An aircraft departing DEN on an icy Runway 8 began skidding when takeoff thrust was set so the takeoff was rejected and the aircraft taxied to Runway 34R for departure.

Narrative

It was snowing in DEN (-SN BR). We were operating the flight per cold weather SOP. We finished with remote pad deicing and called for taxi. Ground assigned us a clearance to Runway 8. I preferred Runway 34R since it was a short taxi and the wind was 020/15; so we asked if that was available. Ground Control stated that 34R was for arrivals and Runway 8 was preferred for our direction of flight and re cleared us to Runway 8. Since we had adequate holdover time and the wind wasn't too strong I agreed. We had a normal taxi out without any slipping in turns or less than normal braking. When in position on the runway we observed blowing snow; and the runway condition was plowed with some patchy snow; but no accumulation. I commented that it looked like it could be slick and was glad we were using the wet runway performance data. Once cleared for takeoff I released the brakes and stabilized the engines in a final runup. All appeared normal so I pressed the TOGA switch which applied maximum takeoff thrust to the engines. The nose of the aircraft immediately began drifting to the right. I applied opposite rudder with no effect. I was expecting the aircraft to eventually respond; but when I reached full left rudder we were still turning right. The only option at that point was to reject the take off. We were approximately 30 KTS when I rejected. We advised the Tower and passengers and proceeded to clear the runway. We encountered quite slick conditions on the high speed turn off and parallel taxiway. It became clear that it would be best to taxi back on the runway and got a clearance to do so. Tower advised us we could plan on an expedited departure on 34R. We ran the abort checklist and communicated with Dispatch about what had happened and our fuel state. We had enough fuel; were within holdover time; and the cold weather pre takeoff check was fine. We made an uneventful takeoff on 34R and headed to our destination.