Ice Racing!

We finally made it to our first Ice Race today. This was held on Lake Schwatka in Whitehorse. This lake is used as a float plane base in the summer and a ski-plane base in the winter. A course was carved into 18" of snow using plows down to bare ice. Looking down into the ice was kind of eerie- You could see that it was VERY thick (48"?), but you could also see cracks going all over the place. Still, the lake was obviously very frozen and the ice very strong. There were no concerns at all of breaking through the ice.

Each driver is allowed to drive the course up to two times. So Bill and I each got to drive the course twice. The first runs are the most competitive as the ice becomes very polished and much more slippery with more runs.

Bill took the first run and turned in a very good 1:32.8. Doug's run came next and was a 1:32.0. Bill then fired off a 1:37.7, and Doug's second run was a 1:34.0.

The fastest run put down by Gord Ryall was a 1:19.0 in a WRX. Paul Eklund was next with a 1:19.1 in his Forester.

We felt really good about our scores on the ice! More importantly, we entertained the crowd and we DID NOT finish last.

Most cars could go a little off course and would either bounce off the snow banks or get stuck. The truck made short order of the meager 18" of snow and literally blew right through it. This made for some incredible visuals.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Zurschmeide. Thanks, Jeff!


Photo: Doug... just a little off course

Photo: Bill leaving a con-trail.

Video! This is video of Doug's second run on the ice course.





Video! This is in-car of Bill's second run on the ice course. Make sure you watch it to the end!!! :)