The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Spanning over more than 1700 acres, the Ivalo Testing Center, or as they call it, “White Hell”, is the place where Finland’s snow tyre maker, Nokian Tyres, tests their winter tyres in extreme conditions, using over 20 different snowy or icy test tracks, including the world largest indoor ice rink.

Over the Arctic circle, deep in the Laplandic forests hides the testing complex — the biggest and most complex facility in the winter tyre industry, and this photo below shows only a fraction of it.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Aerial photo: Nokian Tyres

(Full disclosure: Nokian wanted to show us what they and their Hakkapeliitta R2 winter tyre can do at White Hell so much that they flew us to Lapland to their test range, dropped me into deep snow while Jalopnik’s Máté Petrány and his test pilot drove around and around drifting sideways like lunatics. Against all my expectations the cold was bearable, the food awesome, and the landscape just simply breathtakingly beautiful.)

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Here’s a view of the road to the test facility.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

The gate of White Hell. Workers can open it from a distance, dialling a phone number.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

A Volkswagen Golf GTI equipped with snow plowers.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

During the countless test rides they compare their own products to the competitors’ tyres.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

One of the test tracks

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

On the several meters thick ice of a frozen lake.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Driving on ice. “These guys go way beyond the grip limit on a daily basis,” says Máté.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Snow groomer (aka piste basher) for serious snow removing and manipulating.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Weather station near an icy test circle.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

After every test run comes the groomer, to restore the snow, providing equal testing conditions for every tyres.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Close up of the insect-like face of a snow weary piste basher.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Car consuming landscape.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Petri Paananen, handling driver, a Vbox performance meter, lap timer and data-logger (in the left corner of the windshield) and other super accurate devices in his test car do the same things over and over again until they end up with consistent results.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Far away is a very long building.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Which is actually an almost 3300 feet long hangar.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Which hides the longest indoor ice track I have ever seen.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

They can still test tyres on this lengthy artificial ice track when weather is too harsh outside.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Looks stunning.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Steel and ice in unity.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

I would like to skate at high speed all day long here.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Testing in a mild blizzard.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

A long snow handling track prepared for testing.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Tracks in the snow.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Leaving White Hell.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Twelve o’clock over the Arctic circle.

The Gorgeous White Hell Where They Test Winter Tyres

Low noon, long shadows, golden snow. Lapland.

Picture: Attila Nagy/Gizmodo


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