Program

Don't expect it to be a lazy winter ski-resort holiday!

Below you will find the program, some items are still depending on the weather conditions.

EU Funding

Because the EU funding was appointed to the Arctic Winter Challenge we have put a great deal of effort into compiling the program. Besides typical scouting activities we will have discussions and workshops to discuss for example social issues.

Basecamp

On the outskirts of Rovaniemi lies Paaniemi, a few houses close to Rovaniemi, across the river. In Paaniemi there is a cottage, owned by church which we will use as a base. The cottage lies next to the river, has a sauna and even a dishwasher.

Scouting Cottage

This place is located somewhere in the forest, far away from any civilized object. It takes about an hour on foot to get there, in wintertime you can only get there by ski or snowmobile. This will be the place where we will spend two nights and have some real snow related activities. The cottage itself is part of the program aswell because we will need to be able to keep it warm and enjoy eachothers company. It has no facilities what-so-ever except for a sauna and a nearby lake. Part of the challenge will be living together in the cottage.

Ski

Most of the program has something to do with skiing. Cross-country skiing, or as it is known in Holland, langlaufen. Because of the thick layer of snow walking can be rather difficult, even with special snowshoes. To be able to cover bigger distances we will need to use skies. Don't panic if you've never skied before, you will learn, its all part of the challenge. The only thing we hope you have is the will to learn. We will use forest skies because they are made for the terrain where no one has been before.

Snowmobile

As organisers we will have at least one snowmobile, to drag stuff around and to be able to get from A to B quickly. Depending on the budget and availability we might get one or two more we could use as part of our program. To ride a snowmobile you will need to have proper insurance and a regular driver license.

Evening program

Every evening we cook together, have sauna and have an evaluation of the day and look forward to the next.

Day	Activity	Accomodation
Saturday 24-feb	Finns make final preparations and the Dutch arrive in the late afternoon at the airport. Short introduction of every group member, introduce sauna to the Dutch and get acquainted.	Basecamp
Sunday 25-feb	Introduction, getting to know each other better in the morning. In the afternoon we will have a workshop about surviving in the cold climate. In the evening we will have a discussion about the diffrent scouting systems and how everything is organised. Look for diffrences and similarities.	Basecamp
Monday 26-feb	Main activity of the day is getting to the Scouting cottage, we'll do this by ski and we expect to arrive in the late afternoon. This day we will also have a discussion about social issues within scouting, about alcohol, sex, drugs and religion.	Scouting Cottage
Tuesday 27-feb	Diffrent winter games and activities. Building an Iglu or snowcave. Snow football Snowball fight Snow shoe walking Ice fishing Orienteering Workshop about how distances influence the scale and activity level within scouting.	Scouting Cottage
Wednesday 28-feb	We will leave the cottage and ski to another cottage, even further away. Here we will play the "Survival game". If you are qurious you can read the blog afterwards. We will also have a presentation about the two scouting histories.	Other Scouting Cottage
Thursday 1-mar	The day to head back to basecamp, back at basecamp the Dutch will have the rest of the afternoon to prepare the "Typical Dutch" evening where they will make "boerenkool met worst", play "ganzenbord" and go "koekhappen".	Basecamp
Friday 2-mar	Excursion day: Visit to the Marttiini knife factory. It has a small museum about making knives and quite a nice shop with all kinds of diffrent knives. Arktikum, this is a museum about life in the arctic region, about sami people and many more things related to the north. A must see if you have been to Rovaniemi. Visit to Napapiiri, or Arctic Circle where Santa Claus has his office. You will also find the Santa Claus post office here and eventhough cristmas will still be a long time away, you will hear Christmas carrols. Besides the Santa stuff there are also a few good souvenir shops. In the afternoon we will visit Santa Claus village. The evening is free to spend in town.	Basecamp
Saturday 3-mar	Already the last full day, which starts in the late morning and will have a nice puzzle tour around the city. For the evening we have planned a campfire, with exchange of campfirehabits and a final evaluation.	Basecamp
Sunday 4-mar	Departure day, we won't take care of you anymore ;) Flight leaves early in the morning.	-