Skijoring (adj.): a winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog (or dogs) or motor vehicle.
It is derived from the Norwegian word skijøring meaning ski driving, and it goes something like this – a sufficiently long piece of rope is fastened to the tow hook of the towing vehicle, while the other end is picked up by, one hopes, an experienced skier. You move off cautiously – after all you don’t want to make life more difficult than necessary for the daring skier tied to the rope before the fun has even started. And then you’re off – making sure your giving the skier behind you as smooth a ride as possible. Not too fast, but at a fairly vigorous pace in the straights, focused through the curves, and as smooth as possible through the sections in between. After you’ve travelled a few meters, there’s no point in looking in the rear-view mirror, as everything going on behind you disappears in a cloud of swirling ice crystals. From now on, its every man for himself. Skijøring is great fun, but basically, you’re on your own, up front, there’s a 700 bhp monster or a careering classic rally car designed to move along as elegantly as possible, while coming up behind, you are fighting with the force of gravity, centrifugal force, and loss of strength in your arms and legs…
Sound like fun? We thought so too; so, when Curves Soulful Driving arranged a Skikøring trip up on the Berina Pass in beautiful St. Mortiz where the Porsche 911 ST and GT2 RS would fly along at breakneck speed, fighting tooth and nail for every micrometre of traction surrounded by a spectacular snow-white panorama that burns its way from the eyeballs deep into ones soul, we obviously couldn’t wait to check it out….
Article and images courtesty of Curves, Soulful Driving.
