How to get into snow business

If you ever want to laugh at 4WDs failing, teh Guthega carpark after a week of snow is highly entertaining. The bigger and more “serious” the 4WD, the more struggling it’s going to be doing, and the more people with shovels will be needed to get the poor thing out. I exempt those proper bushie 4WDs, their drivers know how to use their machines. And my 4WD. It just jumps out.

I went for the obligatory Saturday drive to check out the snow one year after a good fall. At Piccalilli Circus it was choked with people doing the same thing. A large number of these people were in various states of being “stuck” and 4WD options on their vehicles had very little to do with it.

P1, wouldn’t have been in the winter of 2003, would it? I went up one Saturday (in a 1988 Ford Laser, no less) and was amazed at the amount of Landcruisers, Prados, Patrols, etc. parked on both sides of the road. There was nowhere to turn around, and I ended up having no choice but to head down Two Sticks. It had rained all night before and the road was slippery as…with me getting more and more worried about how I was going to get back out (if I managed to actually find somewhere to turn around). Made it back out safe and sound, but convinced me that driver training (and correct operation of 4WD) certainly wasn’t included when most folk up there had bought their 4WD! But an awesome day anyway…

Yup again, VY. Your story reminds me of how I was regretting my decision to drive back from Jackson Hole to Park City the evening after skiing, in a smallish sedan (chevy cobalt) in late Feb this year, when the snow was falling thickly, they stop ploughing at 5pm, and you could not tell where the road was. That was hairy. It’s a 5-ish hour drive at top speeds, but rather than the legal 110 km p/hr, I was doing 40 km p/hr and wondering how many hours it would take me to get back to Utah, if I got there at all. Luckily, after 2 hours of that, the snow petered out and the road re-appeared.

Front wheel drive cars with squishy tyres do fine in snow, provided you are gentle (or rough as guts when trying to get traction!).

And my Vitara owns any snow, as being quite light it can scuttle over it. Great snow car (provided it has decent shoes on).

And that’s the key. Taking it easy. You’d be amazed what a normal car can do, when you think about things a bit, and use caution.

Absolutely. I’ve taken older cars in places where they really shouldn’t go, and provided you are prepared to stop and think, and maybe even get out and take a closer look, you can get to most places.

A few years ago I drove the V8 from Adaminaby to Cooma in several inches of snow (ie you couldn’t see the actual road!), with no snow chains and no problems. It was just a matter of holding it in low gear, and being very, very gentle with steering, brake and throttle inputs. Provided I kept it below about 40km/h, it slipped very little. Things were even better when the guy in the new Pajero in front of me pulled off and stopped, because then I wasn’t stuck driving across his slushy tracks.

That said, proper 4WDs do have a significant advantage, but this is only realised when you have a decent driver behind the wheel. Thinking that you have ‘extra traction’ when driving at speed on slippery roads is a very dangerous misconception.

I went for the obligatory Saturday drive to check out the snow one year after a good fall. At Piccalilli Circus it was choked with people doing the same thing. A large number of these people were in various states of being “stuck” and 4WD options on their vehicles had very little to do with it.

Knowing you vehicle, and more importantly how to operate your vehicle in “low traction” environments is the catch, not what your car is. You would be amazed where you can get a old two wheel drive corolla.

I really enjoyed this post, Ari! Thank you. It looks like a great family day, and has inspired me to perhaps introduce some of my younger kids to this thing called ‘snow’. I will probably try for Corin Forest, though, as my car handles very poorly in wet, slippery conditions.

Yup. But the “4WD will keep us safe at any speed” mob learn about gravity and lack of traction the hard way.

The only road that ever had me a bit worried was the Baw Baw road. It’s bloody steep, with long straight bits, and it’s tarred. HOrribly slippery especially when icy.

ant said :

apparently the 4WD will save them on ice.

Oh no it won’t.

Once our friend Mr Newton is in the driving seat, your pretty much stuffed no matter what you’re driving.

Ant, I agree with your comments about rioters quick to presume being insulted.

Others, thanks for the information on where and what to take. I for one will be taking my eldest (3yo) up to the snow for a drive but only after having taken the required equipment.

For added safety I will be in my 4wd.

And that’s the key. Taking it easy. You’d be amazed what a normal car can do, when you think about things a bit, and use caution.

Then you see Families in their shiny 4WDs up in the Snowies, zooming along on an icy tarmacked road, apparently the 4WD will save them on ice.

Oh no it won’t.

Very true Mr Evil, but that would still be a set of four spiked snow tyres on a car that was only driving two wheels. I’m certainly not suggesting that any old two wheel drive family run-about is up to the task, but many wouldbe surprised what you can do with a conventional car.

When I was a younger chap and my dog was a malamute, I would regularly head up to Mt Franklin Chalet in my clapped out VB Commodore in the winter with little more than a pair of snow chains in the boot and a hip-flask of single malt in teh glovebox. I never had problems getting in or out, but then I took it pretty easy too.

4WDs aren’t the be all and end all anyway. seen one conk out on a river crossing that my datto 120y had managed to complete – had to stop to let it drain out, but it is the driver not the vehicle that is important…

captainwhorebags said :

Ari, great post and awesome pics. I can confirm that in good weather a Leyland Mini will make it to the Mt Ginini Air Nav facility. Total coincidence that the gearbox crapped out a couple of months later.

don’t undersestimate the old mini! I have been in snow with one that a 4 x 4 would struggle in.

Clown Killer said :

Anyone who’s seen the Swedes and Norwegians in winter rally races doing 200km+ on snow covered roads through forests will know that 4WD isn’t an absolute pre-requisit. That said, 4WD/All-WD is a big bonus for control if you’re trundling the family along to get some snow-play.

Yes, but they may also be using spiked snow tyres?????

The people to whom I was referring, Ari, were people sitting in an office, talking about driving somewhere. And agreeing that they couldn’t because they didn’t have 4WD and the road was dirt.

Some people here seem very quick to presume someone is insulting them. I wonder why that is?

And people who place great reliance in the safety powers of their 4WD also often come unstuck. Especially in slippery conditions. Particularly if there’s ice.

Anyone who’s seen the Swedes and Norwegians in winter rally races doing 200km+ on snow covered roads through forests will know that 4WD isn’t an absolute pre-requisit. That said, 4WD/All-WD is a big bonus for control if you’re trundling the family along to get some snow-play.

Slightly off topic, but my work gets me to a lot of genuinely remote places along the Great Divide and I never cease to be impressed by the places I come across the rusted bodies of older cars like 1950s Holdens, 1930s Ford trucks and even earlier vehicles with custom coachwork – some of these vehicles are sitting beside old forest tracks that have taken over an hour of low range driving to get into.

ant said :

Who turns on their 4WD on dirt? I certainly don’t.

When it was as slippery as it was yesterday, I do. Not because it is necessary, but because it is safer.

When you’ve got a child in the car, macho “she’ll be right” attitudes get thrown away.

In the ’50s and ’60s people had no other option but to go in their their 2WDs, and a heap of them came unstuck doing it.

As for your attitude in dubbing other people “office experts” … hmmmmmm.

I agree, Mr Knife, having a 4WD is a nice bit of insurance (although I always carry chains for mine in snow country and once even needed them!), but I think a bit of historical perspective is never a bad thing.

In the 50s and 60s (and even to this day) people managed to negotiate all kinds of terrain without 4WD, as 4WD cars were not as common. And listening to these office experts opining that one couldn’t go to some place because it had dirt roads and they didn’t have a 4WD just reminded me how far we’ve come, how things that used to be normal are now regarded as not-doable. I’m still puzzling over why they thought 4WD was necessary. Who turns on their 4WD on dirt? I certainly don’t.

I used to trundle my Daihatsu Charade up to teh carpark for my forays to Gingera, and while I’d certainly hestitate to try it if the road had a foot of churned-up snow on it, un-churned snow and chains would be quite OK.

ant said :

It’s funny how for years, my family managed to go skiing at Mt Franklin and Guthega with just a stock old Holden. Certainly never needed rescuing.

I was listening to a conversation the other day, where the conversants were all convinced that you needed a 4WD to drive on a dirt road. I’m still puzzling over that one.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that a 4×4 is necessary on any dirt road, quite the opposite. I suspect that most days I could get my Peugeot hatch back to the snow around Brindabella, but that one day the weather turns, or I have to detour around the ‘main road’ for some reason (road blocked by a fallen tree for example), I’ll be glad I took my other vehicle, which is a 4×4 Ute.

A somewhat safer and easier place to get to (sealed roads) that often has snow when the weather is like it has been the last few days is Corin Forest. Not sure if there’d be as much as there was in the photo’s, but there’s usually some.

From the Tuggeranong Parkway I saw that snow was 1/3 down the side of Mount Bimberi (at 11:54am).

But another tip may be to take a UHF radio as there are properties & someone is bound to hear your call. Also in the fire season, if you head north at Piccadilly Circus, you will reach a fire control tower that has someone in it from early morning to 18:00ish.

Also on the dog point, I have a Samoyed (snow dog) & the closest place I know of that I can take him is Nimmitabel. But that is when it snows there, which is usually whenever I plan to drive to the Eden.

ant said :

It’s funny how for years, my family managed to go skiing at Mt Franklin and Guthega with just a stock old Holden. Certainly never needed rescuing.

Better to have a decent 4WD (read off-roader not soft-roader) if there’s a chance of getting snowed in up the Brindies.

I was like “carrot?” and then I was like “d’uh” 🙂 Awesome pics.

It’s funny how for years, my family managed to go skiing at Mt Franklin and Guthega with just a stock old Holden. Certainly never needed rescuing.

I was listening to a conversation the other day, where the conversants were all convinced that you needed a 4WD to drive on a dirt road. I’m still puzzling over that one.

Was the dog taken along as survival food; in case you got caught in the blizzard?

No better way to keep warm in the snow!

captainwhorebags said :

you do know that you’re not supposed to take dogs into Namadgi NP

It’s actually a small boy in a dog suit 😉

Ari, great post and awesome pics. I can confirm that in good weather a Leyland Mini will make it to the Mt Ginini Air Nav facility. Total coincidence that the gearbox crapped out a couple of months later.

Not meaning to be a threadsh!tter, but you do know that you’re not supposed to take dogs into Namadgi NP, right? I’d hate to see Rioters get hit with a fine by the Ranger, and on the popular snow days later in the season they often sit at Picadilly Circus checking vehicles.

Just a note to anyone planning on heading out that way, don’t do it unless you:

Have an appropriate vehicle, 4×4 and good ground clearance really is essential. Even if you don’t engage 4×4 it provides an excellent safety net if conditions get worse, or you have to detour off the ‘main’ roads for some reason.

Know how to operate your vehicle in off-road conditions. The road to Picadilly Circus is a fairly easy drive, but can get very slippery, and many of the side roads will require some experience driving off-road to handle safely.

Carry supplies, food, water and obviously warm clothing, first aid equipment and I would recommend a stove of some kind and appropriate fuel. If you have a mechanical failure or some other issue, you don’t want to be stuck without supplies. Typically on the weekends there are quite a lot of people in the area, so it is pretty safe, but even still, ten minutes spent packing some supplies and equipment is time well spent.

Tell someone where you are going and what time you will be back. Leave them with instructions to contact appropriate search and rescue groups in the event you don’t come back. Draw a line in the sand with this one so the person doesn’t need to make a call themselves. For example, if you plan to be back by 4pm, tell the person to contact authorities if they haven’t heard from you by 6pm.

Have fun.