 Poster: A snowHead
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Interesting picture, @Weathercam - a good one for the people who claim they won't need chains because the "roads are kept clear". Some people think the need for chains is just about deep snow, which is far from the case.
And that picture could easily be duplicated in mid April.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| pam w wrote: |
Interesting picture, @Weathercam - a good one for the people who claim they won't need chains because the "roads are kept clear". Some people think the need for chains is just about deep snow, which is far from the case.
And that picture could easily be duplicated in mid April. |
Not really. Unless google translate is giving me duff info. It says "In question, the snow, the wind and the fog. Snowdrifts and reduced visibility quickly made all traffic impossible. Especially when a bus, getting in the way, was forced to chain. The other vehicles involved, despite winter equipment (snow tires or chains), were unable to move forward, blocked by the coach and by the extremely slippery road."
So the bus had chains and the other vehicles had winters or chains.
It's not clear to me what actually was the problem.
Sure there is a picture with a car straddling the road but it's not clear what exactly is going on and I see no bus!
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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?
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My reading - the Bus had to stop to put chains on ("..was forced to chain.."), blocking the road for other vehicles
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@albob, sure but then once the chains were on everything should have been clear again no?
Bear in mind the article said 30 vehicles involved it's hardly an M25 pile up is it...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I was meeting someone who was on the Grenoble bus much later, and they were nigh on two hours late (19:00) and they said that many a muppet was putting chains on way too late, and some without chains.
The event reported I think was much earlier in the day.
Probably not helped by numerous SH's arriving from Grenoble too adding to the chaos 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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There’s a certain set of conditions we have experienced which I am quite alert to now. It’s when late in the afternoon you have light snowfall on a road, vehicles turning the snow to a slushy thin layer, then suddenly around 4-5pm the temp drops fast, to well below freezing. If there’s only low vehicle numbers and the road has not been salted, the surface becomes a glassy continuous sheen of 1-2mm of ice, and winters offer some, but scant grip. Any incline becomes quite a challenge. It doesn’t happen often around our way, but when it does there can be traffic chaos.
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@valais2, yes that's a very true scenario.
5cms of fresh cold snow is not an issue, however wet slushy snow with icy on road surface, chaos, which is pretty well what I encountered and instigated this thread.
And obviously exasperated at weekends.
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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.
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| valais2 wrote: |
| There’s a certain set of conditions we have experienced which I am quite alert to now. It’s when late in the afternoon you have light snowfall on a road, vehicles turning the snow to a slushy thin layer, then suddenly around 4-5pm the temp drops fast, to well below freezing. If there’s only low vehicle numbers and the road has not been salted, the surface becomes a glassy continuous sheen of 1-2mm of ice, and winters offer some, but scant grip. Any incline becomes quite a challenge. It doesn’t happen often around our way, but when it does there can be traffic chaos. |
Some of our local roads suffer from this quite regularly in the winter (we live in rural Perthshire). Winter tyres help for sure but the road can become treacherous very quickly especially with a change of altitude, resulting in sheet ice with little/no warning. I worry more about that than heavy snow as both our cars and big, AWD with winter tyres. Heavy snow is only annoying because we invariably end up being called out to rescue someone stuck on the high road over the hills from the main road to the village, as many people don't put winter tyres on. I have seen an increase recently in people using all season tyres which helps somewhat.
The other thing we get is heavy fog on very cold mornings creating a thin layer of ice.
I carry chains in my car as I do a lot of off-road miles and they are great for towing stuck cars out of muddy fields, have only had to use them once for snow but a few times for the conditions you describe to tackle downhill slopes. That said I often need to go out in inclement conditions which many others would probably avoid! The best answer would be studded tyres, unfortunately not allowed here.
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