GEORGETOWN, Colo. — Georgetown Lake has become a haven for car enthusiasts looking to enhance their driving skills in slick, icy conditions.
Arctikhana hosts ice-driving events that offer experienced drivers a chance to push their cars to the limits, as well as opportunities for everyone to learn how their car handles in the snow.
Josh Tenge, who started Arctikhana with Donny Cryer, was one of the seasoned racing drivers giving customers rides in his customized car on top of the frozen Georgetown Lake. Participants could also opt to race around the track with their own vehicles.
“You're going to learn a lot about what your car will or will not do in a slide and whether or not you can hang on to it,” said Tenge. “It’s good to know where you need to use your brakes, whether you need to be adding throttle or over-steering or under-steering.”
One of the main benefits of a race event on top of a frozen lake is that if you were to lose control of your vehicle, there is nothing around to crash into.
“There's no risk involved, really,” said Chris Delaney, one of the participants driving his customized 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. ”A lot of the other racing I do, there's a chance that you can crash your car into something and cause damage. Out here in this open lake, there's no obstacles that you're going to run into. It's really a great closed environment for people to do this.”
It's all possible because of Georgetown Lake, itself. It’s nestled in between a number of mountains, which block a lot of sunlight on the lake’s surface. The area is also particularly windy, which blows off much of the snow on top of the lake.
“A lot of other lakes, they may have a foot of snow, and that insulates the ice,” said Tenge. “It may not be as thick as it needs to be to support the weight of the cars.”
The Georgetown ice-driving season only lasts for a couple of months, but it makes for one of the most unique driving experiences in the country.
“As someone that travels the country to race, this is one of the only spots that you can do this kind of thing,” said Delaney. “It's very special that we have this here just outside the metro area.”
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