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…

The caption says it all. Some of the greatest driving roads we’ve ever seen are here in the Jamptland area of Sweden. Add in packed snow, studded tyres and hardly any traffic and it’s driving nirvana. we think well worth a trip back in the summer.

Shot yesterday morning en-route to Ostersund airport. If you were driving to the airport in the UK in these conditions, you’d guess it would be closed. Ostersund stays open in conditions we find amazing sometimes. As for the scenery, it’s just the most amazing…

Here’s Andy’s latest with the Sony Ericsson phone. We could say that there was a three hour trek to reach this amazing location, but we’d be lying. Believe it or not, this is less than 100 metres from the warmth of our hotel in Sweden. Want to see some stunning scenery, as well as experiencing the premier winter driving experience? Give us a call, we still have a few places left on certain dates!

And if you forget your camera, you can always borrow Andy’s phone!

The caption from Andy for todays photo… A split second later, he was blasted with a 100 mph wind of powdered snow. He’s getting the idea – you’ve got to suffer to get the shots. He’s been complaining about dull light all day too, so he’s starting to figure out The Photographer’s Book Of Excuses.

By the way, this is the type of high performance train you’d get if you travelled to us by train. Or the X2000, which is even faster…

A nice opening effort by McKenna here. This afternoon’s sunset is a lovely one, looking out over the lake not too far from the hotel. This isn’t our driving lake, by the way. It’s a deeper, faster moving lake, with this shot taken near the river entrance showing how even in very low temperatures, water doesn’t always freeze.

Add your comments below and tell Andy what you think of his efforts..

New for this year is McKenna’s task for the day, each day, while we’re in Sweden. He’s often peering over my shoulder on photo shoots passing comment on my work, so we’ve decided it’s time he showed us what he can shoot. Only the rules are that he can only use his camera phone.

American photographer Chase Jarvis often comments that the best camera to have is the one in your pocket when you see the moment, indeed his iPhone app, Best Camera, has become a top seller. So no Canon’s, Nikons or digital backs, just the best photo he can take each day using his Sony Ericsson mobile.

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, we had a TV crew from The Paul O’Grady daytime TV show with us to make a short TV piece. The idea was that they have a series of unsuspecting members of the public that they send to do challenges and this lady was picked to drive our Porsche 911 on our frozen driving lake. We weren’t allowed to meet her until the morning of the event, so yes, her surprise is authentic and she really didn’t know until 30 minutes before that she was going Ice Driving.



Many thanks to Olga TV for allowing us to use the clip and well done to Natasha for being such a sport on the day!

If you’re coming to Ice Driver this year, bring a camera. Or better still, bring a photographer! One of the groups that came to drive with us last season had a professional photographer in their midst. Portrait and wedding photographer Gary McKenna was kind enough to allow us to use these pictures he shot in between his spells behind the wheel. So here’s what a wedding photographer can bring to a frozen lake, we hope you like them.

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