Saariselkä slope angle map
Saariselkä is a resort village in Inari, Finnish Lapland, at the gate of Urho Kekkonen National Park, among low, rounded fells, the open treeless hills of Lapland. Kaunispää, Iisakkipää and Kiilopää are almost entirely uncoloured on the slope angle map, and the steepest classes appear in two gorges, Rumakuru and Pääsiäiskuru.
How steep is the terrain around Saariselkä?
Kaunispää (438 m), Iisakkipää (about 454 m) and Kiilopää (546 m) are almost entirely uncoloured on the map; Kiilopää shows only short sections of 20–24°. What colour there is lies on the south and east sides of Kaunispää, the east of Iisakkipää and the west and north of Ahopää. Around Pääsiäiskuru, about a sixth is coloured, none of it on the west side, and the steepest class is 40–44°. Around the Rumakuru day-use hut, about a quarter is coloured, the largest share west of the hut, where about a fifth is 30° or steeper and isolated spots are 45° or steeper. Around Sokosti, the park's highest fell, about 37 km to the south-east, about a third is 20° or steeper.
Planning a trip to Saariselkä: zones, access rules and slope angle
The pistes are on Kaunispää and Iisakkipää; about 200 km of maintained ski tracks link Saariselkä, Kiilopää and Kakslauttanen. Marked circular trails lead to Iisakkipää, the Rumakuru huts, Ahopää and around Kiilopää; Metsähallitus says this zone has the most visitors on marked trails. Most of the national park is wilderness with no marked trails; in its recreation zone, camping is allowed only at huts, lean-tos and campfire sites, and walking on ski tracks is prohibited. At Pääsiäiskuru, about 2 km from the park gate, and at Rumakuru, 6 km from the village, the map shows the top classes directly beside uncoloured terrain.
Where to check the avalanche forecast for Saariselkä
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) publishes an avalanche forecast in winter, from December or January to late April, for a region it calls Saariselkä; the region's boundary is not published. The forecast covers unmanaged natural slopes, not the groomed pistes on Kaunispää and Iisakkipää. Metsähallitus warns of possible avalanche risk in the park's ravines and recommends viewing Rumakuru from a distance, and FMI advises against moving in a gorge or at the foot of a slope, where avalanche snow collects.
- Finnish Meteorological Institute: avalanche forecast
- Luontoon.fi (Metsähallitus): avalanche safety for hikers and skiers
- Luontoon.fi: Urho Kekkonen National Park instructions and rules
This map is not an avalanche forecast or a safety assessment: base your decisions on the official forecast, the weather and what you see on site.
How to read the slope classes
The colours start at 20°; the six classes are listed below. Terrain with no colour is below 20° or a gap in the source data. The map gives no point values: compare each colour with the legend, and zoom in, because when zoomed out each pixel shows the steepest value in the area it covers.
- 20–24° blue
- 25–29° light green
- 30–34° yellow
- 35–39° orange
- 40–44° red
- ≥45° magenta
Data and grid size
The slope classes are computed from the official elevation model named below, on a 2 m grid. They show terrain shape, not snow, weather or trail conditions.
- Published resolution
- 2 m
- Coordinate system
- EPSG:3067
- Coverage checked
- 2026-10-03
Open Saariselkä on the slope angle map