Not my ordinary Ski Trip.....

[AzNMpower32]

Earlier this week, I headed out for 2 days with a couple friends on a ski trip to Wisp in far western MD. First time I've been out there in the winter, but we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of snow falling. Makes for lots of fun skiing (ok, they snowboarded and I skied). Especially the first day, when the snow showers were lighter.





Unfortunately with the snow also came the cold. And the wind. And all that nasty stuff I don't appreciate about winter. But that didn't stop me from doing the usual "explore the neighbourhood" type of stuff, which meant I drove over into the next county (Preston Co.) in WV. After I picked up lunch, I assumed I'd just take a loop route back to the resort via WV-7 and a backroad. But whereas Maryland DOT does a good job on the roads, this is what greeted me at the border


It wasn't long on the backroad that I realised that going further was going to lead to disaster. I thought the road was just powder snow (which would have been fine) but was having surprising difficulty maintaining control; any braking just yielded mostly ABS and directional control was haphazard at best. But before I could get back to the highway, there was a downhill gentle bend. Even at 40km/h (25mph) this was too much; the X3 became no-wheel drive and landed with a soft *boof!" in a field about a metre from the side of the road.



"That's not gone well......."

I tried to open the door but it took awhile since the snow was about the height of the windowsill. I tried to dig out with my shovel but it became immediately apparent that I wasn't going anywhere. Rang up the emergency services which forwarded the tow request to a shop in nearby Terra Alta, WV. A couple folks stopped to make sure I was alright, and the X3 was winched out 30min later; it took a couple attempts. Drove to the garage, paid the bill, then went on my way. The shop owner himself had been snowed in the last 3 days and said they had freezing rain a few days ago, and the snows after that simply covered what was a thick layer of ice all over the roadway. I lost a couple hours of sking and $40 but had fun the rest of the afternoon nevertheless.

I left around 8:00pm and the trip home was difficult until I reached I-68 east of Frostburg, MD. It was so cold (-11,5°C) that the slush froze on the wiper blades and inside the wheels, throwing the wheels out of balance so that I had to pull over and hack the ice away from the insides of the wheels. Wind-driven snow reduced visibility to under 50m and speeds to 60km/h (40mph). Yet I had to really wring out the engine for the long gradients, holding 3rd gear over 4500rpm and then using it again for engine braking downhill.



A semi ran off the roadway into the snow median on I-68 right after I got on. Shows the poor weather conditions at the time despite MDOT's good efforts at plowing. Can't believe WV uses coal cinders, how useless is that?

My car is awful dirty inside and out, definitely a head-turner back around home (it'll be washed soon, I promise). I even managed to carry some snow home wedged in the front bumper . The area got a good 12-18cm (5-7 inches) in one afternoon! This was what my car looked like after I cleared it off.



Lessons learned? Well, Mother Nature can change its mind pretty quickly. Despite my best efforts at monitoring the weather, I was caught a bit off-guard since even on Monday morning, the forecast was for "scattered snow showers" on Tuesday. The X3 came through brilliantly despite the ditch excursion and brutal temperatures (I'm still on my first battery). And WV is probably a wild animal best left untouched.

Now, let's talk about some studded snow tyres........

[Meiac09]

Well, in West Virginia, one can imagine who the plow drivers were busy doing...

[Meiac09]

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

I lost a couple hours of sking and $40 but had fun the rest of the afternoon nevertheless.

Thats €27,73 btw

[Dannyell]

Just got back from WV... they sure don't do much cleaning there ...tough drive but made it back OK

[cmyX6go]

I vote to rename this thread "Metric Matt's Excellent Adventure" .

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by cmyX6go

I vote to rename this thread "Metric Matt's Excellent Adventure" .

...

Good "road trip report" Matt!
You must have edited out pics of the trailers, the soon to be
re-po'd diesel pickups, and some phone cam spy shots of the
interior of the local bar.
Jeeesshh, I miss snow...

[E61Silver]

West Virgina also very limited cell phone coverage.