10/11 Tahoe Weather, Conditions, Stoke, and What's Up Thread

[Hoss Worthington]

I am a poor grad student who drives a corolla and cant afford even half way decent snow tires. However I still like to get after it on powder days. Chains are my friends and I wont apologize for using them. But I pull over whenever I need to dammit. Its not that hard to share the road. Highway 88 in particular has plenty of turnouts. The shit show is caused by idiots, not chains.

[unofficialandes]

When I first moved to Tahoe I had a piece of shit honda civic with some pretty lame tires on it. I thought, "hey, I'll be alright. I have been driving in NY and VT for years and never got stuck. Besides, Northwoods Blvd. does not seem that bad." WRONG.

California's chain control is the 8th wonder of the world. It puts the shit in shit show.

Me = 05/06 MC of Shit Show.

[RaccoonFace]

Since I can't resist contributing to the chain stoke thread…

Obviously I have been stopped at chain-control many a time, always in a AWD vehicle with M+S or snow tires. While on 80 or 50 I have always just been waved on, never even put down the window. 88 is a different story, three times last season we were asked if we had chains in our possession, we said yes and were waved on. The 88 "Chain-control Gestapo" seems far more strict in my opinion.

Get NV plates. They know we can drive

okbye

[SchralphMacchio]

I'm putting chains on my splitboard next season. Much better grip than mohair, though the glide leaves something to be desired.

[FranklezZ]

Re: the Hwy 88 "Chain-control Gestapo"

Car: AWD, M+S (once with snows)

I have been stopped, questioned, and made to show physical proof of chains on multiple occasions. On one such occasion I was made to unload my skis and packs in order to gain access to the chains which were in the spare tire compartment. On another the officer questioned me at length on destination, road laws, and snow safety. If it wasn't 7AM in the morning, I would of thought he was fishing for a DUI or some other illegal activity.

and on that note; one time I was having a beer at cooks station, apre ski, when HP walked in. My buddy and I watched him observe us for a while, then we ordered some food. we took our sweet time eating and watching TV seeing if we could wait him out. We did not order another beer. This did not work, he stayed put. Suspecting he would try and pull me over upon my departure, I maintained speeds just below the limit. 10 minutes down the road he appeared in my mirror... he followed me down the hill until I stopped for gas. Then waited for me at a pull out and reappeared behind me yet again. He followed me damn near to Jackson.

These guys are just itching for a reason to stop and detain you so be VERY careful out there. Head lights, brake lights, seat belts, bald tires, cracked windshields, High beams, or speeding... watch your ass. No I don't smoke weed, no I'm not paranoid. I'm just a regular 35 year old dude that has seen too much BS up there.

In short: Always have your chains out and in full view for the 88 Gestapo and when asked reply that the chain control speed limit is always under twenty five.

Ohh, I cant wait to run the 88 Gauntlet again this year

[Ottime]

Um, dumping in LA right now. At least that is what the radar looks like. At the very least, California is getting some much needed water, and it looks like quite a bit more is on the way for this October. If only the air were to get a wee bit colder by this weekend, it could be game on.

The 88 "Chain-control Gestapo" seems far more strict in my opinion.

I have not even seen them in at least two years. You must be getting up a bit too late.

[old goat]

Yeah, both states are a little too trigger-happy on the switch for the chain control signs and lights. I've hit that 267 one before, just after the Flatstar light, if you're headed towards the Lake. Most of the time the roads are dry when they're out there with the check...WTF. I've also crossed Rose many times when the chain lights are turned on, but the roads are only wet and its full sun outside...WTF.

The best place to use chains is the road up to Alpine Shreadows. On busy days (every weekend day) they send someone down to near the end of the road, just uphill from the R.Ranch. His job is to stop you on a snowy, steep, and busy little knoll on the road to let you know parking is full, but his real job is to cause everyone to stop on a steep slippery hill for really no good reason, and then cause 25 minutes of entertainment watching every soccer mom or teenager from SacCity trying to start moving again after they speak with him.

I think a shovel is a better thing to have in the car than chains anyway. I had rode Homewood's Ellis Chair up and then hiked back into some sweet spots one day this past winter. Nothing real steep, but real long tree runs through old open forests. It was snowing pretty good too, and I was pushing waste deep pow the whole hike. Time I got back to my car that evening I was exhausted. I was almost damn home but fell asleep going around the traffic circle on Pioneer Trail (pointless circle in Truckee)!! I just drove right off the side, into a stand of sparse trees across from the old Forest Service offices. That shit woke me up. I hadn't taken the time to renew my registration (or license) either, and I was like oh damn, Ive got to get this back on the road and normal looking before a cop sees me in here. I started with my tracks into the trees, and ended up digging what was essentially a dirt road back out to the circle. I did all this with my little avy shovel I had with me, and I did it all in like 20 minutes before a cop came. A few non-police people came around the circle while I was furiously digging and looked at me like I was insane. Chains wouldn't have done shit for me then. A shovel is also nice to carry because if someone else would have had one instead of chains, they could have stopped and help me dig out.

Shovel is mandatory around Tahoe. AWD's high center real easy--even if the the tires are touching, when the computer senses less than full traction all four wheels stop turning. Useful for shoveling people out who are stuck in front of you. Very useful for shoveling yourself out when some clown comes down the middle of the road and forces you into a snowbank. And one time I drove up Donner Lake Road (from the west end of the lake) to find a 10 foot high Cal trans berm across the road at the top--a bunch of us had to dig through it. No way to turn around or back down.

[FranklezZ]

we call that the millennium falcon effect

Same story, straight-ish downhill road, snowing in full effect. Pull the e-brake and lock up all four tires. We called it car sledding. Yes, multiple shovels were involved. I like to think it was inspired by Space Balls though.

[Emerson Biggin's]

Since this has been hijacked into a chain-control thread....
I was headin' out to KW one morning. It hadn't snowed in over a week, and the sun had been shining. The roads were bone dry, and I caught a bung-up of traffic moving slow between Picket's and Red Lake. Cars started passing the culprit, and when I got to the front of the line, I spied a brand new Hummer...lifted about 10", with chains on all 4 wheels, doing about 15 MPH. The chains were beating the shit out of the uber-yupster mobile. The ultra-groomed white 30 something couple with overly tight REI turtleneck fleece inside the vehicle looked absolutely MORTIFIED. I guess that when the CHP have run-in's with this type over, and over, and over again, they get paranoid and "over enforce" the R codes.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Just found this vid, which pretty much sums up the state of affairs of CA chain control.....

(Note: love that the 1st screen says "fail", yet the video creater misspelled interstate.... can't win them all)

[kona12]

You know the whacked out thing about the chains in possession law is that you are supposed to have chains in possession even if chains aren't required. Going up to Bear Valley I got pulled over by this ahole chp on a blue bird day with perfectly dry roads and he made me turn around and drive back down the hill (in my 4wd with snow tires) to buy chains even though they weren't required!

[Jim S]

Oct 20, minimal whiteness on the peaks, and this thread is 15 pages long.
I <3 the insanity.


Regarding chains, I can tell your from personal experience they are good way to keep your kids in line.

[Gerome]

I'll I can add is that I have never put chains on while living in CA. Frankly, I don't even know how to put them on.

California's chain control is the 8th wonder of the world. It puts the shit in shit show.

Says the guys that drive/drove the Porche/VW Cayanne/Toureg that have 2 decades of weekend warrior driving experience. I bet there are maybe two people watching this thread that actually drive 2WD cars. Caltrans probably makes their decisions based on the person that drives once a year to Tahoe in their RWD truck with bald tires. Sure they're preemptive in their decisions and plenty of them can't tell the difference between car types when it's their jobs to know, but typically, they make fairly good decisions.

Long live the snow plow!
now let's have some snow to plow

[Ottime]

^^^ I agree. Often, chain control can be a PITA, and is one of the reasons I bought a Subie. Growing up in NY, a driving all winter w/o chains, I never really saw a reason for them.

Until, I began driving in the Sierra and all the Bay Area folks coming up for their first time in the snow. Holy crap, what a shit show. 80 seems to be the worst, with a full variety of techniques, from the I have a Suburban, so I can drive 70mph to the folks putting along at 7mph.

Ultimately, forcing folks to put chains on 2WD vehicles seems to be a smart move. And Caltrans generally do a good job of keeping the roads clear. Now, if they could only communicate clearer about road closures and openings. I spent 12 hours at the bottom of the Spur for "a quick 1 hour closing". I was then told at 6AM there was 10 feet of snow on the road and it would be another 8 hours at least. So I turned around, headed back to 50 and pulled into KW before 9... the Spur opened at 9:10.

[LightRanger]

Says the guys that drive/drove the Porche/VW Cayanne/Toureg that have 2 decades of weekend warrior driving experience. I bet there are maybe two people watching this thread that actually drive 2WD cars. Caltrans probably makes their decisions based on the person that drives once a year to Tahoe in their RWD truck with bald tires. Sure they're preemptive in their decisions and plenty of them can't tell the difference between car types when it's their jobs to know, but typically, they make fairly good decisions.

Long live the snow plow!
now let's have some snow to plow

^^^ I agree. Often, chain control can be a PITA, and is one of the reasons I bought a Subie. Growing up in NY, a driving all winter w/o chains, I never really saw a reason for them.

Until, I began driving in the Sierra and all the Bay Area folks coming up for their first time in the snow. Holy crap, what a shit show. 80 seems to be the worst, with a full variety of techniques, from the I have a Suburban, so I can drive 70mph to the folks putting along at 7mph.

Ultimately, forcing folks to put chains on 2WD vehicles seems to be a smart move. And Caltrans generally do a good job of keeping the roads clear. Now, if they could only communicate clearer about road closures and openings. I spent 12 hours at the bottom of the Spur for "a quick 1 hour closing". I was then told at 6AM there was 10 feet of snow on the road and it would be another 8 hours at least. So I turned around, headed back to 50 and pulled into KW before 9... the Spur opened at 9:10.

Agreed. I remember I was driving back from SLT to Colfax after skiing with some college friends over spring break. It was cloudy, but no precip around the lake and as I went up to Donner Summit from Truckee. Right around Yuba Gap it started dumping as a cell made its way up. Poor viz, snow accumulating, no chain control and idiots whizzing by. I literally remember thinking, "This isn't going to end well." As I made it to the W/B offramp at Blue Canyon, traffic was totally stopped. I put the car in park, hopped out, and jogged up the freeway. A couple hundred yards-worth of jack-knifed bigrigs, cars in the bank and pointing the wrong direction, cars into the jack-knifed trailers, etc. Gnarliest accident scene I've ever seen. The highway was totally fucked. Thankfully as I jogged back to my Jeep, a CHP had just pulled up and was directing anybody who had 4WD and seemed capable, from right about where I was on the freeway and back, off the offramp and back on the onramp to get around the blockage.

Ever since then, although they annoy me at times, I've been with CalTrans/CHP on chain control decisions. I don't trust the majority of California drivers who often only drive in snow once or twice a year at most.

[dookeyXXX]

[Jim S]

Brilliant Dookey67!

[SchralphMacchio]

Caltrans probably makes their decisions based on the person that drives once a year to Tahoe in their RWD Corvette with street tires.

FIFY ... based on the most ridiculous of the spun out, traffic-backup-causing vehicles I saw last year on 88

Seriously I'm with Gerome though, most people coming out from San Leandro and Orangevale to their second ski trip of the year have no idea what extreme winter tire ratings mean or how difficult driving on ice-glazed steep winding passes really happens to be in a 1989 Mercury Topaz. Much easier to check for chains than for this thing
, as much as I'd rather have the CA requirements go to severe service ratings for winter travel over passes.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Bwahahaha - Dookey!!!!! That was awesome!

[kona12]

I'll be there. Are buying tickets at the door the only option? Online said not available last I checked.

Looks like you can get them on Fandango now. Which show are you two going to, 7 or 9?

[LightRanger]

Pretty awesome ticket deals for Mt. Rose at Liftopia right now:
http://www.liftopia.com/ski-resort-i....+Rose+10%2F20

[dutch1]

Much easier to check for chains than for this thing , as much as I'd rather have the CA requirements go to severe service ratings for winter travel over passes.

Agreed, but even if they checked the tires, a lot of manufacturers who meet the severe winter tire ratings no longer print them on the tires. My old bfg ko at's and my current gg at2's both meet the requirements but didn't have the signage printed. A sales rep at general claimed it was a liability issue w/ european markets (seems odd).

But on to weather, looks like rain this weekend (temps not low enough) followed by something pushing behind it for next week.

[bodywhomper]

Ever since then, although they annoy me at times, I've been with CalTrans/CHP on chain control decisions. I don't trust the majority of California drivers who often only drive in snow once or twice a year at most.

the thing is that CalTrans and CHP have to trust the driver (for the most part) if they are in an awd/4wd, which as most folks know here, doesn't mean shit to help you stop on slick roads.

i love how chp run their rwd cars with studded winters but it don't mean shit if you're doing the same. i remember harpo sharing a story of being turned around on the way to kw from slt in his 4wd truck with studded tires because he wasn't carrying chains.

[tom111869]

Looking forward to "Light the Wick" tonight at the Crest Theater in Sacramento.

[unofficialandes]

Dispelling The Rumors - a ski movie - Squaw Valley USA
Gopher showed this last night at the ISSW. Pretty funny shit.
http://www.unofficialsquaw.com/index...me/4/5910.html