TREAD
SNOWBOUND!
Ten ways to keep your rig from becoming a frozen tomb
BY RYAN LEE PRICE
Snow can be a fun place to test the limits of your driving skills and rig’s capabilities, but snow can be a formidable force.
Arelaxing drive up to the mountains to play in the snow seemed like a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon. No hard trails this time. No deep-woods trekking. Just a nice easy drive up the canyon road. While building snowmen and pelting your girlfriend with snowballs, ominous black clouds rolled in. The temperatures plummeted, and dime-sized flakes began to fall. In a blink of an eye, your Jeep is covered. Before you are able to dig it out, it’s too late. You’re stranded, cold, and isolated. Your recovery gear is useless and any hope of rocking it out of the snowdrifts is hopeless.
You have a choice: walk out or stay put. What you do depends solely on the weather. If it is a brief storm that won’t be followed by another one, perhaps walking out is your best bet. However, frostbite and hypothermia can set in quickly if you’re not prepared for it, and you’d better make sure you know exactly where you are going. In situations like this, many times those that choose to leave the relatively safety of the vehicle get lost in the snow and die within sight of it.
Planning ahead and keeping the right gear in your vehicle during any winter trip can be a lifesaver. Don’t leave home unprepared for a winter catastrophe.
If you are unsure of how long the storm will last or the severity of it, don’t leave the general area of your car. Your car is your lifeline. Like an igloo, staying within the confines of a snowed-in vehicle will provide you much more of a chance at survival than out in the wilderness on your own