2010-01-03 - Drive in snow

Leaving the mountain was a bit of a process. Over the course of the weekend 20 inches of snow accumulated on the car with more on the way. Great for snowboarding- bad for trying to leave in a Hyundai Elantra.

Driving in the snow is more of an intuitive thing if you grow up in New England- but there are a few helpful tips to be aware of. I guess I'm sort of cheating on this one because I already 'knew' how to drive in the snow- just never really thought about what I was doing. It's not that difficult of a thing so long as you understand and respect the snow and the physics that go along with it.

Depending on whether or not your vehicle is front or rear wheel drive you're going to want to have weight over those wheels. It's easy with a front wheel drive vehicle because the engine is there. With a rear wheel drive vehicle it helps to have some weight in the trunk or some heavy people in the back seat. More weight means more downward force which means more traction with the ground; Traction is good.

So we dug the car out and got it moving. The next challenge was getting out of the parking lot. The only way out was up a small but steep hill that hadn't been plowed or sanded in a while. The trick to getting over this sort of thing is momentum- and persistence. The steeper the hill gets the more gravity you're fighting- and soon gravity beats traction. To get by this you need to have a decent amount of speed built up to get over the top of the hill. Give yourself a good runway to get up to speed. It also helps to be in a lower gear if you have the option. It took a few tries to figure out just the right amount of distance/speed/acceleration to get over it- hence- the persistence part.

Almost all of your actions should take twice as much time as normal when you're driving in snow. Drive slow, turn slow, accelerate slow and stop slow. Never slam the brakes and never slam the accelerator. Patience and a level head are key. Brake on straight-aways - never going into turns. If your wheels lock up while braking, take your foot off the brake. If your wheels spin while accelerating, take your foot off the accelerator.

The bottom line is- go slow and don't be a shithead. Explaining how to drive in the snow turned out to be more difficult than I expected- either you get it or you don't. If you don't get it- just stay home- or let a guy drive.