70 reasons why I hate snow.

Im sure there are plenty at WVU

Entering freshman:

"But mummy I simply must have a Jeep in order to fit in the with country folk when I go to college"

"But Jeeps are so beneath us Chauncey"

'I must insist mummy'

"very well, I will talk to your father's people and arrange it. Now leave mummy alone. I have a private appointment with my trainer"

 

The only city dwellers I met at WVU were from Jersey. That state should be used to snow. But we mountain folk know the flatlanders can't handle hills.

 

So true. I grew up in the middle of PA.

 

I barely even like to visit snow these days. Sure, I like snowboarding and such... but I like warm weather so much more and am much more inclined to spend my money following warmth rather than cold.

 

ski season! love surfing and then driving up to vermont and skiing the next day. winter is the bomb!

 

Im from Jersey and can handle mountains just fine.

 

Snow blows, unless you're at a resort. Spent too many years in upstate NY, between Roch & Utica. People think NY has no snow, go check out the snow belt in that state. Spend a week in Watertown in February. BTW, there's a real good reason that the 10th Mountain Division trains in Fort Drum, NY, and not in Colorado, et. al.

Four-day friggin snowstorms: go to sleep, it's snowing, wake up it's still snowing. It's 'Groundhog Day' up there in winter. And the Adirondacks are serious stuff in winter; every year, a coupla experienced hunters get turned around in the snow & wind up staggering around, slowly freezing to death. Sometimes they find 'em. Sometimes they don't.

I'm w Brew on this one.

 

I remember the blizzard of '93 quite well. We measured 28" of snow fall in the low areas. Some snow drifts had over 4 ft of snow. It was about a week before we could get close to town. The plows couldn't make up the hill to clear our roads. Luckily, a local farmer used his tractor to dig a path for larger trucks to get down. That was real cabin fever. 6 mile walk to town, can't really leave the house, and even a couple days without power. I will take hurricanes over that any day.

 

You and me both, Yank!
My parents live between Syracuse and Watertown. 2 years ago they had 100 inches of snow BEFORE Christmas!

 

How do they stay there, mang...?! Some tough people up there, for sure.
It's also bitterly, painfully cold along with the heaps of white craaap.

It's no wonder layers of flannel & whiskey are staples of the local life.

I was in Roch during the blizzzard of '77 (yah, I know, showing my age).....a plane literally blew over at BUF on the runway; snow was up to the power lines; the friggin 'lake effect' paralyzed the entire region; Natl Guard was called out to get to stranded people; 70 mph wind gusts; -7 degrees F; 30' high drifts; storm was later nicknamed 'The White Death.'

Reminds me of the Harry Chapin lyric "I spent a week in Watertown one afternoon" or something like that...

Yah, I hate me some winter, lol.

 

What are the odds that there would be 70 female drivers in a row, including truck drivers.... incredible.

 

Love the snow...but my biggest issues with drivers are....anyone who owns a 4x4 believes that their drive train entitles them to reckless driving and excessive speeding, people don't really care where they are on the road--forget lane lines, those with no experience are typically those who are out on the roads, and lastly, in the mid-Atlantic I love how 3" of just snow shuts everything down.

On the plus side...there is always this after a system passes...

 

see, that's the problem. Just jacking a jeep up doesn't solve much other than allowing one to clear ice chunks. Every year, I see those rich little farm boys in thier flashy, ridiculously jacked up monster trucks, trying to drive up the mtn during or even after a storm...they almost always end up in a snowbank halfway up the mtn. Those things need chains more than any other car (or enough weight to keep the rear from sliding out). Even Caltrans (which, btw, does an excellent job of keeping the roads clear and de-iced) puts chains on their giant snow plows.

I agree that having a bunch of snow on a relatively flat area would get old pretty quick and it sucks that you guys in the northeast seem ruined by never really getting to experience the epic side of snow. Fact is, snowboarding in deep powder on a steep mtn is one of the greatest feelings on earth. Sex, surfing, snowboarding and good food (in that order) are the best things in life. Launching off a 20 foot cliff into 4 ft of powder is something we look forward to all year; something worth living for...like that trip to the tropics with perfect head high barrels.

 

If your jeep isn't jacked up, you aren't getting through 4 ft snow drifts. That said, I always owned Subaru's. My dual range 82 wagon could make it through most conditions. But there are always times when no vehicle is getting through.

 

i went from having a crappy truck with 2wd that would get stuck in the snow every storm, to a nice jeep that would go through anything, then it became to expensive and I bought a crappy old van with 2wd that got stuck on a 2 foot ice patch this morning.

needless to say, im glad im not broke driving a nice jeep in the snow.

 

no one is driving through 4 ft deep snow in anything...I was talking about just 6 inches of snow with salted ice underneath.

Other than over ice chunks, I have better luck with my honda accord w/chains than the monster trucks w/out chains. Most of the time I drive up in a ford ranger pickup w/chains...it's still a little slidey, but has enough clearance to make it through the chunky resort parking lot, which, for reasons beyond comprehension, they never get around to plowing until maybe mid day...if ever.

Going slow, but not too slow, gets you where you need to be safely and within reasonable time.

 

Lots of lake-effect snow.
Where a man's worth is measured by the amount of venison in his freezer and the size of the stack(s) of firewood in the backyard.
My folks, my wife and her family are from the Syracuse-Rome area. Despite the weather and the economy many there never leave. My wife's dad and my dad and attended the same high school, graduating the same year. My dad went to Utica College. Her dad and my grandfather worked at Griffiss AFB. Met my wife on a blind date while living in Oxnard, CA, of all places. She does not miss the snow at all. Real good apples though.

 

Sorry, but the best brand to tackle adverse conditions is Toyota and the best vehicles are pre-1998 Land Cruisers. Now, if they could only find a way to include their 4-d4 intercooled turbo diesel v8 with the associated locking differentials AND transfer case in the US market even the new Cruisers would be the baddest 4x4's around.....

That said, it doesn't matter what vehicle it is if there is a moron behind the wheel.

 

Well said, ER. Side note: my '07 FJ cruised through Snowpocolypse in 2009 & again in Snowmageddon of 2010; and does perfectly well in the sands of AI without letting air out of the tires, as so many have to do at the AII OSV entry point. Good truck, that FJ.

 

I've done a lot of skiing over the years. Agreed, it's fun although I don't feel quite as passionately about the cold powder as you do, but sounds like you love that element which is cool.

Living / working in heavy snow & bitter cold on a daily basis are a long way from playing in it; the former being anathema to me. Just sayin'...