Ruka

Ruka Ski Center, Finland’s largest ski resort based upon visitation, is located 800 km north of Helsinki. As an established destination resort, Ruka offers numerous summer and winter activities to its guests. Ecosign was engaged in 2002 to provide expertise on ongoing visitor circulation problems as well as improve the overall quality of the resort through expanding alpine skiing, accommodation and base area facilities. The Master Plan incorporated a development capacity analysis for the land around the base area of the ski slopes to find the optimum location for base area development zones. Two high-density development areas were proposed, each with their own village concept, as well as a day skier base. After several years of planning and construction, the main portions of the pedestrian village at Lansi-Ruka were completed in 2010. This village now offers more than 1,000 visitor beds, 15 restaurants, 10 shops and 360 underground parking spaces in a compact pedestrian zone at the base of the slopes. The new village is proving very popular as skier visits at Ruka Ski Center have grown from 274,000 in 1999/2000 to 405,000 in 2017/2018.

The Village 2 Valley Saarua Gondoli pulse gondola opened in November 2018 connecting Ruka Village and Ita Ruka valley. This 4 minute ride connecting the two villages exceeded expectations in its opening year and was also very popular with foot passengers and cyclists. The top station mid load allows access to skiing or hiking/biking in summer. Construction is being completed in the Ita Ruka village site. The new 80 room and 40 apartment Ski-Inn Hotel Ruka Valley opened in December 2019.