Anyone else “stuck” in Big Bear? (Not actually stuck or an emergency)

Driveway struggles

https://youtu.be/3HoAMvBMH-4

 

we had a similar issue last night. Took a lot more effort to finally get the truck into the driveway.

 

Living in Maine my whole life and living through some pretty bad nor'easters and ice storms, the whole chain mandate thing still blows my mind. Must be something different about the mountains that makes it worse? Or maybe its just the number of people and lack of winter driving practice. Either way looks like an awesome time for some winter wheeling Ill have to check it out someday

 

That’s a great shot

 

Salt and road brine is definitely applied less on the west coast. Combine that with the very steep grades, lack of winter driving experience, and large amount of tourists, and chains become a way to weed people off the roads/provide some traction. I guess. Snow and ice are snow and ice no matter the location.

 

Yeah, they don’t salt in BB, which I love. The steep grades can be tough especially on the way down.

 

Just came down the 18 to Lucern and it was smooth sailing. No check points and the road was mostly free of snow. Biggest obstacle was people removing chains in the middle of the road.

 

18 to 330 wasn’t happening

 

They are getting more and more zealous about chains. IMO, it coincides with people getting dumber and dumber.

Took a day trip up to Palomar today, hit the road early to beat the crowds. Chain restrictions were R2 when we got there, CHP looked at our trucks and just said "put it 4 high as needed and have fun".
But per usual there were people with chained up cars that had chains on the wrong (non drive) wheels, people sliding around, people getting stuck on the hill. There was about 2" of packed snow on the ground, easy travel for anybody who has any clue how to drive, but people were still having problems. But there was almost nobody up at the top when we got up there.

Spent a couple of hours playing and headed down. Mountain was closed to all traffic by the time we got back down to the bottom of the hill. People were driving into oncoming (downhill) traffic to try to get around the checkpoint and there was a line ~ 2 miles down the road to get to the (closed) mountain.

Also: Kinda bummed that it looks like they are using salt on Palomar now (and am hearing they are using it in other mountain areas). Saw the telltale brown crap on the snow and saw what looked like a salt truck at one of the plow yards. Now I gotta rinse my shit off real good tomorrow.

 

Always mind blowing how dumb some people can be haha. It is crazy how much snow you guys get though. And it looks 'warm' in the pics which always makes thick heavy snow pack down to ice real quick

 

Man...all that bad weather there and its 80 here..

 

Its the people and the growing popularity of awd’s. The conditions really aren’t that bad but you have a lot of idiots that have no business driving anywhere near here in the storms and they think their “safe” subaru’s and high end audi’s will get them perfect traction because the commercials showed them snow. You wouldn’t believe the things I see here

Oh no they definitely are now. Not like the east coast but they do brine it. If you look at the undercarriage of my truck vs my 4runner you can see a huge difference

 

Bummer to hear they started.

 

I agree with the awd issue. Here is a post by my neighboron the road up to my house. Has high mpg(hardrubber) street tires that are below 50% but thinks sine its awd none of that matters. For us that are setup for winter, its the other driver that causes the accident. Even if you wait till late night to get home the weaving around abandoned cars on every hill sucks.

 

I shouldn't talk too much shit or Ill up in the ditch on my way to work tomorrow, but damn

 

Agreed, its so stupid. People also will come up without chains even though its the law that they have them or they’ll have the wrong chains and no knowledge how to put them on. It’s ridiculous. Like if you’re not prepared and you’ve never driven in the snow why are you deciding to go see it in the middle of a blizzard?

 

How did the pats work in the snow?

 

IMO it’s more than just the AWDs. There has obviously been a significant increase in those vehicles over the years but I would go further and say it’s all of the vehicles that aren’t 4x/AWD and people still head up the mountain. Even 4x isn’t a guarantee either but it’s amazing how many 2wd vehicles you see in the snow.

A lot of it is driving skill too. Not that I’m an expert but I grew up driving in Virginia so I know my way around snow. It’s a skill that many people who visit the snow don’t have. VA also never had chain requirements. It’s a CA thing probably due to the population and amount of people who get stuck.

I’m personally not a fan of chains. I’ve seen them cause more mechanical issues than anything but I get their purpose for poorly equipped vehicles.

pic is of an abandoned Jeep we saw on the trail while leaving today.

 

They did well. I don’t have a lot to compare them to in regards to snow driving but I’ve been happy with them so far. I’m sure there’s something out there that works better but I’ve got no complaints.

 

I grew up where there was winter. Outside of plow trucks, nobody ever used chains and everybody owning a 4x4 or AWD vehicle wasn't a thing. Snow tires, weight over the drive wheels and experience got most people where they needed to be. We don't typically even get much in the way of rain here so driving in limited traction situations of any sort isn't a skill most develop. Guess us offroaders are fortunate in that regard, we do this type of stuff for fun.

Have been lucky enough to never have to use my chains. Through happenstance I have two sets so I could chain up all 4 if needed. Nice to have them but I dread the day that I have to put them on.