Winter Driving
The Frog wandered (flew) to Denver, Colorado this January, on Friday the 13th. Along with cousin Garrett, rented an SUV with AWD and drove to Steamboat Springs, Colorado with plans to attend the Bridgestone Winter Driving School on Sunday.
The town of Steamboat Springs is rather ritzy for this Southern California frog and the number of boutiques probably outnumber the residents! Never saw so many condos nestled on the slopes of the mountain that has the many ski trails. Half of Colorado was probably there, or at least their kids were! Skiing on Saturday was like driving on the Los Angeles freeway during rush hour. Only instead of fast moving vehicles, there were the dreaded snowboarders!
My slalom ability improved as I zipped (too steep to not zip) between parked snowboarders and snowboarders starting to move, ever which way a wild guess. Now I know why skiers feel snowboarders are a bane to the slopes. Actually the ones that are moving aren't the problem.
Those snowboarders that park on the slope, in a row, with snowboards perpendicular to the vertical descent preferred by skiers, are accidents waiting to happen.
I managed to survive skiing at Steamboat Springs, and vowed never to return. The next day I attended the Gear2 session of the Bridgstone Winter Driving School. Now, that was fun.
The techniques taught at the almost basic driving level is similar to any driving school, except for the emphasis on grip. Grip is important on snow and ice, and there were lots of snow and ice on the course. In fact there was nothing BUT snow and ice. I learned that without grip you have no control.
We used Toyota 4Runners and Toyota Camrys mounted with Bridgestone Blizzack winter tires. The tires were snow and ice tires, designed to replace studded tires. The tires were great!
Instruction was personal and very informative, as the short driving course with the obligatory turns, slalom and gates. I wish I could attend the higher level courses, but that costs a lot!
I had a lot of fun purposely losing it and as I slid sideways practiced how to regain control. I would recommend that school to anyone who might someday drive on snow or icy roads.
The town of Steamboat Springs is rather ritzy for this Southern California frog and the number of boutiques probably outnumber the residents! Never saw so many condos nestled on the slopes of the mountain that has the many ski trails. Half of Colorado was probably there, or at least their kids were! Skiing on Saturday was like driving on the Los Angeles freeway during rush hour. Only instead of fast moving vehicles, there were the dreaded snowboarders!
My slalom ability improved as I zipped (too steep to not zip) between parked snowboarders and snowboarders starting to move, ever which way a wild guess. Now I know why skiers feel snowboarders are a bane to the slopes. Actually the ones that are moving aren't the problem.
Those snowboarders that park on the slope, in a row, with snowboards perpendicular to the vertical descent preferred by skiers, are accidents waiting to happen.
I managed to survive skiing at Steamboat Springs, and vowed never to return. The next day I attended the Gear2 session of the Bridgstone Winter Driving School. Now, that was fun.
The techniques taught at the almost basic driving level is similar to any driving school, except for the emphasis on grip. Grip is important on snow and ice, and there were lots of snow and ice on the course. In fact there was nothing BUT snow and ice. I learned that without grip you have no control.
We used Toyota 4Runners and Toyota Camrys mounted with Bridgestone Blizzack winter tires. The tires were snow and ice tires, designed to replace studded tires. The tires were great!
Instruction was personal and very informative, as the short driving course with the obligatory turns, slalom and gates. I wish I could attend the higher level courses, but that costs a lot!
I had a lot of fun purposely losing it and as I slid sideways practiced how to regain control. I would recommend that school to anyone who might someday drive on snow or icy roads.
posted by Reggie at
4:31 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home