Lapland boosts summer tourism with significant investments in cycling and pumptrack courses

Tourist centers in Lapland are now making significant investments in summer tourism and especially in cycling. New downhill and enduro routes are being opened at a rapid pace. To support summer tourism, undulating and winding pumptrack courses are also being built with varying amounts of investment. The courses allow speed to be pumped by bouncing off the course’s bumps at the right time.

The newest and, at least for now, the most beautiful course in Lapland can be found in Kolari. Jere Löytökorpi, the head of Ylläs Bike Park, is excited about the newly opened course, which cost hundreds of thousands of euros. The course was built and tested by the foreign professional team We Build Parks. Mainly, the course is used for cycling, skateboarding, scooters, or roller skates. It’s completely free for everyone and aims to attract more visitors to the bike park.

Visits to Ylläs Bike Park have been surging in recent years. There are courses for every skill level and a new, more challenging downhill route, Ylläs Air Flow, will be opened in late August. The official opening of the pumptrack will also be celebrated that same weekend.

A pumptrack is soon to become a standard feature in mountain resorts. In Levi, a modular, portable track has been a summer delight for tourists. Soon, a pumptrack will be found in all major mountain resorts in Lapland. Saariselkä is planning a pumptrack as part of the area’s cycling tourism development. The municipality of Pelkosenniemi has secured funding of over 120,000 euros for the construction of the track. The tendering process is ongoing, and construction is expected to be completed by next summer.

The pumptrack phenomenon has been bigger globally and in other parts of Finland for some time now. In Lapland, the first pumptracks were built elsewhere than in mountain resorts. There has been a small children’s pumptrack on the Tornio-Haaparanta border for several years. The first fixed pumptrack in Lapland was built in Pelon Arhma’s activity park in 2022. Now, the demand is for larger and permanent tracks.