NO-ONE could ever accuse champion motorcyclist Dougie Lampkin of tackling any course cold.

But when your machine is being asked to perform in an ice hotel and across the Finnish tundra, the chill factor is a burning issue.

So the 12-time world trials winner called in some expertise from an East Lancashire engineering specialist to combat the teeth-rattling temperatures at Lainio.

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And Ian Weatherill and Simon Sharp’s Barnoldswick-based outfit, Hope Technology, came up with specialist gearing to ensure Dougie, from Silsden, was “snow” joke on his Scandinavian adventure.

Around 350,000 tons of ice are carefully sculpted each year to fashion the shimmering and shivering Ice Hotel, a restaurant and dome, as part of the Snow Village resort in north-western Finland.

But only a daredevil like Dougie would think of teetering on five-inch ice ledges, in what is effectively the inside of a fridge freezer, for a “tyre ’n’ ice” ride filmed by his father and creative director Martin.

Dougie said: “Over the years I have had the opportunity to ride in every continent and in many, many countries on a whole variety of terrain – but never snow and ice so it was something I always wanted to do.”

Originally the plan was just to shoot a promotional film indoors at the hotel but once the team realised they could capture footage in the wilderness, using a number of obstacles including a fallen tree, they extended their coverage.

A Hope Technology spokesman said: “We all know Dougie is an exceptional talent but this film takes his status as a world-class rider to another level.”Lancashire Telegraph:

The West Craven company unveiled plans for a new velodrome earlier this year and also lent technical support to Isle of Man TT crowd favourite Guy Martin’s recent motorless gravity soapbox racer world record.