ice

Horsepower on ice
By Jamie De Pould
July 23, 2009 - 1:14pm
Every winter the Central New York Ice Racing Association takes to the lakes for some sideways speed.

To the uninitiated, simply driving a car on a lake--never mind racing--is an exercise in the willful suspension of disbelief.

On a January day, the temperature on Lake Honeoye was in the teens, and there was a stiff breeze coming off the lake. The ice measured 11 inches average thickness, one inch below the 12 inches required for an official event.   But several members of the Central New York Ice Racing Association members decided to take their chances and show up at the usual time to turn some laps.

The Ice Climbers
By Lauren Rae Bertolini
April 14, 2009 - 10:29am
Nick Grybauskas clings like a spider to the wall of ice. Soon there will be a 20 foot -- and counting -- vertical drop between man and ground.

Grybauskas hugs the hillside. He loves this.

"It's almost like -," says Grybauskas, a senior philosophy major, "I hate to be all spiritual but when you're up there on the ice and it's just you and the ice, it's all about getting in the zone. It's all about mental control just as it's about physical control."

Grybauskas ice climbs with the Syracuse University Outing Club. The group comprises an eclectic group of adrenaline junkies. During Syracuse winters when most folks are bundled up indoors, these SUOC members are outside-climbing mountains of ice.