Off-piste was bulletproof neve but the pisted bits were grippy and fast.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Headed up for a couple of hours this morning to sample the new snow. Thanks to the wind there were patches of everything from the neve underneath through to some nice wind buffed fresh snow. Sadly the majority was wind crusted pillows but that very quickly turned into a much more skiable crud. Was great for finding my feet again in dodgy conditions.
I also managed to high side at high speed on my last run, on piste! Typical crash caused by relaxing on the way home but it tweaked my knee a bit so am annoyed at myself.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
This video shows not just how loaded the West Fjords are but also the length the Electricity Company guys have to go to in order to keep the supply going in one of the harder to access bits of Iceland:
Cool. Being a weather model watching nerd, I've noticed it's shaping up to be a big snow winter for Iceland, if not a particularly cold one. Your early summer ski touring options might be magic in 2014.
P.S. Hope your knee tweak was a false alarm ... looking forward to more of your snowy pix between your nappy changing duties.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
moffatross, knee tweak was just that a tweak rather than anything bad. It's already a big snow year up North, less crazy cover right at the start but it's consistently snowy. We've had a lot down South as well but it's boom and bust as it warms up a lot more as well. We had snow on the ground for the whole of December in downtown Reykjavik. Was chatting to a guy on the chair about our skis and he had his best days last year in June last year so hopefully we get the same this year. I'm heading for a weekend up North in mid-Feb so ultra snowy pictures will turn up around then.
Let me know if you're coming over and I'll join you for some skiing.
Thankfully much better than it looks. I crashed my car on the way to the slopes. Hit a patch of black ice and narrowly avoided the oncoming cars and those in the lane next to me before hurtling off the side of the road backwards and sideways once I'd completely lost it. Rolled a couple of times before coming to a rest on the drivers side.
I thankfully escaped completely unscathed apart from a slight concussion and some muscle soreness. Frankly I'm very thankful as things could have been much, much worse. Complacency is a bitch and thankfully the verge was full of snow to cushion things!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Ouch!
Hope you get back on the snow soon.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Holy poo-poo, glad you're OK!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
altis, the ski crash I had the week before actually hurt more and did more damage. I'll be skiing again as soon as I can sort out the insurance and buy a new car!
RIP Brummi:
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Luckily it's just a broken car, meh. Every insurance claim is good for the economy or somesuch in the long run I once heard someone say.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Get well soon
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Thanks guys.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Get well soon
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Sweet baby jesus, that was a lucky escape! Very happy to hear you've come out of that relatively unscathed
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Zero_G, AndAnotherThing.., thanks!
As an update I just got my stuff out of the car and it's amazingly in very good condition. The main thing that stopped the insurance company outright repairing it was the age (made in 2003)! Which is pretty good testament to the robustness of the Patrol and how lucky I got. The wing mirrors were still attached and the glass was unbroken!
The video is pretty err... exciting. I might post it up a bit later once everything resolved.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
meh, I know it's no better than rubber-necking but I'd be interested to see the video when you're ready to post it (it's the same with injury porn). I'm clearly a sick puppy.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
No problem, just want to make sure the insurance etc. is sorted out first.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Only just seen this, glad it's only the car that was seriously damaged. Hope you get some wheels sorted out and are back on skis soon.
Thanks for the concern guys am feeling the affects of the sideways whiplash a bit more now in my back and the concussion is still there but otherwise am doing well.
It's password protected with 'snowheads'. I was filming just to test out how well my new GoPro performs taking timelapses in poor light conditions and was heading up to the local ski hill to have a couple of hours of playing around with it whilst skiing.
For background the car is a 2003 Nissan Patrol that I've owned for two years. It's a heavy jeep that is light at the back when unloaded and with selective 4WD it's also RWD most of the time. Basically really easy to lose grip in the wrong conditions and it carries a lot of momentum when things start to go wrong. Something I'm very aware of. The car itself was on 34" AT tyres (Toyo Open Country AT) that are only one winter season old and have had extra siping and studs added. I've done the normal thing of taking it into empty carparks and sliding it about plus slid for real at much lower speeds and kept things together. I've also regularly driven five plus hours in horrible conditions across Iceland with it without mishap. Basically it's a car I feel very familiar with and I'm definitely a conservative driver.
The accident itself happened on the main road leaving Reykjavik that forms the ring-road around the country. I was heading counter-clockwise and in this instance towards the east where the road goes over a high pass before heading down to lower ground. As best as I can tell I hit a patch of black ice (that was probably melting) at precisely the wrong time whilst accelerating and I guess the road hadn't been gritted or salted yet. Stupid mistake borne of complacency driving on a main road in what seemed like benign conditions from my initial drive through town. It's also a route I do a lot to and from skiing. I was traveling somewhere between 80-85kph and the speed limit on that piece of road is 90kph. About all I could do after the initial slip was avoid hitting the traffic oncoming and the people you can see just in front of me in the outside lane. Obvious over-corrections compounded and I got spun off, thankfully on my side of the road before rolling as the car left the road and hit a snow bank below the road which probably saved me and the car from very serious injury.
The accident happened at about 0950 in the morning and I was in hospital by 1025, loads of people stopped and I'm very grateful to them all. Not to mention the ambulance crew and hospital staff.
Personally having slid about a bit before and practiced a bit I was amazed at how hard it was not to overcorrect when faced with real highway speed and heavy traffic. It seems like a blink of an eye in that video but it felt like forever whilst I still had some control.
My lessons learned:
- Be even more wary of RWD cars when its potentially icy. Like with avalanches I triggered this incident when I didn't have to by choosing to overtake the slower traffic and it could have killed me and other people.
- Think a bit more about the weather conditions out of town where it could still be icy and don't be complacent because I drive the route all the time.
- Take a look at my tyre choice. AT tyres are obviously less ideal but winter tyres at this size are rather thing on the ground which is why I had extra sipes and studs put into them. The studs were put on by a tyre shop but I don't think the pattern was optimal, looking at other tyres they take a much less uniform approach. I don't think I can blame the tyres though but its a consideration for the future.
I'll probably buy another Patrol as the 4WD is super useful for accessing some mountains in the winter when there is snow on the tracks. I'll just be much, much more careful than I already was.
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Tue 21-01-14 20:05; edited 1 time in total
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
meh, ouch, hope you're feeling ok, here's to a speedy recovery
After all it is free
After all it is free
lynseyf, thanks.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Really difficult to work out what went wrong from that video esp. if the tyres were siped and studded. Did it feel like you lost the front end first?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
DB, no the back end went. Until the big spin the front was still controllable. I was accelerating gently up the hill and must have hit a patch of black ice. On a less busy road I might have managed to keep it together but it was beyond me sandwiched like that.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
meh,
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Well, it's snowing balls, I have a new car and my back feels up to some gentle skiing so looks like its a powder day tomorrow.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Good news!
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
meh, Glad you are getting back to it
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
It's a race against the wind just now.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
... and the wind won out. Currently cutting skins instead.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Great morning today, lovely weather and the snow was quite nice given the sheer amount of wind. Good depths up at Bláfjöll as well so should be good into spring.
Tried to take a descent picture of myself behind the wheel of my new car... failed:
Was gorgeous up on the mountain though:
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Here's some video of the snow conditions, was exciting at the top but wind packed fresh by halfway down with a slight skin but at least it was consistent once you got to it.
Nice, and glad you're mended, meh. The northern light is still low angle but it's only a few weeks away now that the long days start. Your photo above could be anywhere in Scotland too.
moffatross, yup, the sun just sneaked round to give some light to the slopes in the afternoon. Sadly I was back home by then.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
This is a very cool look at Skálafell which is a ski area near Reykjavik that doesn't open very often (due to budget constraints AFAIK). Lots of good ski touring off the top of the lifts. This is from last Sunday when it opened for the first time this year.
First Time skiing in direct sunlight this year! It's light until 6 now and the sun has finally make it round to light up the ski area a little. Nice and cold and very, very icy which meant bombing pistes with big turns. All good fun.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Classic evening skiing shot.
My new ride.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Today I was skiing at the other local hill Skálafell. It's the first time I've actually skied from the lifts there despite having skinned up it a few times. The setup is pretty basic, a few drag lifts and one fixed double but it has more varied skiing including some Haggis Trap like small gullies. Sadly it's still icy and wind blown so nothing very exciting other than a couple of small drops into the gullies.
However next weekend I'll be up North for the weekend where they're having a bumper snow year. Plus there is 71mm of precip forecast with little wind over the next week! I'm really hoping that pans out!
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Being a weather model watching nerd, I've noticed it's shaping up to be a big snow winter for Iceland, if not a particularly cold one. Your early summer ski touring options might be magic in 2014.
Hope you mend super fast
