Stunting legend Chris Pfeiffer has no regrets after performing his latest jaw-dropping feat on a Husqvarna rather than his usual BMW – but he says the two motorcycles cannot be compared. Chris tested his Husqvarna TE449 in the toughest possible conditions at the Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship in Munich on 17 January. After fitting his machine with metal-spiked snow tyres, he scaled a sheer track of sheet ice, complete with dips and jumps.

The route is designed for a high-speed downhill skating tournament, where competitors clad in hockey skates and heavy padding fight to be first past the post. But for Chris, the frozen terrain was a new playground, where he pulled off wheelies and stoppies in front of a delighted crowd – despite the fact the surface was made treacherously slushy by unseasonably high 10˚C temperatures. When Chris rode the route last year, on his BMW, the ice was kept solid by a much chillier -10˚C average.

“The conditions for the two events were so different – this year I didn’t even get the chance to practise because it was too warm and all my test runs were cancelled,” says Chris. “But I wasn’t nervous, I’ve been doing it too long for that. I just felt excited and a sense of anticipation. When I got there, the track was so slippery you couldn’t walk on it – because of that, I wouldn’t have been able to put my feet down once I was riding on the ice. But with the spiked tyres, once I got used to it, it was like riding on asphalt really.”

While challenging the laws of physics may have been a breeze for the professional trickster, the ride stunned the thousands-strong audience. “The crowd’s reaction was fantastic, they made even more noise than they did in the final of the race. People were really going crazy, because they just couldn’t believe I could do wheelies and stoppies on the ice and stay on the bike,” Chris says.

Chris was really enthusiastic about the Husqvarna TE449’s performance and is already preparing to use it for his next stunt. “The power delivery is so smooth, and I really like the riding position. I’m a tall rider but I found there was enough room for me to ride in a stand-up position. It’s a real enduro bike and the engine is built like a BMW engine. But I don’t think it can be compared to the BMW because they are both different bikes and I have ridden them in very different conditions.”

Red Bull bosses were so impressed by Chris and the new Husqvarna TE449 that they have asked him to ride again, at the Amsterdam leg of the Crashed Ice competition. “They came to speak to me afterwards and asked if I was interested and I said I definitely was. I really can’t wait. The tournament is on 5 February, and I’m hoping to practise before the event this time.”

When the second Red Bull event is over, Chris will be keeping his focus on frozen ground, by taking part in the annual Snowhill Race in his hometown in Bavaria. The competition, where teams battle to be the fastest to get up and down a mountain, sees riders climb the tricky mountain gradient on their motorcycles, while their teammate waits at the top, then skis to the bottom. “It’s just a small race in my region, but I really enjoy it, I will use the Husqvarna TE449 again,” Chris says.

When not racing up snowbound peaks, Chris will be spending the first weeks of 2011 performing at exhibitions in Hamburg, Switzerland, France and Italy. He is also heading to the sunny island of Malta. “I left my BMW motorcycle in Malta after a show there in December, so I will go pick it up and get lots of practise done. It will be nice to ride in the sun – it is snowing again here at home in Germany.”