Do you remember the first time that you drove in snow?

[newbury]

Nope, but I remember one of my extreme but good "driving on icey road" experiences.
About 1967 or 68, Northern Vermont, lived a mile back on a poorly maintained county one lane dirt road. Had a Toyota HiLux, truck sat very high in the rear and skittish as all-get out.
I worked at a small pet store, which mainly sold tropical fish and supplies. Colored gravel for fish tanks was a big seller. We had it in most of our tanks, red, green, yellow etc. If the fish in the tank got diseased we would normally toss the gravel.
We had LOTS of gravel. I carried about 200 lbs in the back of the truck. One very ICY morning I HAD to go to town despite the ice. I virtually crept along the road but kept sliding off into the snow banks. I'd get out and throw some gravel under the tires and creep out. I must have slipped off a t least 7 times in that one mile.
I left multicolored patches that existed throughout the spring, but I got to town.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I think everyone needs to learn how to drive in snow before driving in snow. Like a large parking lot. Took my stepdaughter to learn how to drive, stop, control in snow icing conditions. I remember telling her to jam the brakes so she could learn to steer while braking. She thought she was "drifting".
I learned on my own by pushing the limits, even loosing control. To this day, I still learn the limitations of any new vehicle. Just not with my wife in car...

 

[Jstpssng]

I think everyone needs to learn how to drive in snow before driving in snow. Like a large parking lot. Took my stepdaughter to learn how to drive, stop, control in snow icing conditions. I remember telling her to jam the brakes so she could learn to steer while braking. She thought she was "drifting".
I learned on my own by pushing the limits, even loosing control. To this day, I still learn the limitations of any new vehicle. Just not with my wife in car...

I agree. There used to be ice races on the lake north of here every winter. Minimum age was 13, there's no better way to learn.
I always wanted to go watch but never did.

Last week I was riding down a woods road with my boss. We started sliding on a patch of ice and without thinking put my hand up and countersteered, even though I didn't have a steering wheel to hold on to. A few days ago I just had to test out the posi in my pickup... shut the traction control off and left dual rainbows in the snow while leaving my driveway. I guess that some kids never grow up.

 

[deserteagle71]

^^^^^
That Honda 350 was one of the best engines made back then. If you don't still have the bike I bet that you wish you did.

You got that right! Super wide power band...up to about 7500 rpm it was just a good Honda engine. But between 7500 and 11,500 rpm (if I remember correctly that was redline) the power came on hard and you'd better be holding on tight!

My two favorite munchkins waiting for a ride....

 

[CobyRupert]

Not 1st time specifically, but it would of been with a rear wheel drive, maybe it had a tractor suitcase weight or two in the trunk.

With those rear wheel drives, you’d learn how to steer with the rear wheels and gas pedal.
Also had to sometimes remember to throw the automatics in neutral so the rear wheels don’t just keep pushing the locked up front wheels when trying to stop on ice.

 

[RickB]

I agree. There used to be ice races on the lake north of here every winter. Minimum age was 13, there's no better way to learn.
I always wanted to go watch but never did.

Last week I was riding down a woods road with my boss. We started sliding on a patch of ice and without thinking put my hand up and countersteered, even though I didn't have a steering wheel to hold on to. A few days ago I just had to test out the posi in my pickup... shut the traction control off and left dual rainbows in the snow while leaving my driveway. I guess that some kids never grow up.

They still have ice racing on the West Cove of Moosehead Lake at Greenville Junction.

 

[Jstpssng]

They still have ice racing on the West Cove of Moosehead Lake at Greenville Junction.

I didn't realize that. I thought they'd done away with it when they got rid of their dirt track.
I'll have to take a ride up this winter.

 

[Oaktree]

We had a 1977 Ford Granada, what a piece of crap. My dad put about 200 pounds of salt pellets in the trunk for weight. It helped but it rode low in the back so people were flashing their brights at him all the time.

Well, to be fair most mid-late 70s cars were crap. Can't offhand think of even one I'd want today.

As far as trunk ballast goes, friend of mine thought he'd be clever and put a big bag of sand in the trunk. Took a trash bag, filled it with sand. Worked great...but...he never gave any thought how he'd get it out in the spring. He was scraping/shoveling/vacuuming sand out of his trunk for a week!

^^^^^
That Honda 350 was one of the best engines made back then. If you don't still have the bike I bet that you wish you did.

I had a CB-360 back in the mid 70s, and it was nothing to write home about. Had a high frequency vibration at cruising speeds...not gut-shaking like a Harley, but still very fatiguing. Combined with a somewhat cramped riding position and a seat you'd swear was made out of cement it was not a fun ride for a trip any longer than an hour or so.
Traded it in on a Yamaha a few years later. Much better bike in all ways.

 

[ponytug]

Oh, you mean my driving test? A couple of feet of snow two days earlier, with 2-3" of packed snow/ice instead of pavement. The examiner dinged me for driving on the dry part of the pavement where other cars had worn off the ice rather than one the ice in the "proper" lane position.

The first time I was in a skid, I had reflexively flipped the steering around and was out of the skid before anyone, including me, knew what had happened.

My wife's dad taught her to drift the car around sharp hairpins with the hand brake. (He used to race cars.) She is a much more talented driver. I stick to the slow and steady stuff, like trailering the animals.

All the best,

Peter

 

[RickB]

I didn't realize that. I thought they'd done away with it when they got rid of their dirt track.
I'll have to take a ride up this winter.

West Cove Ice Racing has a Facebook page, if you do that. I didn't see a web page.

 

[newbury]

My wife's dad taught her to drift the car around sharp hairpins with the hand brake. (He used to race cars.) She is a much more talented driver. I stick to the slow and steady stuff, like trailering the animals.

All the best,

Peter

That's how my Dad taught me to drive the '66 VW in the winter. Turn the wheel while pulling the center handbrake. 90 degree turns all the time.

 

[JethroB]

1975 or ‘76 in a Willys jeep. The first measurable snow I can recall here. Only been one or two other snows here since. Maybe an inch each time.

 

[Thomas]

1969 Dodge pickup 3 speed on the column half worn recap snow tires set tire chains under seat if needed...learn rear quick how to double clutch.

 

[groundcover]

One of my first snow driving memories was going to get studded snow tires with mom on her '71 Ford LTD . 401 under the hood and the summer tires weren't worth keeping. Of course she waited for the first snow so I said I would drive to Sears with her, got as far as the main road and wouldn't go any further. Backed up and promptly slid into a neighbor's car. Broke a headlight on his but learned a lot that day !

 

[bigtiller]

I have been thinking about this thread for a full day now and I still don't remember the first time I drove in the snow. But I do know it would have been in a '53 Chevy.

 

[Torvy]

I grew up in SD, so most of my driving for 7 months of the year involved snow or ice. Driving age is 14. Smart folks had kids practice in snow in the church parking lot...only ones big enough with few cars except on Sundays.

I tried to do the same for my kids. Snow and ice is considerably less common here in Texas. Some of the kids had to wait a few years for the snow lessons.

For those unaccustomed to winter driving...1) stay off the road unless absolutely necessary. 2) minor adjustments are key. 3) braking is dangerous, if you ease up on the skinny pedal and pay attention further ahead, you can minimize use of the brakes 4) if you cannot comfortably handle 40 MPH or better in the conditions, stay off of highways. you will get you or someone else killed 5) if you drive across an ice patch, do not brake! Just remove foot from the skinny pedal and 'coast' across the patch....I am sure some other here can add to this list

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

December 12, 1972. My sixteenth birthday. We were getting ready to move from Wyomig to Portland, Oregon. Snowed for the two days before We were getting ready to move from Wyomig to Portland, Oregon. Dad wanted me to get my license so I could drive his F250, while Mom drove her car, and he drove the U-Haul. Snowed for the two days before, leaving about 2-niches of packed snow on the roads.

So, we go down to the county courthouse, to do the test. Written was easy. Time for the driving part. The tester and I get in the truck, and he has me go up form the court house and turn onto one of the streets that paralleled the main drag. Everything in town was uphill from the river, and the rail yards. I’m putting along at about ten miles an hour because the roads are slick. We’re two blocks from the courthouse coming up to a cross street. The cross street had a stop sign so we had the right of way. I just get the nose of the truck into the intersection, and hear a horn from uphil, look that way, and there is a car sliding down the hill at us. I give it a little gas trying to clear the intersection, and the rear wheels spin. So I crank the wheel to the left, and get the rear ended around and he hits us. Goes under the bumper and they lock together, and we are both sliding down the hill standing on the horn. Luckily there wasn’t any traffic on Main Street and we got across it, onto the flat and stopped. We get out, and its just the bumpers locked together. I flag down a couple of guys I know and we get the bumpers broke loose. His bumper is a bit bent, and scratched but the truck is fine.


The tester and I get back in the truck, and he asks me, “Why did you turn the wheel?” And, I explained that it would be easier to fix the bumper than the side, and it was a better place to get hit. He looked at me for a moment and told me to go back to the courthouse. I’m figuring I failed The road test, because I had an accident.

We go back to the courthouse, and get parked. He opens his clip board writes on the test form and signs it, then tells me to go get my license. He could tell from the look on my face how surprised I was at passing. He laughed, and told me I was the first, and probably the last person the get in an accident, and pass. But, I did the right thing and didn’t panic. So, he figured I would do ok, driving.

The next week I drove to Portland. Which was a new experience because I had never driven on the freeway before.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

1978 Ford Fairmont wagon

 

[bigtiller]

December 12, 1972. My sixteenth birthday. We were getting ready to move from Wyomig to Portland, Oregon. Snowed for the two days before We were getting ready to move from Wyomig to Portland, Oregon. Dad wanted me to get my license so I could drive his F250, while Mom drove her car, and he drove the U-Haul. Snowed for the two days before, leaving about 2-niches of packed snow on the roads.

So, we go down to the county courthouse, to do the test. Written was easy. Time for the driving part. The tester and I get in the truck, and he has me go up form the court house and turn onto one of the streets that paralleled the main drag. Everything in town was uphill from the river, and the rail yards. I’m putting along at about ten miles an hour because the roads are slick. We’re two blocks from the courthouse coming up to a cross street. The cross street had a stop sign so we had the right of way. I just get the nose of the truck into the intersection, and hear a horn from uphil, look that way, and there is a car sliding down the hill at us. I give it a little gas trying to clear the intersection, and the rear wheels spin. So I crank the wheel to the left, and get the rear ended around and he hits us. Goes under the bumper and they lock together, and we are both sliding down the hill standing on the horn. Luckily there wasn’t any traffic on Main Street and we got across it, onto the flat and stopped. We get out, and its just the bumpers locked together. I flag down a couple of guys I know and we get the bumpers broke loose. His bumper is a bit bent, and scratched but the truck is fine.


The tester and I get back in the truck, and he asks me, “Why did you turn the wheel?” And, I explained that it would be easier to fix the bumper than the side, and it was a better place to get hit. He looked at me for a moment and told me to go back to the courthouse. I’m figuring I failed The road test, because I had an accident.

We go back to the courthouse, and get parked. He opens his clip board writes on the test form and signs it, then tells me to go get my license. He could tell from the look on my face how surprised I was at passing. He laughed, and told me I was the first, and probably the last person the get in an accident, and pass. But, I did the right thing and didn’t panic. So, he figured I would do ok, driving.

The next week I drove to Portland. Which was a new experience because I had never driven on the freeway before.

Thanks for the memory;
I remember that storm, it turned into a blizzard the night before in central Iowa.
And that was the time my son decided he would enter this world.
12-12-72 what a coincidence.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I grew up in SD, so most of my driving for 7 months of the year involved snow or ice. Driving age is 14. Smart folks had kids practice in snow in the church parking lot...only ones big enough with few cars except on Sundays.

I tried to do the same for my kids. Snow and ice is considerably less common here in Texas. Some of the kids had to wait a few years for the snow lessons.

For those unaccustomed to winter driving...1) stay off the road unless absolutely necessary. 2) minor adjustments are key. 3) braking is dangerous, if you ease up on the skinny pedal and pay attention further ahead, you can minimize use of the brakes 4) if you cannot comfortably handle 40 MPH or better in the conditions, stay off of highways. you will get you or someone else killed 5) if you drive across an ice patch, do not brake! Just remove foot from the skinny pedal and 'coast' across the patch....I am sure some other here can add to this list

Good post! Common sense like this needs to be repeated until we get it.

I buy good winter tires, the tires are designed for better traction in cold weather.

First time driving in the snow was in a 49 chevy one ton. Good thing it had a top end of about 40 mph and got there real slow.