Meet 'White Hell,' the Arctic Test Track Where Winter Tires Come From

In the northern reaches of Finland , there exists a remarkably badass winter wonderland that is the real - world embodiment of every supernal dreamscape you ’ve ever seen . It ’s the type of piazza you ’d swear was lost to mythology around the same metre as Atlantis . The name digest in stark direct contrast to its realism : " White Hell " is really heaven on Earth , a secret hideaway located just outdoors of Ivalo , Finland , a dyad hundred mile north of the Arctic Circle . The snow - frosted buildings face comestible , reindeer frolic in the streets , and a grouping of Finnish bozo delight the ultimate pipe dream occupation : spending their twenty-four hour period on a raceway carved from a frozen lake in the shadows of Russian Benny Hill , push back 400hp Audis in the perpetual sideline of better traction .

This is the world ’s northernmost examination installation . Nokian Tires built this place 30 year ago because , if you ’re going to stake your reputation on build the safe winter tire in the world , you ’d better be damn certain you screen them in the harsh winters in the world .

This is the entry gate to White Hell . pass through it for the first metre I ’m fall upon not by thoughts of Dante , but Spielberg : the theatrics are flat out ofJurassic Park . As legend has it , the White Hell name itself is an court to theNurburgring Nordschleife , magnificently nickname " The Green Hell " by Sir Jackie Stewart .

Finland White Hell

Aaron Miller/Thrillist

White Hell is n’t really a secret per se , or Nokian certainly would n’t have flown me and three other journalists all the elbow room to Finland , camera in hired hand . But it is n’t really advertised either , since the last thing Nokian wants is a clustering of enthusiastic machine guys showing up at that crazy - cool gate implore for admission charge .

So what is White Hell , on the button ? A vast property with a series of tracks where Nokian tests out its winter tyre . All told , there are nearly two twelve unlike tracks in this one facility . They all serve a different purpose , but the star of the show is understandably the ice track in the nerve center , where trees give way to a lake .

I do n’t want to sell this lake short , though . It really is the mother of all flash-frozen lakes . surely , there are ( probably ) larger representative , but this is a fully fledged test cut . An entire segment of icy sweeper as sharp as San Francisco’sLombard Stdares you to show it what you ’re made of .

The Gates of White Hell

Aaron Miller/Thrillist

It ’s mid - morn when we get in at White Hell , and blow plows are still very meddling clearing off the overnight drift to leave one of the tracks as slippy as possible . I have n’t a cue how many full - time snow plough driver Nokian employs , but it ’s promptly apparent there ’s no deficit of work .

That ’s a very important point , too , because the snow address help set the condition of the lead . As awesome as White Hell might seem from a driver ’s standpoint – and for the record , I did aim it , and … oh yeah , it ’s astonishing – the test track ’s entire reasonableness for being is to double genuine - world frosty route conditions . transition from clean - swept ice to the blow - scatter sections results in a very tangible difference of opinion in grip .

If the C does happen to get too thick for the trial fleet – mostly forward-looking VWs and Audis – some of the grounds ' older vehicle are pretty bloody coolheaded in their own right .

White Hell in Ivalo

Aaron Miller/Thrillist

A quick aside : you see those hills in the aloofness ? fit in to our Finnish host , that ’s Russia . I did n’t see any shirtless Putin - esque man riding bears , though , so I ’m resigned to take his password for it .

Nearer to the entry of the facility , this gorgeous camouflaged VW stands precaution . For what ? I have absolutely no idea , but it ’s a fiercely brilliant mint to behold .

At any rate , the building behind the VW is the Ice Hall , that 700 - mete - farseeing sheet of ice you should think fromthis piece about hold on distances .

A frozen test track in Ivalo, Finland

Aaron Miller/Thrillist

Even after you leave behind the grounds of White Hell , the wonderment stretch on endlessly . Just to give you some little mother wit of the stratospheric level of ethereal ravisher we ’re talking about here , I do n’t consider myself all that enceinte of a lensman , but here , I could do no wrong .

The many miles of small-scale two - lane route in Europe ’s most sparsely populated area in all likelihood seem mediocre during that briefest of periods Finns call " summertime . " The rest of the fourth dimension , with snow drape across them like the fine lacing , they take on an exquisite spirit .

Nearly every road in this part of the humanity is distinct from the winter landscape painting only because it ’s turn . They are flight strip of drivable smoothness in an otherwise dense timber . With every pass tree I gained just a niggling more appreciation for what it is Nokian really does at White Hell . Lose mastery of your car out here , and you ’ll almost emphatically bump off something that will bump off you back with an adequate and paired force .

Snow plows on a frozen lake? Only in Finland

Aaron Miller/Thrillist

The cabin we stayed in was on top of a hill overlooking the village of Ivalo , and my initial impression when looking out the windowpane total up the townsfolk perfectly : it ’s a C. P. Snow globe . I ’m staying in a f*cking snow globe !

I was n’t kidding originally , by the way , when I pronounce the building looked edible in their frosted coating . I never did figure out what flavor " Tuliaistupa " is , though I ’m jolly certain this building would fulfill its flavorful and satisfying promise in precisely the way that gingerbread houses never do .

I mentioned Ivalo ’s Rangifer tarandus population in the very beginning , and with salutary reason : they really are everywhere . These were on one of the snow rails at White Hell , but even after we left we kept play into them – almost literally , on occasion .

Ivalo Test Facility Hillclimb

Aaron Miller/Nokian

After ripping us from the life - affirming experience of White Hell , our hosts decided the good way to take in all that Lapland has to offer was by riding off into the wilderness on snowmobiles . Only one penis of our grouping take a release , and that was only after a slight roundabout way triggered by reindeer traffic . Really . Reindeer traffic . I ca n’t make that up .

That ’s it , essentially . After a sidereal day like that , all that ’s left is a return to our niggling snow orb , to taste dry - smoke reindeer , enjoy some fine Finnish vodka , and go straight from the sweat room to the hot vat in sub - freezing temperature for so long that your beer starts to freeze over and you forget that you ’re wear down nothing but a Speedo and a beanie .

Oh yeah , and reminisce about sliding a 400hp Audi RS4 around the ice form for a flake .

Classic Toyota at Nokian’s Ivalo Facility