Just wondering

Greetings!

One of the joys of working in the telecommunications field is that it is just as easy to work out of my "home office" is it my real cubicle. I have been home, watching the snow, doing all the server stuff from here while listening to those that did go to the building tell their horror stories. Anyone in NJ should be familiar with the concept of 287 in the snow...

No... but I was having a blast in the company parking lot with my emergency brake

Yup. I'm convinced that the entire suburban Philadelphia area has a single snow plow for all the roads, and about 3,000 of them for all of the corporate driveways and lots. On my feeble attempt to drive to work today, I saw no less than ten plows plowing driveways and parking lots, but not a single plow doing the roads. Consequently, the parking lots were nice and clear, while the roads that actually GET people to work (and to those nice clear parking lots) were a complete mess. I gave up about 10 minutes into my journey and came back home. Mustangs and snow don't mix.

I was actually amazed at how well my acura handled in the snow.... but it's front wheel drive.... Funny, on the way in this morning I saw a guy in an all wheel drive Volvo cross country... spinning... just like the guy in the VW commercial thinking how great all wheel drive would be. Luckily he didn't hit anyone, unfortunately he brought 3 lanes of traffic to a grinding halt. I hate the mentality that just because you have 4 wheel drive/all wheel, it makes you invincible on the ice... so why not drive like an idiot. Don't get me wrong I'm all for having the security of 4 spinning wheels but people need to realize that momentum and ice don't work well together.

Well that's all the private contractors getting their jobs done while the city sits there and says, WOW! That came outta nowhere! Our plows just weren't ready for this one."

I'm sitting here with an internet connection from work, but can't run any tools to do work, so it's surfin' time while they "fix the switch."

I'm at work and it looks like there's 6 inches+ out there. I pulled my car into one of the garages so it doesn't get snowed in. Unfortunately a computer problem (what else) is causing me to stay late when everyone else left early. But I only live 7 minutes away, so I can't complain too much.

I wasn't going anywhere today. Got about 8 or so inches here. I walked around and saw several amusing situations though... people driving around that forget to brush off the snow from in front of their headlights... 2 guys trying to free a stuck 240sx by flooring it (rear wheel drive + snow and ice = bad situation)... a truck that almost slammed into a rollback... Good times. My roomate came home early and we found some unplowed parking lots for his Jeep to play in later on. Lots of fun.

we'd love to be snowed in

The other end of PA woke up to about 2 inches of snow and it was still falling (I hear; I was asleep. There were 3 inches on the ground and nothing in the sky when I got up at 10)

The roads were plowed when I ventured out, but everyone forgot how to drive in snow. Color me shocked.

Meanwhile, here in L.A. it was Sunny with a couple of small clouds and a high of about 75.

I'm sorry, I had to do that.

Damn you I miss the sun... Though it's fun every once in a while to have a snow day

Suck for you bring on the snow ! Minneapolis hasn't gotten any yet just cold.

Anyone else out there snowed in today?

God, don't I Wish!

The weather this year in Fairbanks (Alaska) has been disastrous.

Here we are, coming up on the middle of December, and there is perhaps half an inch of snow on the ground. It has been raining off and on for the past two weeks. (Makes for interesting driving conditions when it is raining, but the ground is still frozen -- water standing on top of ice on the roads. [rant]Believe it or not, my pet peeve isn't the idiots on their four wheel drive trucks who drive like maniacs, but instead it is the timid, white-knuckled drivers in perfectly capable automobiles (like a 4WD Subaru) who are so terrified at the thought of slippery pavement that they drive down the freeway (in the left lane, of course) at 25 MPH, knowing full well that if their tires were to slide even momentarily on the ice that their car would instantly burst into flames and explode, killing everybody and everything within a 200 yard radius.[/rant])

Anyway, this is disastrous. There are businesses in this town that are wholly dependent on snow and cold weather -- ski shops, shops that sell snow machines, auto repair shops that depend on cold weather to cause car problems. These businesses are in serious trouble. Hell, even I have a snow plowing business that has a total gross revenue this winter of $0.00, after spending $400 doing repairs and maintenance on my plow truck. There are recreational activities (skiing, snowmobiling, winter bicycling) that just aren't happening; recreational facilities (world-class cross country ski areas, downhill ski areas) that are closed to the public. Dog mushing is a very serious and big $$ sport in this area -- I think first prize in the Iditarod is something like $30,000 plus a new Dodge truck -- and nobody can even train.

Believe it or not, if the rain has stopped when I leave work tonight, I am going to wash my car in my driveway, in the middle of December. The temperature today is probably 50 degrees above normal.

This affects us the way that temperatures 50 degrees below normal would affect Florida.

So, no, I'm not snowed in. But I sure wish I were.

tanstaafl.

Props to East Coast.

> Anyone in NJ should be familiar with the concept of 287 in the snow...

Paul, I took 287 to and from work today with NO problems. Crazy, huh? And I didn't see a single accident. And I didn't come to a single unnecessary stop. I just rolled along at 35 for both commutes. It was an amazing feat of New Jersey Road Raging Maniac Drivers to work together and get where they were going without causing any problems.

I gave up about 10 minutes into my journey and came back home. Mustangs and snow don't mix.

Tony, don't take this personally, but anybody who thinks this was a snow storm hasn't exprerienced a real snow storm. I'm here in beatiful Herndon, VA driving a rental Bulgemobile (Buick) with no-season tires and I could make even this piece of Detroit shite find its way to Starbucks at 7AM.

So, ATTENTION: Anybody who thinks this was s snowstorm, please sign up for the remedial snowstorm class! (OK, if you are driving some rear-wheel-drive hog like Mustang we'll give you a $20 discount!)

And here in Oly I took the old Convert. Dart out for a trip to the music shop. Really beautiful, a bit cold but beautiful.

So, ATTENTION: Anybody who thinks this was s snowstorm, please sign up for the remedial snowstorm class!

While this might be a spoiler for the class, the picture above is a perfect chance at a lesson. If you can still see parts of your car, it's not a major storm, and schools will only be delayed 90 minutes.

You don't need to tell me about real snowstorms, my family lives in up-up-upstate NY (Canada, basically) and they get snow like 7 months out of the year. In 1998 they lost power for several weeks in a massive ice storm.

I know the crap we get down here in Philly is nothing, but in a Mustang, a light drizzle is distressing. I love my car but I really need to move to Florida or something.

I know the crap we get down here in Philly is nothing, but in a Mustang, a light drizzle is distressing. I love my car but I really need to move to Florida or something.

No way am I gonna get on your case, but I think that in Philly you really need either some cheap Japanese AWD vehicle like a W, R, Eh, Eh.... OR some big, cheap FWD rental car like a Buick Century.

Mustangs. Haven't they been banned in 48 or 49 states? Just Louisiana and Florida are left!

Greetings!

Oh, I am sure this was not a real snow storm, in terms of sheer quantity. But when it comes to the choice of going out driving to get to work, or staying home and working there, I will choose the later. Even if I know what to do in the snow (not always a certainty) it doesn't mean that the guy in the next lane does...

Here in Ohio we have clear skies and only 2 inches. I wish we would get more! At least the local ski resort is opening today (and I have a season's pass) so that is good news. I find that Ohio drivers are bad in the snow, second only to drivers in the south. Me, I'm from northern Maine originally so I just think the whole thing with snow is tremendously funny, except when I am driving alongside spinning SUV's on the highway.

I work a lot with people in South Carolina and the last few days stores were sold out of bread and milk because of the fear factor associated with ice storms in the area.

Because your avatar graphic shows a mountain climber, I keep assuming you're Mark Lord. I should really read the usernames instead of just picking up the graphic out of my peripheral vision.

Hey, we got 5" down here in Cincinnati which is the most we have had in years. Dayton area got about an inch maybe a little bit more. You're right that most Ohio drivers don't know what to do in it and the road crews don't seem to know how to clear the roads very well.

Maybe if we got more snow all of the time things would be better instead of the widespread panic that ensues when 1" is predicted. The grocery stores become packed with people afraid of being snowed in for weeks and it never happens.

Where, exactly, does one ski in Ohio?

Perfect North Slopes but it's in Indiana right across the border. I've seen signs for skiing at Mad River but I'm not sure exactly where that is located. We do have hills in some parts of Ohio, mountains even

what is snow?

*laughs* well, I snowboard at Mad River Mountain where on Saturday they had about 24-30" of man-made snow. It's located about an hour west of Columbus. You have a huge 300' of vertical to ride ;-)

It doesn't compare at all to the northeast (Vermont, NH, ME) or out west, but I'm happy that at least I have something to ride. The runs are very short, but you make do with what you have.

I've attached a picture of the hill looking down from the top. My friend Andy is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him.

Another of Andy and I on the lift.

I'm looking to gather up some friends from back east and get my butt away from omaha for a weekend this winter and do some skiing. I was wondering if you had any recomendations for eastern slopes. I've been to Timberline in WV (it's ok...) and Wisp in Maryland (good, better than timberline), but no others. We're all pretty good on skis, so good downhill is a must. Shopping/stuff to do for the respective wives/girlfriends that don't ski would be nice too.

The grocery stores become packed with people afraid of being snowed in for weeks

This mayhem unfortunately happens in Baltimore too, and I have yet to figure out why in the hell people do this. If there is mere mention of snow in the forecast, the inept local news crews all swarm to local grocery stores to document this stupid event, then they proceed to the city and the county's salt domes to "make sure that the road crews are prepared to handle it". One of these days, I'm going to go to the store before a storm and start grabbing people asking why the hell they must go buy out the entire supply of milk, bread, and toilet paper out of each and every store.

However, anyone caught in the path of an ice storm has ample reason for concern. You cant push it, it pulls electric lines down, and you damn well can't drive on it.

I have no ability to relate to this thread, having grown up in Arizona, and now living in Southern California. Snow is something we ski on when we go up to the mountains, that's it!

It sounds like you are going towards the mid-atlantic (MD, WV) so I would suggest Snowshoe in West Virginia. It has the most skiable terrain in that area of the US. I have ridden there many times and it's a good place to go, two mountains with varying terrain, and decent prices. It's quite remote, so there isn't a lot of shopping around, but the condos are really nice, and you can get some for a reasonable price, especially if you stay at the base of the mountain (the resort is on top, with a lot of the condos starting at the top of the runs). I have had some good luck snowboarding there in March right after the prices fall, and even got a sunburn on my nose one year.

then they proceed to the city and the county's salt domes

Do they actually still use salt there? Here in Colorado for the past few years, we have only seen a liquid de-icer and dirt used to keep the roads drivable. It's actually working pretty well, and is less of a mess to clean up afterwords.

I can't either and I live in minnesota.

Probably why are roads are still quite slick in the snow, they still use salt but this year they are mixing in the liquid!

I'm a little late on ths one, but my power has been out for nearly four days due to ice bringing down a lot of tree limbs, which brought down a lot of power lines.

Lemme find some good pictures for you...

Pretty:

Ugly:


(Both images blatantly stolen from forums.triangle.com.)

The interesting thing is that even though all of the trees were completely swathed in ice, there was no ice on the roads and only a dusting of snow/sleet on the unpaved ground.

They're showing the salt domes on the news again tonight We have some freezing rain expected tonight.

Yeah I saw. There is a milk and bread shortage again in Baltimore. 2nd time in a week.

[asking about eastern slope recommendations]

Give Jay Peak a whirl (jaypeak.com, I think). I was there a few years ago one February. They're supposed to get the most snowfall of any mountain in the East. It's only 30-45 minutes south of the Canadian border (Hwy 10 south from Montreal), and they take Canadian money at par. No idea what the shopping situation is like -- I was on the hill from first lift till last lift.

[edit]Jay Peak is in VT, BTW

Oh, I forgot to mention there's also Mont Tremblant, which is an hour north of Montreal (I think, I've never been there), and Mte Ste Anne, which is about 1/2 hour to an hour from Quebec City. Can't vouch for the skiing there, as I've only been there once during the summer to watch World Cup mtb. Gotta love the US dollar in Canada...

I was at Jay last weekend, and had some knee deep in the woods, a WEEK after it stormed. It's a 3.5 hr drive for me, but oh, so worth it.

-Zeke

Herndon VA? I work in Chantilly.... are you from around here or just visiting?

I think the poster was near the DC area, so I gave him a place near there where he could go. VT is quite a long drive from MD. If you are in the northeast, though, Sugarloaf, ME has the only lift-serviced above treeline skiing in the east. It's also got the longest continuous trails in the east, and it's only 4 hours away from Montreal. They also have an awesome halfpipe and a great terrain run that they build with the Pipe Dragon (spines, tabletops, gaps, etc). Above treeline powder doesn't usually get tracked out for a few days, either.

I work in Chantilly...

In the Big Blue Building?....Satellite spook?

Naw, I'm just being held captive in Herndon, working on a project we coulda *sworn* was over a month ago. Some nice freezing rain this morning, anyway!

Friday=Seattle/home. Tuesday=Copenhagen (and no laptop or e-mail access!!)

Yeah, not many decent places to go near MD/DC/VA. Snowshoe is the best in the area but its a far drive. 7 springs has a good resort, but the mountain is small. For day trips I usually pass by Liberty/Roundtop and head to Blue Mountain - little further but you get more mountain.

I've always wanted to go to Jay Peak, and I can't wait to get back to Sugarloaf sometime. I don't think they use it anymore, but last time I was there they had the Gondola running. I have a brand new pair of skis sitting in my closet just aching to get on the snow.

Check out goski for excellent regional ski mountaint and resort guides.

Anyone in the MD/PA/DC area want to meet on the slopes sometime?

No... no satelites... I have a cousin that does that kinda stuff... No I work for a military healthcare software developer.

Yeah the freezing rain was great, got totally soaked while scraping the frickin quarter inch of ice off my windows!!

I'm taking a snow day today. Coming down pretty good in Cincinnati right now and I don't feel like spending the day on the road.