Upitrek Ltd, founded in 2000, is a nature travel company and registered tour operator whose clientele is made up of international travelers.
About Us
The company specialises in guided week-long hut-to-hut trekkings and other activity holidays, in the Kainuu area of Eastern Finland.
Our first program was a cross-country ski tour on the eastern border, which is still one of our most popular winter tours. Over the years visitor numbers have increased considerably and new itineraries are planned accordingly. However, the basic idea has remained the same: to offer un-motorised treks for small groups into the heart of Finnish wilderness and in complete harmony with nature.
We organize
For some tours we offer guaranteed departure dates without a minimum number of participants. These tours are guaranteed to run from the moment they are booked and are also suitable for individual travellers. The maximum group size is usually 12 passengers, plus an expert tour leader. Groups are international consisting on average 4 - 6 nationalities. Guaranteed departures are provided for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and winter multi-activity tours. Private tours for groups are organised on request and they can be tailored to meet a group's wishes.
A fully licenced tour operator
Upitrek ltd is a fully licenced tour operator, registration number 6093/11/Mj.
We have deposited a security with the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority in accordance with the package travel act.
Travel guarantee register
We are also a member of Association of Finnish Travel Industry (SMAL)
Our team
Urpo Heikkinen is the founder and owner of the company. Outdoors and trekking have always been Urpo's passion and after attending a wilderness guide course in 1999 he founded Upitrek. He utilises his skills, knowledge and love of nature to benefit visitors to the region. The first ski tours were organized in winter 2000 and as long as the company was a one-man business Urpo guided all groups. Nowadays running the day to day business keeps him busy during the season so unfortunately there is no time for guiding anymore.
Niina Jämsén has been involved in some way with the family business since 2002 when she completed her tourism studies at Kajaani University of Applied Sciences. Along the way she gained valuable experience as secretary for several regional, national and also international sports events. In 2011 she made the move and began working full-time for Upitrek. Niina's world is the office - sales, marketing etc - and she also manages Upitrek'ss outgoing agency, Kunnon Lomat.
Guides
Scheduled, guaranteed group tours will be guided in winter 2022-23 mostly by the following guides:
Joonas Jaakkola
I'm Joonas, a certified nature & outdoors tour leader. I love my work because I get to help people not just to enjoy their time and relax, but also to develop stronger interest and respect towards nature, different cultures and outdoors life.
I've been guiding for 5 seasons, during 4 of those seasons I have worked for Upitrek. All my tours for Upitrek have been international. I'm fluent in Finnish, English and German. I must add that I really enjoy working with Upitrek :)
Maarit Savolainen
Hi, I'm Maarit. I am a trained tour guide and have done various guiding jobs for over twenty years. I started with Upitrek at the beginning of 2020.
Winter tourism is my specialty and I enjoy everything that can be done in winter, e.g. skiing, snowshoeing, skating on natural ice, camping and winter fishing (with nets). Meeting people is the best part of being a guide. I have had great experiences in quiet forests and pure nature. I want to offer this experience to you too.
English is my strongest language, but I understand and have conversational German, Swedish and Spanish. In all my activities, safety is always the number one priority. Welcome to experience the wonder and uniqueness of the winter landscape with me!
Ruben Claus
I'm Ruben, a Belgian (Dutch speaking) guide who has lost his heart to the North. After studying biology my sense for adventure led me to Finland, where I studied to become a wilderness guide. During the course I was a trainee for Upitrek and it immediately felt like a good fit. Upitrek focuses on small-scale, sustainable and authentic tourism, far away from the masses, which is just how I like it. This is my second winter season for Upitrek and Iâm sure that there are many more to come.
For me, the interaction with the participants makes every trip truly unique. The shared laughter, awe for new experiences and seeing a group of strangers become friends always fill me with joy. It is why I love this job, together with the fact that I love to be active outdoors! For me, a guide is not someone that only leads safely an activity. It is someone that makes sure that you explore a new country in an authentic way, learning about nature, culture and history along the way. I guide either in English or Dutch. I already look forward to meet all of you!
Tomasz Bogacz
My name is Tomasz and I am from Poland. I have been living in Finland for 5 years. I moved here because I found peace and an environment to fulfill my soul needs, and a wonderful person which makes me want to stay here permanently. I love to be out in the nature admiring its' beauty and picking what it is giving to us, mushrooms, berries, herbs and a lot of different pieces of wood.
I graduated from the IWG (International Wilderness Guide) course in Kuru, Finland in 2020. This is my second season for Upitrek and so far I've been guidind snowshoeing, skiing, fatbike and multi activities.
As a tour leader I like to share with people my experience and knowledge about Finland. I like mostly snowshoeing in the forest, while I can talk about nature and look at the wildlife activities on our way.
I speak fluently in Polish and English. Finnish is my third language which I am using everyday in my life now, but as the most difficult language in the world I know that I still need to put in a lot of effort to master it :)
Petri Leinonen
Our "senior" guide Petri has been working for us for more than 15 years. His presentation on own words will follow later!
In addition to above presented guides you will meet on our tours Akseli, Elisa, Emil, Juha-Matti, Kaisa R., Piia, Toni and Tuomo, snowmobile guides Jeru, Kassu and Marko as well as several passionate wilderness guide trainees.
We wish you enjoy your time with us!
