A buoyant border

text by Riitta Saarinen photos by Antti Saraja

A buoyant border

BY RIITTA SAARINEN PHOTOS BY ANTTI SARAJA AND JAAKKO HEIKKILÄ - Studio Blue

Lapland's last great free-flowing river, the Tornio, winds through dramatic rapids and peaceful pools. Renowned beauty spots along its route include the tradition-rich Kukkolankoski falls and the Aavasaksa fell, where people have gathered for centuries to greet the midnight sun.

The Tornio river- Tornionjoki- marks what has been called the world's most peaceful border. For two centuries, it has both separated and linked Finland and Sweden.

More than 500 kilometres long, the River Tornio is one of Europe's last major rivers still flowing freely. The Tornio originates from the deep Lake Tornio near Kiruna, Sweden. The waterway is renowned as the spawning ground of whitefish and salmon, and the area is thus frequented by fishing enthusiasts. Nature enthusiasts wander the web of hiking trails around the river.

Among the best-known tourist attractions along the river's route is the Aavasaksa fell in Ylitornio. Around Midsummer, the flat-topped mountain offers marvellous views of the midnight sun and the river valley landscape that spreads out below it. Indeed, Aavasaksa and the Tornio River Valley are considered to be among Finland's national landscapes.

A walk in the woods

Aavasaksa is surrounded by a network of first-rate hiking trails, their lengths ranging from less than half a kilometre to four kilometres. Along the paths, there are shelters and lookout points complete with benches. Wooden duckboard walkways carry explorers across the most challenging parts of the trails, while trailside signs offer factoids of local history and nature. In the late summer, patches of wild blueberries provide free snacks.  From the top of the fell, between pine trees whose bushy branches take on dramatic shapes, an explorer can take in sweeping views across large swaths of northern Finland and Sweden. In the panorama, the River Tornio curls like a blue ribbon through the valley, punctured by a border bridge; the Swedish town of Övertorneå is also visible. A view of the corresponding Finnish town of Ylitornio, meanwhile, can be seen from Luppio Hill on the Swedish side.  Curving around the northern and eastern sides of Aavasaksa is the River Tengeliö, which flows into the Tornio. The very steep slopes on the eastern side of the fell are popular with climbers. Aavasaksa's café serves visitors from spring to late September, and even during the winter on request. During the summer, the 13-metre high observation tower is open around the clock. There is also a more accessible observation deck near the café for those who have difficulty getting around.

Nightless nights

About a century ago, noted Finnish photographer and author J.K. Inha wrote of Aavasaksa: "No other northerly landscape has such an ancient and widespread renown as that mountain by the River Tornio, where people gather from near and far to observe the midnight sun."  Located approximately 115 kilometres from the Arctic Circle, Aavasaksa is the southernmost place in Finland where the sun does not set at the Summer Solstice (June 21 this year). The Tornio River Valley was the main focus of Lapp tourism before domestic air travel became common, thanks to good transport links that made it easier to reach than other parts of Lapland.

Aavasaksa's fame spread in the 1730s, when French scientist Pierre Louis Maupertuis explored the area. He was seeking evidence for his theory that the earth was not perfectly round, but rather slightly flattened near the poles. Mapertuis's travel books described the gorgeous landscapes of Aavasaksa and the Tornio River Valley, as well as the lives of the locals. In the summer of 1799, Italian explorer Giuseppe Acerbi made the same pilgrimage, and his writings further increased interest in the mountain. Among others who came to the Tornio River Valley to enjoy the midnight sun was Sweden's King Karl XI, who visited in 1694. The Russian Tsar Alexander II was expected to visit in 1882, and the Imperial Lodge was built for him. The Tsar didn't make it, but the hunting lodge still stands on Aavasaksa.

Wild white water

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While Aavasaksa offers peace and tranquillity, the lively rapids of Kukkolankoski, about 70 kilometers from Aavasaksa, are quite the opposite. Kukkolankoski lies 14 kilometres inland from the twin border town of Tornio and Haparanda, where the River Tornio reaches the Gulf of Bothnia. Kukkolankoski is the river's largest and best-known rapids, and indeed Finland's biggest free-flowing falls. Over three kilometres of wild water, the river drops 14 metres in altitude. Here Risto Kantola organises river rafting safaris that last from three hours to a full day.

"From the raft, you can admire the scenery in two countries, including fells, riverbank meadows and sandbanks. You can even go swimming while watching what the Swedish King's subjects are doing on the opposite bank," he says. Rafters can also catch a perch themselves and later grill it on an open fire, or request for a separate sauna raft to be towed along. Those with a taste for thrills can try to ride the rapids in a rubber boat.
Kantola's activity services are popular with foreigners and Finns alike. Some come with groups of friends or family, others as corporate guests. Besides shooting the rapids, Kantola arranges guided tours of local villages and fishing trips. Larger groups can bathe in the sauna and stay overnight at the atmospheric Pohjolan Pirtti lodge (Nordic House)  (http://www.nordicsafaris.com/en/nordic-safaris.html

Secrets of the lipponet

The migratory whitefish swim up the River Tornio to spawn, battling their way upstream as far as Aavasaksa. At Kukkolankoski rapids, there are about 20 nooks and crannies where the whitefish rest during their strenuous ascent.  The village of Kukkola is renowned for a traditional style of fishing in which fishermen stand on a sawhorse above the water and use a landing net called lippo to catch the migratory fish; it has been practiced here since at least the 17th century. The nets, hanging from six-metre poles, must be dragged near the rocks but not touch the river bottom. Experienced lippo men such as Juhani Hannu know just where the whitefish lurk.

"The exact location of these resting places is passed down from one generation to the next. I've caught a three-kilo whitefish with one of these nets, but the record is a salmon of nearly 17 kilos," says Hannu.

"They catch bigger whitefish on the Swedish side because the river is deeper on that side," he explains. "But over there the locals no longer do the lippo netting; instead they've sold the fishing rights to outsiders."

After whitefish season ends in Kukkola, local fishermen use traps to catch burbot, a cod-like Nordic fish, and lamprey, a strange creature that is neither an eel nor a fish. This summer, fishing for salmon with scoop nets will again be allowed in the River Tornio, but only during a limited period and with heavy-duty nets.

Time-honoured delicacy

Busily turning whitefish on wooden stakes over an open fire, Kimmo Auno demonstrates that this is truly a form of handicraft. He has little time to stand around as he continually checks on whether or not the fish is cooked. During the summer season, which runs from late May to mid-September, Auno grills whitefish seven days a week, two or three times a day, either at the Myllynpirtti café next to the Kukkolankoski rapids or at his own fish shop.  Whitefish on a spit is Kukkolankoski's trademark delicacy. Fresh-caught migratory whitefish are scaled, scored with a sharp knife and stuck on a stake to flame-broil. When prepared to perfection, they are seasoned with salt water. Grilled whitefish is always eaten using one's fingers, beginning from the tail end.

"The only way to learn this is by doing it," says Auno. "I have to make sure that the tail doesn't burn and that the back part isn't undercooked. Whitefish are only turned once while they're roasted but you have to get just the right angle," he explains as the fire shoots sparks toward the ceiling. Auno learned to use a scoop net when he was 12, with his grandfather standing behind him. His first attempt ended with the net getting caught on a rock and ripping.   "There are some who go fishing and others who actually catch fish," says Auno with a chuckle.

The silver lining

Also busy at Kukkolankoski in summer is silversmith Jorma Smeds who, as his name indicates, comes from a long line of smiths (smed is the Swedish word for "blacksmith"). Smeds crafts jewellery, tableware and gift items using the same techniques as his forebears in the 18th century. His Lapp models are based on Sámi jewellery and utensils; among them is even a spoon for drinking spirits. Tornio was an important trading centre in the 1700s, and silver items were made for both locals and the indigenous Sámi who lived further away.

Smeds's Tornio River Valley silverware is often decorated with images of leatherleaf, an evergreen shrub that flowers in the area in early summer. He also makes musical cradle balls, which the natives of Lapland traditionally hung over cribs to protect infants. They are now popular gifts, often bought by grandparents and godparents.

 

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