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Meet our Guides

Our team consists of professional guides with strong local knowledge and years of experience guiding in the Pallas area.

Nichlas O'Kane

I am Nichlas, a Canadian-Finnish adventurer living in Muonio, Lapland. I grew up in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where skiing, hiking, and exploring the outdoors were a big part of my childhood. After spending winters on skis and on snowboard in the renowned ski resorts of Western Canada, I discovered ski touring at the age of 17 and quickly developed a passion for backcountry skiing.

Following high school in Calgary, Canada, I moved to Finland to complete my military service, serving in the Finnish Special Forces. During this year, I developed fundamental wilderness and backcountry skills and a passion for orienteering, hiking and camping in Finland's vast and beautiful forests.

That passion has since led me on numerous treks throughout the wildest parts of Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian Lapland. Over the years, I found a particular fondness for the spectacular fells of Pallas and spent countless hours exploring their every corner. These experiences have given me intimate knowledge of the area and a respect for Arctic wilderness that I am proud to share with others.

Expertise

Fell guiding since 2021
Ski-touring with 15+ years of experience
AST 1 - 2009
Finlav 2 - 2022
Fell skiing with 10+ years of experience
Guiding 7 years
Firefighter and EMT since 2017
Owner of Fell Guides and Vahca

Expertise

I am 52 years old and just as excited as I was as a little boy when I first ventured into the wilderness with my father. I have roamed the wilderness countless times, both with various groups and alone. My first hikes were at the age of 5 or 6, and since then, Lapland and the wilderness have lived within me. During my childhood and teenage years, I lived in Iisalmi, near the border of Lapland, making it easy to take various-length trips into the wilderness with my father (whether skiing or hiking), fishing, paddling, and berry picking.

As a young adult, work and life took me to southern Finland, where I spent about 30 years in Pirkanmaa. However, the call of the Lapland wilderness was strong, and I had to spend at least a week there every year, sometimes even longer. Every time I visited, I felt that this was a place where I belonged. Life kept me firmly in southern Finland until 2019, when it began to seem possible for me to move permanently to Lapland as my youngest child reached adulthood. I spent some time searching for a place to live until I found one in Levi in the spring of 2022. Since then, I have lived in Levi and have become self-employed in the Tunturi-Lapland area.

Fishing guide
Wilderness guide
Canoeing Instructor
Ski Instructor, Alpine, Level 3.
Ski Instructor, Cross-country skiing
Avalanche technician, Finlav Pro 2
Ski Patrol 2
Carpenter
Arborist

Janne Hapuoja

Petra Lillqvist

I am a 66 year-old, seasoned wilderness explorer. The magic of mountains and backcountry has fascinated me since I was young. For the past 20 years I have been skiing and snowboarding in the mountains and fells of the Alps, the Rockies and the Nordic countries. Backcountry skiing came into the picture when I joined the "Calgary Scrambling and Mountaineering" club while living in Canada and worked as a guide there. In the summer we hiked the slopes and valleys, and in the winter we enjoyed the snow-covered wonderland. After returning to Finland, I have spent most of my free time exploring the vast nature of Lapland. I travel in the fells and the borreal forest on foot, skis, bike and kayak. Whatever the game, it is just so good to be in the fells!

I am a doctor by profession. Over the years I have completed several courses related to backcountry safety and knowledge of the sport.

Expertise

Licentiate in Western and Chinese Medicine

Emergency Medical Technician (Calgary, Canada)
AST1 (Avalanche Skills Training) (Yumnaska, Canmore, Canada)
AST2 (CloudNineGuides, Canmore)
Crevasse rescue certificate, Rock rescue certificate (Yumnaska, Canmore)
Mountaineering and Glacier Travel certificate (Yumnaska, Canmore)
Advanced Wilderness first aid certificate (University of Calgary, Canada)
International Diploma in Mountain Medicine (Alpinärtzeschmiede, Österreich)-pending
20+ years experience of hiking in the wilderness. 10 years of guiding in the valleys, slopes and glaciers of the Rocky Mountains.

Expertise

I am a 41-year-old, happy fell guide with a love and respect for arctic nature. The longing for snowy winters brought me from Helsinki to Äkäslompolo in Ylläs ten years ago. A few months of remote work escalated into fell guide studies in Sweden and a permanent move up north. It's good to be here!

The Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park starts in my backyard and I have spent years exploring it on foot, by bike, on skis and with an orienteering compass in my hand. In the winter my favorite sport is Fell skiing and in the summer I love to hike.

Although the job of a guide is to get hikers safely from point A to point B, I think the most interesting thing about a guide's job is the people. I think it is important for a guide to create a comfortable and safe environment where experiencing the beauty of nature together is more important than the kilometers.

My day job is with the Department of Forest Management, as a side job I am an entrepreneur with my remote work space rental company Kohta Coworking. At home I am accompanied by my kindergarten-aged child.

Pallaksen Pöllöt Fell guide since 2018
Fjälledare (Swedish Fell Guide diploma) 2016-2018
SVELAV Friåkning 1 – Swedish avalanche skill training level 1 2018
NOLS Field Instructor (National Outdoor Leadership School, USA) 2019
Wilder First Responder (NOLS) – 80 h 2020

Heidi Siira

Ronja Ollikainen

Hello!

I am Ronja, I live in Muonio and I teach at a secondary school during the day. I am a passionate fell explorer and forest walker. There are many things you can do in the forests and hills of fell Lapland, I cycle in the summer, pick berries in the autumn, ski in the winter and free-ski in the spring. After these all adventures the most important thing to me is to pause for a moment and breathe in the worlds clearest air. The best thing about Lapland's nature is definitely silence and cleanliness, a clear starry sky and untouched snow. Let's go see these together!