Finland - Levi and Sirkka : History of the Ski Resort

Levi Levi is Finland's premier ski resort. You may also hear it referred to as Levi Fell (which is actually the name of the main hill in the resort) or Sirkka (which is the name of the original village from which the ski resort developed). We have a dedicated page on the history of the ski resort, click here to read it.

Sirkka Village History

The forest Lapps first populated the region around Levi fell in the 17th century. The forest Lapps made their living by hunting, fishing and reindeer herding. Their village was situated by the sacred lake Immel, between the two fells of Levi and Kätkä, and it was named Sirkka. The name Sirkka comes from Lake Sirkkajärvi which is located on the northern side of the village. Sirkka means accumulation of water. Levi is the name of the fell. Local people refer to the village by both names Sirkka and Levi, but the officially the village is named Sirkka and the fell is named Levi.

Despite it's remoteness there have been travellers in Lapland since the 17th century but it wasn't until the 1860's when the first Inn was created at Juho Sirkka´s House.

The village grew steadily and during the years after the 2nd World War its inhabitants decided to market this unique region to tourism. After a while the tourists started to recognize the name of the fell, Levi, as the name of the skiing resort, and this name was used in tourist circles rather than Sirkka. Nowadays Levi is widely known as the biggest ski and recreation centre in Finland.

Levi Ski Resort History

Levi Sirkka's first real tourism business was formed in 1953, with the creation of the Matkailumaja chalets (which are still operating under the name Levilehto Apartments). Even during the early days of the 1950's tourists came all the way from faraway countries; Australia, Canada and Japan, to visit the village of Sirkka and Levi fell. The traveller's interest towards Levi grew further during the 1960's with the onset of slalom skiing and had increased dramatically by 1964 when Kittilä municipality acquired land from the Levi fell. The building of holiday cottages started in Levi at the end of the 1970's and by 1976 the accommodation capacity of Sirkka village was up to 997 beds.

In 1976 Levin Hissit Oy, the slope company, was founded. During the slope company's early days the skiing season didn't start until February and ended on the 1st of May. The potential for tourism in the area was dramatically increased in 1982 with the opening of Kittilä Airport, less than 20km from the village. The following year the slope company built an 800m long summer toboggan ride on the fell, as the village tried to market itself as an all-year destination, rather than solely winter. To make the sales and marketing of the area more effective, Levi Travel Ltd was formed in 1989 and it's office was also used as a central booking office for the whole area. During the 1992-1993 winter season Levi was elected as the Finnish skiing centre of the year for the first time, an accolade it has won many times since.

At midnight on new years eve in 1999 the first gondola lift in Finland was started in Levi. The following season, between 29/11/2000 and 2/12/2000 Levi hosted a men's European Cup slalom and giant slalom competition for the first time, and as a result of it's success the following season saw Levi named as the only reserve location for Aspen's World Cup competitions, and thus Levi gained a permanent place in the FIS competition calendar during the autumn of 2001. This meant that Levi was practically accepted as an equal World Cup organizer among the other, more traditional World Cup ski venues. During the 2000-2001 season Levi became the biggest ski centre in Finland, when measured by the ski passes sales.

During the 2001-2002 season work on the competition centre (owned by the slope company) was completed at the ground station of the gondola lift. The investments to the competition area included building the gondola lift and the World Cup slope with enclosed services, competition lighting (to make it possible to show the skiing on television), artificial snow capability (not that it needs it!) and the competition centre meeting international standards.

The success continued when Levi was allowed to organize the women's opening European Cup competition between 29-30/11/2001. The needs of cross-country skiers were also kept in mind when the first skiing track made with artificial snow was opened on25/10/2001. The men's opening European Cup competition was held in Levi between 27-30/11/2002 and finally the true Alpine circus arrived to the fell when the women's World Cup was hosted in Levi between 27-29/2/2004.

Besides the Alpine competitions, Levi started to successfully host other international competitions. The Ski Orientation World Championships from 3-12/3/2005 brought a lot of foreign competitors, press and other quests to Levi, as did the airlines World Championships held from 13-18/3/2005.

The competition calendar of Levi now shows that the resort has grown rapidly into an internationally recognised ski resort and today Levi can be described as the Finland's biggest winter destination. With 47 slopes, 26 ski lifts and 230 km of skiing tracks.

Keywords : levi fell resort history : sirkka village history finland