Ice racing is the most thrilling amateur motorsport

Ice racing is the most fun you can have in a car

Forget Formula 1. The most thrilling form of motorsport is ice racing, a low-grip amateur pursuit where sliding sideways is the goal. It’s an accessible, affordable hobby that teaches car control like nothing else.

I’ve been ice racing for over 20 years. The sheer joy of drifting a corner inches behind a competitor on a frozen lake is unmatched.

How to find an ice racing club

Ice racing is almost entirely amateur now. The most common format is time trials, essentially autocross on ice. Clubs like the Sports Car Club of Vermont run these events.

Some clubs host wheel-to-wheel racing on plowed ovals, like New Hampshire's Lakes Region Ice Racing Club. The top tier involves clubs that plow full road courses on frozen lakes.

I am a member of the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club (AMEC), founded in 1954. It’s one of the world's oldest ice racing clubs. Volunteers plow courses on lakes throughout New York's Adirondack Park.

You need thick ice and special tires

Most clubs require about a foot of solid, clean ice for safety. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, that’s enough to support eight-ton trucks, so it can easily handle dozens of race cars and support vehicles.

The single most important piece of equipment is your tires. Clubs have different rules, but ice racing tires generally fall into three categories:

• Unstudded Snow Tires: Street-legal tires like Bridgestone Blizzaks or Michelin X-Ice. They have aggressive treads and soft compounds and can be very competitive on rough ice.
• Street-Legal Studded Tires: Tires like the Nokian Hakkapeliita 10, which have metal studs protruding about 1 millimeter. These offer a massive grip boost on smooth, polished ice.
• Race Stud Tires: Non-street-legal tires, from handmade "bolt" tires to professional rally studs. These offer extreme grip, making the ice feel more like dirt, but are significantly more expensive.

Mastering the art of sliding on ice

Driver skill is the other critical factor. Experience in rally or drifting helps, but ice is its own unique challenge. The performance envelope for a normal car on ice is extremely small.

Success starts with getting comfortable with initiating and sustaining a slide. You must learn to balance the car between understeer and oversteer. This simply takes practice and seat time.

The next skill is learning to "read the ice." Grip levels change constantly. Street tires polish the ice smooth, reducing grip. Race studs chew it up, creating texture.

Your driving line changes every lap. You must seek out rough ice for snow tires or smooth ice for studs, similar to finding a rain line in road racing.

Getting started is cheap, but clubs are rare

Ice racing is one of the most affordable forms of motorsport. In my club, AMEC, a full day of racing—including practice and three heat races—costs $70. Your main expense is a set of snow tires, which can last a full season.

The biggest hurdle is location. Active ice racing clubs are becoming rarer and seasons are shorter due to warming temperatures. You may need to travel, which increases cost and commitment.

For those with larger budgets, professional programs exist. Exotic brands like Ferrari offer winter driving experiences in places like St. Moritz. Rally schools like Dirtfish run ice programs in Wisconsin starting around $2,000 for a day.

For maximum seat time, companies in Sweden and Finland, like Lapland Ice Driving, rent sports cars and provide access to plowed circuits on frozen lakes.

Whatever it takes, ice racing is worth the effort. I’ve driven amazing cars in incredible places, but nothing beats the joy of sliding my old Subaru on a frozen lake.