A Frosty Night in Rovaniemi: Sleep Outdoors for a Night Challenge, January
Throughout 2026, members of our Finland, Naturally team will be taking part in the Sleep Outdoors for a Night challenge. The first turn of the year went to Maarit, who spent a frosty January night on the banks of the Ounasjoki River in Rovaniemi, Lapland. Maarit works at Finland, Naturally as a service provider and customer advisor, and you might come across her at the Finnish Nature Centre Haltia in Nuuksio National Park, either at the information desk or guiding school groups. For her overnight stay outdoors, Maarit chose a place that was both familiar and dear to her: the campsite was set up on the banks of the Ounasjoki River, in the yard of her childhood home.
In many ways, the night was an exciting one for Maarit, as although the location was familiar, she does not have extensive experience of winter camping or sleeping out in the open.
– I usually always sleep in a tent when hiking, Maarit admits.
Maarit did not have to spend the night alone, however, as her spouse joined her. Having a clear backup plan was also important: when staying overnight in the yard at home, it would always be possible to dash indoors to sleep if conditions turned out to be unsuitable.
– In the evening there was bright moonlight and about nine degrees of frost. During the night it warmed up a little, to around minus six degrees, and there was a light snowfall, Maarit recalls.
Maarit’s shelter
– Our shelter was based on the idea of “build a bed using whatever materials you happen to find in your cupboard and around the yard.” So there was no actual shelter as such: we built a bed in the snowdrift and slept out under the open sky, Maarit explains.
Materials:
- 2 pallets
- 1 large plywood sheet
- 2 inflatable sleeping pads (three-season), strapped together
- 1 large two-person sleeping bag (three-season)
- 1 single sleeping bag (three-season) as an emergency option / extra blanket
- 1 tarp set up over the sleeping bag for protection
- 2 pillows
Bedtime
Setting up Maarit’s camp did not go entirely without hiccups, as the practical testing was left until darkness fell.
– We built the bed well in advance during the day, and then in the evening, when it was time to go to sleep, we brought out the sleeping pads and sleeping bags. We only really got to test the comfort and functionality of the bed at bedtime, Maarit says.
– And sure enough, when I was the first to crawl into the sleeping bag, I quickly realised that the whole bed was slightly slanted and I started sliding off it, Maarit recounts.
So, some adjustments were still needed right before going to sleep. According to Maarit, it was not a pleasant surprise to have to crawl back out of a warm sleeping bag into the cold night air, but it simply had to be done.
– We dismantled part of the plywood and pallets and levelled the snow underneath again. After a while of adjusting and jumping on the pallets, wearing only our merino wool base layers, we finally managed to get the bed level.
The most important piece of gear: a three-season double sleeping bag
According to Maarit, by far the most important piece of gear for this particular overnight stay was the three-season double sleeping bag.
– A double sleeping bag makes it much easier to stay warm when two people are sharing the same bag.
The double sleeping bag is a fairly new purchase for Maarit, but she says she has grown very fond of it. The bag has two different sides: a cooler blue side and a warmer red side. This means it can be turned depending on the outside temperature. Even so, it’s always a good idea to have a bit of extra margin.
– We hadn’t yet slept outdoors in winter in this bag, so just to be on the safe side, we also brought along a single sleeping bag, which we opened up as a blanket inside the double sleeping bag. It turned out to be a very effective extra layer of warmth, which I think I pretty much claimed entirely for myself, Maarit laughs.
A double sleeping bag requires either a two-person sleeping pad or individual pads that are fastened together. Maarit says she personally prefers single sleeping pads, as they are easy to take along on solo trips.
– When you have a partner with you, like this time, we use straps designed specifically for connecting the pads together.
Maarit says she was a bit nervous about whether the sleeping pads would stay in place on top of the plywood. In the end, however, there were no issues at all.
Even all of this still wasn’t quite enough.
– In my opinion, the most important piece of gear for sleeping outdoors in general is a proper pillow. I had two pillows with me.
A backup plan just a hundred meters away
Spending the night in your own yard is a great way for anyone to test new ways of sleeping outdoors, different types of shelters, or outdoor sleeping in general. If problems arise, it’s easy to move indoors and then try again another night, wiser from the experience and perhaps better equipped. Maarit and her spouse experienced exactly this during their January night by the Ounasjoki River.
– The sleep wasn’t great, although I don’t really ever sleep particularly well outdoors, Maarit admits.
– I might have had too many clothes on—two sets of merino wool base layers—because at some point during the night the layers started to itch terribly, which disturbed my sleep. In the end, we decided to move indoors to sleep, so we wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the night tossing and turning awake, Maarit reveals.
– The distance indoors was only about a hundred metres, but if getting inside hadn’t been so easy, I’m sure we would have been able to stay at the campsite until morning. This time, comfort won.
What was the best—and the dullest—moment of the overnight stay?
– The best part was doing things together and building the campsite itself. It was fun to try out a new way of building a bed in a snowdrift and seeing how it would work in practice. The dullest part was having to crawl out of the sleeping bag in the early evening to level the bed.
What did this night teach you about sleeping outdoors—or about yourself?
– Winter camping might not really be my thing. I can do it, but I’m not sure I actually get much enjoyment out of it. Spending time outdoors in winter is absolutely wonderful, but so is crawling into a warm bed at the end of the day without any discomfort whatsoever.
Maarit says she could recommend a similar experiment to someone who enjoys tinkering and trying something new together with a partner or a friend.
One last important question: did any bogeymen, monsters or other scary creatures appear?
– Thankfully not—I didn’t really expect anything like that anyway.
Read next
We have snow in Nuuksio! Pick Up the Tips and See the Photos, the View Is Magical!
This Is Not Ordinary Snow – what you see here is Crown Snow-Load
Snowshoeing in the Pallastunturi Fells: Wonderful Views from the Slopes of Palkaskero
How to Survive Winter in Finland: A Compact Guide
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