On Thin Ice: Estonian Ice Road Driving

VINCENT TEETSOV

Can you imagine a situation in which you would want to deliberately take off your seatbelt, maybe make sure your car doors are unlocked, and then watch the speedometer so that you aren’t driving at less than 40 kilometres per hour?

There’s actually a very good reason why you would want to do this in Estonia. Not on the main roads, but when you get behind the wheel and hit the gas pedal on one of the nation’s seven official ice roads.

The longest ice road in Europe, at 26 kilometres, is between the island of Hiiumaa and Rohuküla in mainland Estonia. Another large one is a 15 kilometre track from Triigi on the island of Saaremaa to Tärkma in southern Hiiumaa. With two minute intervals and at least 250 metres of distance between each car, you are pretty well isolated on a barren sheet of ice and snow.

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Photo: icedriving.ee