juho a leather jacket. Despite shivering all day, they turned down the offer of any extra layers as they were “training” and converting their fat stores to warmer brown fat. A few days later, we met them at the crag again, this time both clad in down jackets… It was great hanging out with these guys, and they seemed genuinely excited to have some visitors. Their help with finding boulders, conditions, and general recommendations was priceless.
One of the main boulders we had come to try was ‘The Globalist’ put up by Nalle Hukkataival in 2009. This was the climb I was most keen on during the trip, but after spending three days in the car and on the ferry, I picked up a hamstring tweak early on an aggressive heel hook. This climb was very heel-heavy, so I had to sit it out. Shortly after we arrived, a hunter turned up, who wanted us to move on so he could use the rock for target practice! I had a tricky conversation with him over Google Translate, asking him to try not to hit the rock. He just chuckled and said he couldn’t be sure, but thankfully, it allowed Aidan enough time to get it done. Hopefully, the holds are still there for me next time!
Aside from these more well-known climbs, we sampled countless beautiful boulders in our two-week trip, which are better shown in our mini series on Wedge. We felt fortunate to have had the good weather that we did and managed to climb nearly every day, but as we left, a thick fog set in over Helsinki, which at that time of year can linger for weeks without any sunshine. We all had a fantastic time in Finland, and I rated it so much that I would rather go back there than return to somewhere like Ticino or Fontainebleau. If you're planning a bouldering trip, consider swapping the usual for these quiet, ancient forests! Although I think pastries trump the pickled herring and liquorice.
amazing!
I loved watching Sam's videos of this trip, getting to read about it from your perspective is even better!