Tag Archives: New York State Thruway

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White Knuckling

Classic New York State Thruway

You know- when you are a kid, you are fearless. Take me for instance. Whenever there was a snow day at school, I would jump into my mother’s ’64 Buick Special and head to the mountains. I threw some sand bags from the garage into the trunk, and headed out with big honker snow tires on the back. Rear wheel drive in those days. I remember taking it to Canaan Mountain, West Virginia for my very first PSIA clinic. What a ride on those backcountry roads. My dad called it ” The Yellow Bomb”. My mother always laughed and said” too much snow to go to school, so you drive to the mountains?”

The Yellow Bomb

Fast forward- after college I taught skiing at Sugarloaf , Maine and there were some harrowing drives to the ski area in Bob Irish’s VW which I used for the winter, staying in his cabin in Stratton, Maine. 40 below straight temps were not uncommon and I had to heat the oil with an electric dip stick otherwise the bug would not turn over. There were many subsequent drives on the New York Thruway over the years, going to Vermont and the Adirondacks to visit friends and attend the many PSIA clinics after passing my certification for ski instruction at Killington. The difference was I got smart and started to drive four wheel drive vehicles. They inspire confidence but they slide just like any other car. My first one was an orange International Scout which was a heavy bucket of bolts that seemed to always have some kind of mechanical issue. But it generally got me where I wanted to go.

I had a tow strap in the Scout and pulled many a stranded motorist out of a snowbank including the Honorable Richard Caliguiri – Mayor of Pittsburgh. He thought I was some kind of Somerset special and gave me a brief nod of approval before driving off and leaving me with my strap and a soiled ski school jacket.

After many ” white knuckle ” experiences behind the wheel of my 4 wheel drives, I got pretty comfortable navigating the roads of New England, Pennsylvania and Upper New York State. Recently my Jeep has served me well but I find as I get older, my driving has become more conservative. I rent 4 wheel drive pickups on ski trips and sometimes the tires are suspect. I have driven many times on I-70 in Colorado in whiteouts, and on 395 headed to Mammoth, the roads can become like driving on a mirror. My white knuckling on the steering wheel is the subject of laughter with my friend from Vermont and the other from Tahoe who ask if we will eventually get to the ski area say in June? My wife prefers 4 wheel drive SUVs on trips, but the boys prefer the pickup. The Mt. Rose Highway in Tahoe has been the site of many a harrowing night’s drive with epic snows either closing the roads or sending us on an alternate route.

Sierra Snow Conditions
The Sportmobile

When my friend Eric offers to drive his Sportsmobile, I am most grateful knowing I will not have to fight the roads with a rental pickup. We will get there safely and even when there are two foot snows during dinner, we will always get back to where we need to be. This is some kind of vehicle. Eric and his wife Helen take it all over the west.

So, I am not as fearless as I was in the 64 Buick or even the Scout, the Blazer, or the Montero, which went sideways one day down Highland Ave with my young son in his car seat. The blood eventually returned to my knuckles about an hour later in that storm. But the subsequent vehicles, including my current Wrangler, have served me well even though I take my time so as not to end up in the median or on a guard rail. Driving in the snow is not for the faint of heart, but with a lot of experience, and a certain amount of earned respect, I am a pretty good navigator of all things winter. Even though I may not make it to the destination until June. LOL!! Thanks for reading and drive safely this winter.

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The Jeep Wrangler

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The New York State Scareway

Everybody is getting pumped up for the ski season ahead. Here in the East, we are experiencing our first blast of arctic weather and the snow making machines are blowing from New England clear into North Carolina. Ski The East website is humming with pictures of snow making and first tracks. Western trips have been planned, passes purchased for local and western skiing, and it is all systems go for the winter ahead for skiers. One of the rituals that I have on my schedule for the last 45 years has been the annual auto trek to New England or the Adirondacks to ski with long time friends. I have always driven 4 wheel drive vehicles since I was a teenager, but they are tested with drives on the New York State Thruway or the Scareway as I call it.

One of the pleasures of a road trip is that you can pack more into your vehicle than you would on the plane and you can drive at your own leisure and schedule. From the old days with tapes in the cassette player for entertainment to modern day Podcasts and Sirius XM Radio, I sit back and settle in to the annual 8-12 hour drive in normal conditions. But I never get normal conditions. The typical drive encompasses the following harrowing situations:

I -79 to Erie and 90 East- usually a whiteout condition with heavy snow blowing off the Lake Erie snow machine. I try to time the drive but I always get caught here with the lake effect and visual impairment all the way to Buffalo. The windshield fluid usually craps out here too as I try to peer through salt stains until I can pull over and get some more.

New York State Thruway at Buffalo- usually snow or freezing rain and wind blowing tractor trailers sideways off the frozen pavement. A slight reprieve heading east towards Rochester only to be slammed again with the Lake Ontario snow blower. One year I fought a 3 foot storm all the way to Vermont beginning in Rochester and continuing on through Utica and eventually all the way to Bethel, Vermont.

NYS Route 67 through Amsterdam, New York- cutting the corner here I ran into a heavy snow last year with no one on the road on a Sunday night. I saw the red light, I looked right and left and blew through the light to make sure I made it up the hill from the bridge with my Jeep, only to be stopped by a lone State Trooper. I explained, he understood, and let me go with the warning to get back on the Scareway because cutting the corner was not advised that night.

The final slog up Interstate 87 to the Adirondacks or east to Ft. Ann and into Vermont- usually the roads are covered and as tractor trailers have passed me maniacally, I have seen them up the road jackknifed into the valleys between the northbound and southbound lanes. Even have seen a few that jumped the guardrails on the right hand side of the road. I tell folks they are not that good to drive that fast. But the harrowing drives always come to an end with an extended drive time but better safe than sorry I always say. Especially seeing the tractor trailer carnage all the way up and back from Pennsylvania.

But the reward is always the reunion with friends and oftentimes great skiing at Killington on Superstar with Hutch or Whiteface and Gore with Hutch and Mike Smith,

If you decide to tackle the Scareway, make sure you give yourself enough time and take your time for sure. Much to my wife’s chagrin, I am a right hand lane guy. I relax in the right hand lane and only venture out into the scary world of the left lane if I absolutely have to pass someone often in an un-plowed section of the interstate. White knuckling and talking to myself, I eventually make my way back to the pulse reducing comfort of the right lane. And make sure your tires are good enough to handle heavy snows. Otherwise, don’t tackle the Scareway in the winter. It is not for the faint of heart. Thanks for reading.