Snow Traction

if I need chains or studded tires, then I don't need to be out with the idiots that don't have it and need it in those conditions.

 

Thanks for a lot of general good advice about driving on roads that are likely similar to where I am--which incidentally is on one of the ridges of the Appalachians in northern Virginia. One thing about conditions here versus Vermont is that in Vermont the temperature was generally colder. I think this matters in that what makes ice slippery is a film of liquid water that forms between ice and the tire. In cold climates this film is less likely to form and traction is therefore better. I think that is part of what makes my present environment harder to drive in versus Vermont.

It's hard to show grade in pictures, but here are a few of my vicinity.
Lots of these along the way to aid those who get stuck.

 

Just curious - do the Goodyear Wranglers have the snowflake symbol/rating?

 

which wranglers?
duratracs yes.

 

The stock TRD OR Wranglers...

 

You are right. The colder ice is, the more traction it has. The fastest and slipperiest ice is just below freezing or ice formed by freezing rain with warmer water hitting frozen road surfaces. Still, cooler climates get more of these conditons because you have more weather below freezing and the colder temps keep the melt from happening. The biggest problem though with snows and ice in mountainous .....is gravity. You have the force of gravity increase the tendency to slide faster on inclines as opposed to flat ground.
Flat landers just don't seem to get how gravity changes your COG whether going up or down which dramatically changes the effectiness of your tires and weight placement.

 

I did not see the snowflake symbol when I looked. I replaced mine with BFG KO2's; they have the snowflake symbol.

 

Nice pictures! Looks exactly like the road I live on in northern Pennsylvania.

 

Now I get it... Looks like the roads where we go hunting. Wish I could live in a place like that 365 days a year. Just curious, do they get plowed or anything? Roads that look like these in my area become snomobile trails in the wintertime...

 

I'll check but they handled pretty well in the snow for me last week.

 

Plowing in my immediate area is by a local hired for the job. I moved here from the Washington D.C. area, and I'm still only about a 40 mile drive from that area (about 70 miles to D.C. itself). I commute there 3 days a week, so getting up and down these hills is a necessity. Been here only 6 months, but like it very much. Summer temps rarely above 80, but I'm not too sure about winter temps. The locals tell me the cold air tends to get trapped in the valleys, but in visiting last winter I remember it getting pretty cold. Gets really foggy, sometimes all day, in wet weather.

 

I love the mountains in Pennsylvania. I almost moved years ago to near Williamsport. I remember lots of old but kept up Victorian houses there.

 

i heard the bfg ko2 were rated pretty good in snow so I'm going to try those out instead of getting snow tires. if i was you, i would try for those or get studded snow tires. i would look into nokian lt2 or general arctics which are both studded/staddable tires.