We’re the first to admit that Ice Driver isn’t cheap. It’s not meant to be. There are many many offers available in the UK that cater for the casual driving enthusiast on a budget, so why come to Sweden in mid-winter? Ice Driver guests are not your average casual car enthusiast…..

But if you’re looking for a totally different gift for the hardened driver in your life, the one who’s done the ‘Ring, been to Monaco, Le Mans and everywhere else, plus you have the budget, then Ice Driver is for them.

So given that in the UK, Father’s Day happens in June, what can we do? Well, if he’s patient enough to wait until winter, book an Ice Driver package as a gift for this Father’s Day. We’ll supply you with a presentation gift certificate plus a large format print of the Ice Driver Porsche 911 in action, perfect for mounting in a frame to remind them of what’s to come.

Contact us now for more details on how to book, how to price and how to give the best Fathers Day gift they’ll ever have. For the first time ever, they’ll be praying for snow this winter…

Earlier, we commented about how in Sweden, life goes on in winter and the Swedes wondered why we’re so bad at managing in the snow. Well on the UK’s ITV Tonight programme, there’s a whole half hour devoted to why, but sadly, they miss the point.

It’s not about councils, gritters and closing businesses and schools. It’s about two really simple things. The right tyres and the right driver training. In Sweden, skid control is a compulsory part of everyone’s training before passing their test. In our view, it beggars belief that in the UK, it’s possible to pass your driving test without driving on a motorway or undertaking any skid control training.
The second big thing is tyres. It’s all we can manage to just get the average driver to check his tyre pressures, never mind consider changing tyres. Yet in Sweden, winter tyres are compulsory and everyone has a set. The difference in grip level is, quite literally, like night and day.

We’re not saying that everyone should go and buy a set of studded tyres and form a queue at Ice Driver HQ, but if only people had better grip and more confidence to drive faster than 10 mph, then we’d all get by. So next time it snows, don’t complain about the council and snow clearance, get yourself some advanced driver training somewhere this summer, so that next time, you’re ready to help yourself.

And one final thing. If you come to Ice Driver this winter, you’ll see more 4×4’s in the car park at Heathrow than you will in your time with us.

This has to be the most often asked question, “Why did you choose your location in Sweden and how did you find your driving lake?”It’s a bit of a long story, but briefly, it took hard work, some mistakes along the way and lots of leg work.

When we started Ice Driver 5 years ago, we had both worked for other companies in Norway and Sweden. We chose Sweden because the road network is far superior to Norway. What looks on the map to be a short drive in Norway NEVER works out that way and once away from the coast, it’s time consuming and can be arduous.

So we chose Sweden and initially assumed the best place to be located was around the Karlstad area, near to where the Swedish WRC runs. The reason for the decision was that at the time, we perceived it as being easy to get to (wrong!) plus, because we’d both worked for other companies at that latitude & area, we assumed that the lakes would be frozen and safe for driving (wrong again!)

With weeks to go before our first season, Ryanair pulled the plug on the main route in and unseasonably mild weather stopped ice forming on the lake. Other providers of Scandinavian driving experiences use forest roads and old airfields as venues when this happens, but our objective was to offer the only event where you would DEFINITELY drive on a frozen lake, not a forest or an airfield, you can do that anywhere. So though we had a potential disaster on our hands, our problem turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

We grabbed a map of Sweden and looked northwards. We had to be able to get our guests there, so an airport and a rail network was needed. Ostersund / Are is the biggest ski resort in Sweden, with an airport and a fast rail network that rarely closes. In fact, although it looks a long way north, the high speed rail and airlines actually make it easier to reach than our original, southerly, location and far far easier than anywhere we’d been in Norway. So that was Problem Number One solved. We then drew a circle 40 minutes drive out from Ostersund and got to work…. That’s when we found the town of Bracke, with Sigge, Dennis, Magnus and all the people who help us each winter. Their Can Do attitude, coupled with having a driving lake just minutes away from our hotel accommodation, has made Ice Driver the success it is.

So four years on, we have a great driving lake, a wonderful local population that make our guests welcome and best of all, a transport infrastructure that allows you to travel by train literally to our doorstep. Just walk downstairs inside Stockholm Airport and climb aboard the train. Chill out, use the on-board WiFi, have a beer, then step off the train, cross over the road and you’re there. No tortuous coach journeys or expeditions, it’s really that simple. If you really are a fan of airlines and jets, we can also pick you up from Ostersund Airport if you prefer, it’s that simple.

Isn’t it funny how things work out in life, sometimes?

Last winter at Ice Driver, we took a lot of stick from the locals in Sweden. They watched on TV with much hilarity as the UK ground to a halt under just a few centimetres of snow, while they continued their daily lives, snow piled high in the streets, -25c temparatures not uncommon and a surface of packed snow and ice to drive on. Sixty tonne logging trucks blast by at 100kph on packed ice. We hung our heads in shame and took it on the chin, but it begged the question, just why are we so bad at driving on snow and ice in the UK?

The number one reason in our view is lack of consistent winter weather. In Sweden, once the snow arrives, that’s pretty much it for the next few months. The snow comes and stays, so everyone adjusts, which brings us to the next big point.

Tyres. In Sweden, everyone switches tyres for the winter. Cars are delivered with two sets of wheels and tyres and the winter tyres used in Sweden are superb. The grip level on snow is like night and day compared to a ‘traditional’ UK road tyre. So they can actually stop, start and turn corners without stress

And the final biggie – training and attitude. The basic Swedish driving licence training includes skid control that everyone undertakes and it’s not unusual for local motor clubs to run autotests for everyone in winter just for fun. Enter one and you can expect to be competing against young Stig, his Auntie, Uncle and grandparents too. Everyone views driving as something to be enjoyed, especially motorsport.

So it looks like we’re stuck with our lot in the UK. Studs on tyres are illegal and won’t work on normal roads and our changeable climate means that snow never stays for long. However the one thing you CAN do something about is you. If you have the time and the budget, come to Ice Driver, you’ll love it. If you can’t justify it, try out the services of one of our colleagues such as Lionel’s excellent Driver Skills for basic skid control. If you’re a driving enthusiast, you owe it to yourself to get to Sweden and tick that box in the ‘Things To Do Before You Die’ list.

If you’re used to driving on ice with normal tyres, you’re probably wondering how we achieve the high speeds that you see in the Ice Driver video. Well, it’s all in the tyres. Tyre choice is vital for ice driving and while many winter driving experience organisations use a simple winter tyre, we prefer to use the genuine World Rally Championship ice tyre.

This means a tyre with hundreds of titanium studs, around 7mm long and a narrow wheel width of just 5 inches, cutting into the ice like a chain saw. If anyone rolls a tyre towards you, don’t stop it with your palm… Why do we use it? Because it allows us to teach driving techniques that will be useful when you return home all year around, not just in winter. There’s no point in driving around at a frustratingly slow jogging pace with the car constantly spinning it’s wheels, you can do that in your local supermarket car park. Our grip level is similar to a wet race track and provides you with a superb environment to learn car control and have a great time.

It’s the only type of tyre we use, so you learn the grip level just once, meaning you can spend more time driving and learning and less time adjusting your limits.

Great news from the guys on the ground near Ostersund, our driving lake froze for the winter at the weekend and now has enough ice to support a person on a small quad bike or similar. Now that it’s frozen for the winter, the ice will start to build and will eventually reach a thickness of more than 50cm. You can read about how we check the ice thickness in this earlier post here.

If you’re wanting to come to Ice Driver and want to know more about the area we operate in, the very useful website about Ostersund and the Jamtland area has lots of information about this beautiful part of Sweden.

We couldn’t beleive it when we read it, but the Ronnie Peterson museum in Orebro is having to move out of thier premises. Established in May 2008, it has welcomed more than 14,000 visitors from across the world. Ronnie Peterson was a native of Orebro and without doubt the most famous person from the town. We’ve visited the superb memorial sculpture erected in his memory and visited his grave in the local church yard. Like many organisations of this type, it was run by volunteers at a loss to preserve his memory and has doubtless helped put Orabro on the tourist map.

And yet here’s the rub. Despite the fact that the museum was helping tourism in the area, the local politicians have declined to give any financial support and as owners of the museum building are standing firm. Various efforts to find a solution to this have failed and so it’s looking like the museum will be closed. The collection will live on, probably moving outside of the Orebro area.

To us British guys looking in, that seems like the Jim Clark museum moving out of Duns in Scotland. So the museum association will live on, lets hope they can find a more welcoming place to celebrate the life of one of Sweden’s greatest drivers. You can see the museum website at www.ronniepetersonmuseum.se

Here’s what one of our corporate clients thinks about bringing his team to Ice Driver each winter:

“Icedriver has become a recognised internal top reward for high performance employees.
The whole experience is just light years ahead of anything we’ve done previously and that includes high profile F1 track days.
Andy and his team have a genuine desire to make you have fun and especially share the secrets of driving fast on a frozen lake – quite honestly there just isn’t anywhere you can do this and our guys just want to keep coming back!”

Cedric Berner, Carglass Switzerland

Many thanks for the kind words, guys. We have to say that your entrance into the bar that evening was truly memorable……

We are often asked when discusing travel routes to Ice Driver, which is best, plane or train?

So we thought it would be a good idea to put up a real-life travel schedules we did on one of our site trips this year:

Outward Journey

09.00 – Comparatively leisurely start from home in North Yorkshire, bound for East Midlands airport.
11.00 – Arrive at East Midlands for the usual check in / security dance, flying with Sterling

13.40 Depart for Stockholm Arlanda
17.10 Arrive Arlanda. Now a wait for a connecting flight north to Ostersund with Fly Nordic. Scandinavian also serve the same route.
20.00 Depart for Ostersund
21.00 Arrive at Ostersund. Dead easy baggage collection, a real slick, informal place. Collect hire car from Avis desk. A Toyota Yaris with all sorts of clever ASC trickery to prevent us going sideways. Noble intent by Mr Toyota, but not really our bag…
21.30 Hit the road with ASC lights blinking away and the little Yaris thinking hard, Andy trying to find the ASC Off button in the dark without success.
22.30 Arrive at the hotel & Ice Driver base in time for a beer.

Return Leg.

08.40. Arrive at Bracke rail station to travel to Stockholm on the X2000 train. 1st class tickets were not much more than standard and well worth it, with free WiFi, complementary coffee / orange juice and lots of leg room.
13.30 Arrive at Arlanda Station. Situated below the main terminal at the airport and looking like a James Bond Baddies lair.
13.40. Check in with Sterling for our return flight and them go and chill out with a pizza in Sky City, the main shopping area.
16.00 Depart for East Midlands with Sterling
17.15 Arrive back at Easy Midlands just in time to join the good old M1 snake northwards

So which is best, train or plane?

There’s no clear answer and it will ultimately come down to the time that you arrive at Stockholm Arlanda.

If you arrive at a convenient time to jump on a train, then do so. It really is very easy and you may as well be sitting on something that’s moving than sitting at an airport. Plus the trains are all the things you don’t see in the UK – Reasonably priced, clean and punctual. And when you arrive at Bracke, where we’ll collect you and you’re just minutes from our base.

Ostersund airport is one hour away, but very good, with efficient but non-intrusive security familiar with the outsided luggage that skiers and snowboarders travel with. It may well be that your flight from the UK schedules nicely with a connecting flight north. We’ll collect you and it’s around a 1 hour transfer to the hotel.

Our preference? The train. Particularly if travelling in daylight as the views at this time of year get better and better the further north you go. If you travel through big airports as much as we do, Swedish trains come as a refreshing change from air travel with nice views, no security searches and being able to turn up five minutes before it’s due is a pleasant thing indeed. The X200 is a tilt train that’s modern, quick and slick looking. The Inter City is an older design, but every bit as punctual and with really charismatic corrugated sides to the carriages and individual compartments that look at home in an episode of Poirot. So we just chill out, have a beer and gaze out of the window…..

The most fashionable way to drive sideways these days is in drifting. It’s become massively popular worldwide and several motorsport competitors we know are now actively involved in drift championships across Europe. So does Ice Driver make a good venue to get some practice, tuition and experience drifting during the winter? Here’s what Belgian drifter, Pieter Van Hoorick had to say after coming to Ice Driver:

Dear Andy, Neill, Tim, James and Beefe,

Kind regards,
Pieter Van Hoorick