If you wanna win, buy a Finn
We have snowy and icey roads here about 5 months a year. Finnish Nokian Tyres are good, Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 with studs is a good option.
A little cheaper but as good is Continental ContiIceContact with studs.
They were just tested by Finnish car magazine:
http://tekniikanmaailma.fi/autot/ren...virenkaat-2011