Hunting the last few days of Wt deer in N Idaho. Drove up into the mountains where I saw a decent buck a few days ago in a clearcut up top.. Started snowing pretty good in the upper Selkirks. About 2 feet and still coming down hard so decided to head to lower elevations. I took a shorter route through a remote mountain pass. Pretty big pucker factor as did not have the chains along. lol

that why they make 4 low

Beautiful country up your way.

Love north Idaho. Also, just bought a set of Trac-Grabbers for that exact reason. Sometimes snow runs me out of my hunting country here, too. Believe it or not.

I have had to "tow a tree" a few times doing that.

Cut a tree down and attach a chain or rope to it and make a drag. You pull it down hill and up hill and the pull on the center of the rear bumper or hitch keeps the rear of your rig from trying to pass the front.
In central Idaho and also in the Sierras a few times I have had to do that to get down a mountain after the snows came in at night. The tree needs to be fairly large to have enough drag and weight to stop the rig from spinning and pulling it in low range you can feel the tires working just to get down hill. Not good for gas mileage, but VERY good for keeping you from going over an edge and ending up in a wreck.

Scared on a plowed road? Laffin.

You really are an idiot.

I understand city slickers can’t tell a plowed road.

Totally understandable

lol

I have installed chains in those conditions, on the back wheels, when I was pulling a trailer with four horses, and had no brakes on my buddy's trailer.

I will even add chains to the front wheels without a trailer if the snow hits the front bumper.

Awesome photo. I crossed over Cottonwood Pass in October of 2019 in a freaky blinding whiteout snowstorm that came outta nowhere. No fun. Pretty big pucker factor there too.

Snows no problem as long as it’s not too deep. It’s the packed ice on a grade that will pucker you up. I’ve already used my corks this year, those chains rock.

That’s a great tip, I hope I never have to use it.

That does not look fun.

I got stuck a few weeks ago when I was hunting in central Montana. The trails were pretty clear for the most part, but there was one stretch, about a mile long, in a low area that had a ton of drifted snow piled up. I thought I could get through it and was wrong. Buried the truck pretty good and had to abandon it. I had chains with me, but I didn't think the snow was so deep and didn't walk the trail first to check snow depths. By the time I was stuck, it was too late for chains.

After a few other guys helped me to get back to my cabin (and then home), I ordered a set of trac grabbers as well as knock-off maxtrax. The maxtrax and a bit of shovel work got me out in about 5 minutes. I now keep the chains, trac grabbers and maxtrax in the truck at all times in winter and am looking for how to really get stuck next time.

Nice try dumbfugk. Look up the Wasatch Mountains in Utah you idiot. Or the Unitas or the Sierras or the Sawtooths

Waste of time, millennial's know everything.

Like I tell my son - if think you might need chains, you should already have them on. Of course I learned that lesson the hard way

How to really get stuck? That is easy. All you need is eight inches of new powder accompanied by 30 mph winds followed by a warm wind and 1/2 inch of rain.

Every wind sheltered section of road will be drifted 3 to 4 feet deep. And those drifts will be dense as hell.

You can hit them at about 25 mph in a 72 lifted K5 Blazer, and then you will find yourself high centered on the drift with the tires about a foot off the ground..Chains do not help.

All you can do is get out and shovel snow until you get the tires back down to pavement.

I think it was the winter of 1979. It took me three hours to make the first two miles of county roads, and then I found the plowed parts.

It was another three days before the county got those two miles dug out. In the meantime, I went back to driving my 71 Celica. It would toboggan over the drifts, if they were not to long, and I had done enough shoveling to ensure they were not.

It was a lot of fun getting to work and home for those four days, but I never missed a shift, nor was I tardy.

Oh to be 25 years old again.

Then you are either blind or stupid (maybe both) if you can't tell that road has been plowed. I've backed up more miles on those kind of roads then you driven forward.

Ditto.
I damn near got into a fender bender on a steep and blind curve on a mountain road 3 days ago due to the packed ice, on a road a lot like in the picture. Two pickups had already slid into each other and were completely blocking the road. Luckily I got stopped, but in doing so I slid off the road and had one tire almost over a steep embankment. I finagled my chains on and backed up a half mile to a place I could turn around and took the long way home. Without chains I would have been stuck there until the next day when someone could help yank me out, and get the other two vics out of the roadway.

Chains are an absolute godsend. The next day, I took my wheeler into the area, instead of messing around with a full sized vehicle. It made getting around oncoming vehicles sooooo much easier...

Nevermind

Why do many of you argue with that numbnut?

Was just thinking the same thing, What a waste of skin, and time....

Photo reminds me of Cabbage Hill on I 84 on many winter days. Seven miles of 6% if I remember correctly, it has been a couple years.Highway 95 through Central Id will look like that on many winter mornings, until the plows get to it.

That sure looks like a plow berm on the downhill edge of the road in the original photo.

Same here. Lesson learned.

L.W.

I'm sure you can see that nice uniform bank on the right side of the road with the snowballs. That's from a plow

It’s a gravel FS road caldum. Very little if any winter maintenance

I thought you lived out west. I didn’t run into another vehicle other than snowmobiles. Lmao

I looked a little closer and think you're right....but it had snowed again since that plow went through.
There doesn't look to be a plow berm on the inside side of the road....and that is just a basic USFS mountain road so I am not sure why they would plow it. Maybe there's access to a county road down there or some of the ROW associated with it.
Ribka, are you sure it isn't a timber company road and they're the ones who plowed it? It seems to be an oddly small road to plow.

I’ve driven through more snow than that in a minivan..... love that country, but only an idiot would go out there without good tires and chains. There have been many a time I drove my little 2wd Taco past “stuck” 4wd full size pickups on roads like that. Good snow tires are what separates the men from the idiots.

I deleted my response to him. He looks to be a Freak Show bandit, where I don't venture too much so I wasn't really aware of his ways....

yep.

I have seen hunters with camps do this. Plow it one swipe so they can get back and forth to their camps. Its did snow on it since the guy ran his plow over it.


That snow bank didn't make itself. And the FS are not the only ones with plows. LOL

I’ve done cabbage hill in the 80’s where they we sending us down in pairs. That way the didn’t have a big pileup to clean up. That was interesting

I carry two sets of chains for when SHTF. I tend to turn around or boogy out of dodge before needing them. But if I do, both sets are ready to go.

We don’t get to play in the snow down here. -sniff-

Studded winter tires are never, not worth it !

I hate it when the ages old ranch roads that are worn down 3 feet below the surrounding prairie in NW Texas and the 1 foot of snow is drifted 2 feet deep in the eroded out road. You can be driving along in 4wd and have your skid plate building up snow under the forward moving truck until it builds up enough to the point the truck is sitting on top of it with all 4 wheels spinning - in then worthless granny low.

When that happens late in the evening you thank God for 3/4 tank of gas, a sleeping bag, Pepper Jack crackers, a can of sardines and a can of Vienna's.

PS. It doesnt matter then Rib, if you have chains or not. You can sit there and party all night and the engine heat wont melt an inch of that packed snow you're sitting on to be able to back out, either.

Its walk out the next day if you dont have cell service too. With out coffee.
Now I have a little single burner stove, gas canister, pot and whole small seals new plastic can of Folgers Columbian.

Can I get an AMEN!

That road looks great. We got goat trails here and no passing on the trail. Not enough room for 2 vehicles to pass.

Great pic.

I like snow. Usually pretty fun to drive on.

Ice is another matter entirely. Closest I’ve come to buying the farm was on a mostly clear road coming down the west side of Chelan. Was hardly enough snow to make a snowball except for those tight bends on the north side of the hills. Those were sheets of ice.

My labia was quivering until I hit the hard road. 😆

Yeah, me too. I just was out hunting for several days, went to bed there was about 6" of snow, woke up to almost 2ft.
Packed up to move to lower ground, chain up all four on a 85 chevy 1 ton dually and took me 5hrs to go 2 miles having to dig out 5 or 6 times.
It was nasty pushing snow with the bumper and the big block 454 just working to get out of there, I got lucky.

What are corks?

Cork boots...Boots with sharp spikes in bedded in the soles. Used by loggers and others who are dealing with wet, slick, terrain.

😎

Thanks.

Do you drive a Subaru?

My Tundra would have made short work of that.

A Geo Metro would make short work of that, with the right tires or chains on.

Ribka's point with that pic has nothing to do with the 3-4 inches of unplowed snow. It's the packed ice. The kind that'll make you slip on your ass on your first step out of the vehicle.

Yep 4 wheel drive works great braking in on a steep downhill rmountain road ice. lol

I have a Tundra, and this aint the golf course cuck911.

Driving down a steep and remote mountain gravel road pass with a 1500 ft drop off and in 2 feet of wet freezing snow aint like driving a golf cart in suburban Colorado. That was the entire point of the post. I think a local snowmobile club plowed that road. a metro would have been pushing snow with its bumpers the 2 miles up the pass.

Yep lesson learned- I left the house without chains and should have known better hunting in the mountains as conditions change quickly.

LOL!

Weeeee! A slippery icy road in wet snow. DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

Give me a fuggin' break.

I have a 2011 Tundra Rock Warrior with the SuperCharger kit on it from the factory.

An excellent rig! I’ve climbed some seriously stupid mountains in snow and ice. But, I’ve yet to figure out how to safely come down the steep grades once I’m done scouting.

I’ve stayed hours and even did an overnight on a mountain top because if I tried coming off. I would either be dead or typing this drivel with my nose.

Goin up ain’t ever the problem. It’s down.

😎

Was that pic taken way further down the mountain? I am not seeing anything close to 2 feet of snow. Even the built up plow berm doesn't look half that deep.

I'm not too sure I agree. It is fairly rare, but I have done this going uphill on mountain roads. The pucker factor gets redlined.

Just gotta stay on it brother...You let off and the circus can begin. Grins

😎

Edit...That’s a solid sheet of ice. I’m speaking of packed ice with snow. Nobody can safely do a steep grade on an ice sheet without serious traction devices and fûck ton of lucky....

Chaining a log to the back to keep from spinning around is pretty hard core.... most spooked I've been was in a sudden white out.... I was totally disoriented. I wanted to just stop but was afraid someone would just run into me so I just creeped along at maybe 5 MPH.... was very relieved when I could start to see again.... pretty surprised I hadn't driven off the road too.

up aint a problem, its the down gravity problem. I don t care how good your tires are

Ha! keeping on the gas often works, but not always. I've rolled a UTV with a dog box and 4 lion hounds in it by flooring it uphill, then sliding back down like that bus. I've also floored it when chained up....only to dig down through the packed snow and become high centered. That is a rare situation, but I have done it.

With some unpacked snow on top, you for sure get at least some traction. The road in Ribka's pic has unpacked snow, but something tells me around some of the bends it has been packed down to nothing but solid ice, just like what I was dealing with last Saturday. Several hunters slid into each other that day, because it was essentially like the ice in the bus GIF above, but on a one lane dirt road with a stellar embankment to fall off.

Yeah....I think that’s what I said. Double checking. Yep! I concur. 😬😎

Holy Fook! How’d the hounds do being tumble dried? Hope they came out ok.

I’m not saying this shît is easy, or only special dudes know how to drive in mother nature’s nightmare. The worst is not being prepared for the situation, or not having gear to help mitigate the adventure.

I usually know leaving what I may be getting myself into. Doesn’t change the vapor lock I have had on my o-ring when it happens.

Sometimes you think you can do it....And sometimes you know you got no choice but to try. “Passenger side or drivers side door open to bail” BTDT too.

Love hunting!

😬😎

They were used to it. Just another day of being thrown around in the dog box to them.

99+% of the time I have no issues. This Saturday was actually the first time in probably 5 years that I absolutely needed chains to get out and back to town, but I also don't push the limits like I used to. I used to do stuff like that on purpose...because I enjoyed the rush, and had to start walking to get help several times a year.

If your hounds could only talk....Laffin 😎

I don't own them...they're a buddy's.

He's way worse of a driver than I am.

On my 2008 Tundra I install chains front and rear. You have to make the front chains very tight, or they will hit the suspension. Rears are

a piece of cake. I use the big rubber truck tighteners. The chains I use are the ones with cross bars, they will sure dig and I make sure I have

extra weight in the bed. I usually put the mostly worn out cross bar chains on the front. After I go about a 100 yards I stop and make sure all the chains are

as tight as i can get them, especially the front.

2 questions for this thread...

Thoughts on using chains in mud?

ribka, what are the Maxtrax knockoffs?

Yes, chains in mud works good.

Chains will definitely get you around in the mud. Back in the seventies I kept a set of chains on the 64 chevy 1/2 ton 2WD silage feeding pickup. I was pushing about 4 to 6 inches of mud with the old girl.

The tires were 7.50-16 6 ply bias street tread. I would have never made it up the hill to the pit without the chains. I was feeding four loads a day, all we could pitchfork onto a 8 foot narrow bed with 10 inch side boards.

Chains in the mud; granny low is your friend. Easy on the throttle. You never want to spin a tire, or you will be looking for a wooden plank and the High Lift jack.

Beaver10, T Inman and those who've driven on snow packed on ice;
Top of the morning to you all, I hope the day is breaking bright and clear for you all in your respective corners of the universe.

Since it wouldn't be me if I didn't have a story about something once in awhile, I'll relate if I may a tale of fresh snow on a vertical curling rink base.

My late father used to be quite blasé about road conditions sometimes, which really wasn't exactly a logical position since he was a flat lander for most of his life, but somehow he'd grown to trust my mountain driving ability and the near bullet proof abilities of my '80 Toyota 4x4 longbox.

So it was that we were heading over a local mountain pass logging road, the November sun just beginning to soften up the new snow, when the Toyota pitched sideways on the road without warning.

As per usual, I shut the truck off, left it in first gear, low range and pulled that old ebrake nearly right out of the dash - remember when Toyota's were there?

It became instantly apparent to me we were in for an interesting time when, upon my first boot touching the ground that I slid underneath the truck... oh pooh...

Editing in remainder - not sure what happened there...

The Toyota had a 6000lb Warn on a heavy duty bush bumper, but in order to rig to a large enough tree I had every rope and strap in the box looped together to make it work. Of course being so slippery, the truck pulled straight with ease.

Before continuing on with the process of somehow turning the truck around, I'd just piled all the ropes, cables and straps on the hood and bush guard, then got into the truck to have a quick council of war with Dad as to our next course of action.

The conversation really didn't get started, as the truck - still off, steering wheel locked, in first low, with the ebrake on, took of like an Olympic luge sled backwards down the narrow mountain road!!!

I looked down over the bank on my side and it was a solid couple dozen feet of free air between us and the first trees, admittedly passing us quickly as we careened downwards with ever increasing velocity. I said to Dad, "Put your seatbelt on, we're going over on my side!" and he calmly muttered back, "We'll be fine Dwayne", but began to fumble with his seatbelt...

Suddenly the left rear tire caught in the V-Plow groove - put in so roads don't wash out in hard rains - and through God's providence instead of us going further over the bank, spun the truck around so now we were headed down the narrow pass forwards... the hood still piled with recovery straps, the motor still off, steering wheel locked, etc and etc....

Part ways down the stretch before the corner at the bottom, there's always a corner at the bottom isn't there? Part ways down I got the truck started, found a gear and released the ebrake, but we over shot the corner a tad despite this, but I now had the accelerator pushed down as hard as I'd been pushing the brake and we managed to scratch our way back onto the road.

I turned to Dad and so help me the first words out of his mouth were, "See, we're fine"..

This was in my memory, one of two times that I raised my voice to my father as I respected him greatly, but that day prior to getting out to put the cables and straps away, I replied rather enthusiastically, "We were not fine Dad!"

As a wee bit of an after story, story, this was the first time I was to meet a chap who was the new Conservation Officer in our area and we'd have many pleasant times after that, but as I was finishing up running the winch cable in, down the same slippery road came the BC Conservation Officer Service Chevy 4x4. Now this fine man was full Japanese extraction, but when he rolled down his window, he looked as pale as I did that morning and all he said was a typical Canadian, "Holy S__t Eh?"

He continued on after that brief typical Canadian, winter road condition report and we laughed about it many times after that.

Thanks for letting my mind wander back to a day long ago when my late father and I used to spend a week together in the local mountains. They were wonderful days and when I now travel the same paths with my daughter, I am struck with the thought of how blessed I am to be able to live this life.

Thanks for reading too, all the best to you all.

Dwayne

There is also such a thing a "Mud-Service" chains. Much larger links so as to act like "paddles".

No kidding. Who would think anyone the fire would exaggerate? LOL

My .02;

Up, or down, it doesn't matter, you brake traction, either through acceleration or braking, you're phoucced !

& if you want to up the pucker factor x 100, break through the top layer of lake ice & hope it's frozen solid underneath.

You didn't park lower, pull out the atv and drive that like 90% of idohoans with them in the beds.
My kid lives in N ID, those snow packed mtn roads are to be wary of, we carry 4sets of chains when up in that stuff. Glad you were safe.

Thank you Idaho and 673 for the chains, thank you Dwayne, good story, good thread all.

I have driven though much worse than pictured in a 1952 Buick. I would chain up when the snow was much over a foot deep though. With the chains, the old boat would plow through a lot of snow. In the late sixties, we lived near Troy, Idaho. I believe it was in the winter of '68 - '69, we got 34" of snow overnight. I and my brother were determined to get into town so we dug out the Buick, chained up, and got ready to go. The driveway was about 100 yards and downhill. There was a good bank on the uphill side so it was easy to know where the road was and this stretch was easily accomplished. When we git to the county road, the car was starting to overheat and I had to open the hood and dig the snow out from in front of the radiator. The snow level was just about even with the top of the hood and it was impossible to see where the road was when sitting in the car so the routine was to wallow ahead of the car, on foot, for a 100 yds or so, to mark the road. Then, I would get in the car, back up twenty feet of so, then hit the wall of snow and plow ahead. When I got to the end of the marked trail, I would back up, clean the snow from the radiator again, then wallow ahead to mark the road again and repeat. It took me a bit over an hour and a half to cover the first mile. At the end of that mile, I reached the turn off to the ski hill which had been plowed earlier and showed only a foot or so of snow. From there on, it was an easy drive to town. This was to be a challenging winter and the old Buick got quite a workout.
Because I traveled a lot and was often alone, I always carried a sleeping bag and some extra clothing along with an axe and shovel. Not surprisingly, it is when I am ill-prepared that I am most likely to have problem. GD

Thanks for the story Dwayne.

I have had many slippery adventures. But none so adrenaline worthy as that.

I was expecting a black joke.

Good stuff Dwayne.....I'm luv'n it.

This is actually a pretty good, (somewhat) non-provocative conversation on the 'fire, for once.

About the only time I had to drive in some serious snow was back when I lived in Nevada. If I wasn't stuck working I would have to go "over the hill" to go from Winnemucca to San Francisco to have Christmas with family. "Over the hill" meant driving Interstate over the Sierras. A couple of times the only vehicles allow to go were four wheel drive with chains on all four wheels. Most of he time it was uneventful, just slow. I had a 69 Ford F100 at that time with a one speed transfer case. That damned truck would go anywhere.
I forget if it was December 75 or 76 but I was cruising along at about 25 MPH all wheels chained up When some idiot in a new Ford LTD came whipping past me like a bat out of hell. I said to myself, "He'll be wrapped around a tree before he goes another quarter mile. Sure enough his car was off the road and wrapped up against a tree. He wasn't hurt so I gave him a lift into Blue Canyon where he could arrange for a tow truck. I asked him how he was allowed to get on the highway without 4x4 and four wheels changed. Seems he had a cabin up one of the side roads and didn't know about the restrictions. He had to get into town for a business meeting. Guess he didn't make it for the meeting. I've always been a bit thankful for the transfer to souther Arizona. The only real snow is on Mt. Lemmon and I usually don't go up there in the winter as I don't ski.
Paul B.

Great story Dwayne!

I used to hunt a tricked out for hunting 87 Suzuki Samurai. It has pluses and deficiencies. Narrow wheel base with tall aggressive tread pattern tires was helpful.

Still it being lightweight rig, even with all the racking, winch, full sized spare tire, etc,,, made it a tricky little mountain goat to drive in some harsh conditions.

Winched it out of many ditches and washout when I first hunted it. Learned most of my bad weather driving in the Sammy.

Good times.

😎

Another memorable experience was on a solo trip up to Clearwater lake, in Wells Gray park, near Clearwater, B.C. It was early Decemner and I was driving a 72 Chevy shortbox pick-up; a 2WD truck. The road was covered with compact snow and ice but the temperature was well below zero in the early morning so the road was sticky and traction was pretty good. At one point, just before the Helmecken Falls overlook, the road descends, quite steeply, to the Clearwater river. The road then makes a right angle turn to the left, crosses the river on a Bailley bridge, then makes another right angle turn to the left and ascends the other side. I don't recall exactly how far these grades run but probably a quarter mile or more. The road was one lane, as was the bridge. On the riverside of the road, the drop wasn't sheer but it was close and, if one went off, the chance of survival would be slim. This was about 45 years ago and I would imagine things may have changed by now. Anyway, I negotiated the downhill, crossed the bridge, and made it up the other side with little difficulty though there was a tense moment near the top, going up. I drove on up to the lake and took a walk around, supposedly looking for a moose but, really, just enjoying a nice day. When I headed back home in the afternoon, it had warmed up considerably and was near freezing. The traction was not nearly so good and when I headed down into the canyon it was slick. I drove with the drivers side wheels kind of in the ditch on the uphill side, to find some traction for braking. I made the turn across the bridge and tried to get some momentum to get up the other side. I made it about 100 yards and spun out. I started sliding backwards down the hill and soon realized I had little control. I pushed in the clutch and let the truck roll back a bit then cranked into the bank with the back end. The front slid around until I was pointed downhill again and I made it back down to the bridge. At the bridge, there was room to turn around and I did so. I backed across the bridge to make another run. I repeated the first performance twice more until I had scared myself enough that I didn't want to try again. I got turned around for the fourth attempt but decided to try and improve the odds a little. I took the tire iron and used it to pry chunks of rock loose from the wall and loaded them into the back of the pick-up. By the time I was done, I had probably loaded 500 pounds or more into the truck. At the same time, I scattered as much sand and dirt onto the road as I could get loose. I probably spent a couple of hours at this and, by now, it was full dark and the temperature had dropped by twenty degrees or so and this helped too. I backed onto the bridge again and, this time, I was able to get into third gear and made it up the hill with no drama. The funny thing is, I had chains but didn't have them in the truck, for some reason. I normally hauled a couple bags of sand but didn't have those either. The main thing is, this wasn't the first time I had gotten into difficulty and I knew better. When one is 25 years old, he feels pretty cocky. Today, I'm a lot more chicken though, sadly, not a lot smarter. GD

Nothing like sliding a long ways backwards against your will to rethink the capabilities of you your tires and your truck on that particular day greydog I can relate.

I haven't made it out to Wells Gray that way but have it on my list of things to do for sure. I read in the paper this summer that the area you're talking about lost a great length of the road along the Clearwater river during last years floods. The mayor of Clearwater was looking for funding amongst a lot of finger pointing to get the road repaired. Rebuilt actually from the sat photos its quite a length. Parks are nice but when there's no industry there's no one around to take care of such "roads" it seems.

The thing about that particular area, especially back then, was that you were quite likely to be the only guy on the road. The road that went in on the south side to the Clearwater, up to Mahood Lake, was an adventure in the winter as well. There was an off camber section, a couple hundred feet above the river, which was especially interesting.
Clearwater Timber used to handle most of the road building in that area but the last few provincial governments have done a thorough job of killing that industry. I don't know if it will ever come back. I doubt it. GD

"if think you might need chains, you should already have them on. Of course I learned that lesson the hard way"

I'll add that to my other mantra: "If I am 90% sure I know where I am, I have a 50% chance of being right". "

That road HAS been plowed. The snow on top doesn't look too bad either, tho I don't know how wet it is or what's under it. If there is ice under it, it's hairy. If it is wet snow on top of ice, it's real hairy.

A few years ago we had a very bad freezing rain, overnight on a work day. 1/3 mile up the road from my place there is a banked 90 degree curve near the top of the hill ( I usually coast to my driveway, from the crest, almost a half mile), and as I came around it, the road was blocked by 2 or 3 other vehicles which just couldn't make it any farther - spun out on 3" of glassy ice. I had studs on, they did not. Then my neighbor came around the banked corner behind me, stopped and parked half way around, got out, and walked forward to where I was sanding the other vehicles from the two 5 gal buckets I'd put in the truck minutes before.

We all turned around and watched as her truck slooooooowly slid sideways into the ditch.

It took awhile, but we all went home until the sand truck got out there the next day. Screw work!

The Clearwater area got hit hard by the beetle epidemic and some huge fires in the last 10-15 years. The mill recently shut down and what timber rights left sold to other operations to the south, you can get a house pretty cheap in Clearwater now. Lots of similar stories in small town BC, sad to watch.

Or the time I was going home and started down a deep dip, with about 200 yards of slope, just off the main highway. Probably around 7% grade, certainly over 5. Glare ice again, sanding truck had yet to hit it. Even with studs I was barely maintaining control as I committed. Downhill, no problem, right? Just stay off the brakes and gas, coast, do not turn the wheel, and heavier front end ought to keep it straight. ('90 Chev 2500 Diesel crew 4x4))

I'd just commited beyond recall when a year and half old bull moose came walking out from the side driveway halfway down the hill, very gingerly and slowly crossing the road, trying to keep his feet.

Not one damned thing I could do, but he made it out of my way before I got there, by less than 6 inches. I thought I was going to hit him, but he took that last leetle mincy step just as I got there.

And yes, I did once slide backwards down that thing after making it only halfway up, fortunately staying on the road. ('80 F150 2wd, studs, not enough run!)

Now, in those conditions, if I think it's chancy, I take an alternate route, which adds 5 miles o.w. to town. I still has a different dip to go through, but it is more gradual and the sanding truck hits that road first.

Winter conditions are always fun!

I'm running Michelin M&S of the Ram 3500 crew 4x4, with chains winter-carried in the back floor boards. It's been 3 years since I bought those tires and chains, getting rid of the worn out studs and summer tire sets. Have yet to need the chains, either vehicle, as I don't do much winter driving with the Ram except to town on occasion - and that I can usually put off until conditions improve. Chains are way cheaper than 4 studded tires, which studs only last about 3 years anyway,if much driving is done on them..

For most winter driving, we use my wife's ExpeditionEL. We do have rimmed studs for that, as well as rimmed summer tires.. My chains will fit her tires- they go in the back if we are going any distance in marginal conditions. We have it where the sets cycle out different years.

I've not put the Ram in the ditch in the 15 years I've had it. The '90 Chev 3500 practically lived there....slowing down helps.

We carry 300# of sandbags in the back of both rigs, positioned as far back as possible, also.

I don't mind pushing it a bit on the steeps with fresh snow, even its fairly wet. But when its settled and turned to ice above 10-12% I'm out. I've got some spots that had big black tail promise up in the hills close to home here earlier in the year. Self imposed no go zone now its iced up up there clinging to the side of a mountain. No friggn deer is worth the chance.

may be true but a windrow of snow is a catchment for drifting snow which can hard pack and bite you in the azz
norm

BTDTover in Midway ,I was coming home the back way earily spring and a wooded section with a 30 ft deep dip ,started the up hill got the front tires on the crest and no more go , put my foot on the brake and went downhill backwards, no time to look or react and over the bank i went ,a 10 inch tree stoped me with the front tires just below the road , I have to get a skidder with chains on to get me out.

norm

By the tailgate? That will help you swap ends. Better over the rear axle.

I used to repair snow equipment, rotaries, graders, OshKosh wing trucks etc on site for a little income in the winter when construction was slow. Had a 350 Dodge 4x4 service truck grossly overloaded with tools, welder, compressor etc and that thing was a tank in the snow. They called one morning, needed some welding on a grader, guy said, "the sun came out yesterday and melted the pack on the road and then it snowed a little last night and it is ugly up there this morning". Over confident, I headed up the hill without putting on the chains, got to the grader ok, parked on the road, unrolled my leads and commenced welding. Head down, welding away, I feel the welding lead tug out of my hand...I look up, there goes my service truck, down the hill. The hot tires had melted the skiff of snow on top of the ice and away she goes...slow motion disbelief...my entire livelihood at the mercy of gravity. Got damn lucky, as she started off the edge, the rough dirt on the shoulder stopped the slide. I was a lot more cautious after that, on ice.

Slang for studded tire chains, the spikes on the cross bar bite into ice. Regular chains just slide on the top of ice and won’t bite.