Some landscapes don’t ask for your attention, they claim it.
The Finnish winter is one of them.

Step inside the Arctic Circle with Ray Mears and Woodlore, and you’ll find yourself in a world where the cold is honest, the forest is ancient, and the sky feels close enough to touch. This is Sami country: a place shaped by reindeer trails, deep snow, and the quiet determination of those who travel through it. The journey is tough, beautiful, and deeply grounding. Equal parts training and transformation.

“In the North, the land strips away everything unnecessary. What’s left is who you really are.” Ray Mears

Breaking the Myth. You Don’t Need to Be an Arctic Warrior

Many believe Arctic travel is only for the seasoned few. That myth melts quickly here. With Woodlore, the Arctic shows its practical side. Whether you’re a veteran explorer or a total beginner, the training builds from essentials upward, layer by layer, just like the clothing that keeps you warm.

You learn the real foundations, how snow behaves, how cold works, how fire feels in winter air. These are skills rooted in nature’s logic, not brute endurance.

“The forest doesn’t judge your experience. It responds to your behaviour.” Ray Mears

Wilderness as Teacher, Rugged Skills in a Mystical Landscape

Days start in the warmth and safety of traditional accommodation, but the real lessons unfold as you venture outward.

You’ll travel through silent, frozen forest, on skis, snowshoes, or simply on foot when the terrain demands it. You’ll build winter shelters, read weather shifts, and shape fire from cold materials. You’ll come to understand why the Sami could navigate this country by instinct and memory. It’s rugged work, but it carries a quiet magic.

Snow absorbs the world’s noise. Pines fracture the wind. And at night, the sky opens like a great, glowing gate. If you are fortunate, the Northern Lights ripple overhead, alive, shifting, ancient.

“Some places speak in colours we don’t see anywhere else. The Arctic sky is one of them.” Ray Mears

Practical Lessons, Deep Changes

This expedition teaches genuine skill: not showpieces, not tricks, the real craft of Arctic travel. But beyond the practical, something internal moves. The cold forces presence. The forest invites humility. The rhythm of work cutting wood, boiling snow, securing camp steadies your mind. In the white silence, self-discovery arrives without ceremony.

“Learn a skill well enough and it becomes a mirror. In the wild, you can’t hide from the reflection.” Ray Mears

A World of Wild Corners, Waiting

Woodlore expeditions, from Arctic forest to desert, jungle, and beyond, are not holidays. They are encounters with raw, beautiful reality. You come away not just trained, but changed, carrying memories forged in cold air and firelight, in shared hardship and quiet wonder, in landscapes that speak in their own ancient languages. And those memories tend to burn bright long after you return home.

Contact one of our expedition and course experts today, find your next adventure with Woodlore.

Email info@raymears.com Call us Tel 01580819668