28-31-Aug-2014 - Snow Trip - All Standards

[Matthew]

Anyone interested in climbing and descending on the Friday?

[Mike57]

Hi greg,
Ive got all terains and a heavy cruiser, would I need snow chains.??
Thinking about it for now....I did a snow trip several years ago into the high country and nearly lost the cruiser twice....am a bit nervous.
tkcruiser

Tony

There are a few videos of the Mt Skene climb on YouTube and none of the big 4WDs are using snow chains. In fact no 4WDs are using snow chains,

Mike

[gwagensteve]

I'm on an actual computer (not my phone) so I'll reply in more detail.

In short, chains are for ice. Groomed resort roads are very susceptible to ice, and chains are necessary for ice, pretty much regardless of tyres, car etc.

The Jamieson/Licola road isn't groomed, so it doesn't generally suffer from ice - It's all about deep snow, and that's very different. If there isn't a base of ice to dig down to (with the chains) and key into, then the chains just dig you down until you're stuck on your diffs.

Snow driving is a combination of incredibly fine throttle control - trying to avoid ANY wheelspin, and then quite aggressive throttle control, once the car is in motion. Chains make this a lot harder because the car just wants to dig down all the time.

I was told many years ago that rubber doesn't grip snow - only snow grips snow. that's why winter tyres have loads of sipes in them - the sipes grab the snow and hold it so it binds to the snow on the ground. The challenge there is that this really only works with cold/dry snow. Here we get lots of "rotten" (or wet) snow and that doesn't work as well as the tyres are too warm and the snow falls off them. It's super variable, which is why the eskimos have 27 words for snow.

Steve.

[greyghost]

SHOTGUN ????

[jonfromhamilton]

samesies, I will take a passenger seat if there is one going

[neofitou]

I will have a seat available. My car will be fairly stock, 30's with no lockers, and I'm planning on camping.

[neofitou]

Seat is now taken!

[lbzook]

Providing that I pull my finger out and finish all the half done jobs on my junk, I'll be climbing and decending on Saturday, and my passenger is free.

[jonfromhamilton]

camp instead leigh its the same but more manly

[Greg]

I'm double booked for this weekend so I wont be able to make it this year.

No doubt there are some rearing trip leaders ready to sign up and run the Saturday convoy in my absence!