Skis versus sports car: Svindal and Honkavuori face off in an icy duel

The Porsche Ice Experience in Finland is nothing if not true to its name. A bitterly cold wind lashes the landscape in this Arctic setting, yet two professional sportsmen are set to face off on a snow-covered ski run. One of them sits behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 Dakar; the other stands on skis. This is racing driver Jukka Honkavuori versus Porsche brand ambassador and skiing legend Aksel Lund Svindal. Both men know all about pushing themselves to the limit in the severest of conditions.

That said, Honkavuori has a home-court advantage, because the Finn is a head instructor for the Porsche Ice Experience and driving on snow and ice is second nature to him. He also races in the Mobil 1 Supercup, among other events, and is a Porsche Track Experience instructor.

For his part, Svindal is no stranger to unusual challenges – the Norwegian former ski racer and two-time Olympic gold-medallist recently traversed the Moroccan desert with his high-performance skis and sports car for 9:11 Magazine, for example.

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Now the latest test awaits. And although each athlete’s respective mode of transport could hardly be more different, they do have one thing in common – an appreciation of the breath-taking winter scenery, even when they’re going all-out.

Winter sport adrenaline kick

The Porsche Ice Experience has been staged in Levi, Finland, since 1996 and has been hugely popular ever since it started. The concept has since gone global and is now held in Canada, China and Sweden, among other countries. The Porsche Ice Experience offers various skill programmes for all levels of proficiency.