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First day its open a snow run whos down DD this is one of your fav snow runs lets hit it back to back weekends this sunday and next sunday come on itll be fun

[quote="SAS YODA 95"]First day its open a snow run whos down DD this is one of your fav snow runs lets hit it back to back weekends this sunday and next sunday come on itll be fun [/quote]

Is Freeway ridge passable with snow? It's really steep in sections. I was up on Rancheria last night and at 4,000 feet there were tracks of at least 3 different rigs that made multiple attempts and turned around. One went to the ditch and rode the wall in reverse for a hundred yards before he got free. A crew cab diesel wasn't so lucky.

[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/photo-35.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k34/ldmcnutt/photo-34.jpg[/img]

And, rancheria is not really steep. Nothing compared to freeway ridge or Black Gulch.

I was hoping for a Piute Peak run. It's not really steep, but lots of snow! Let me rephrase, it's not nearly as steep as Freeway Ridge, but sections are plenty steep when you add snow. One section on Piute Peak took about 20 attemps before I got through it. There were old tracks where someone got stuck and then it was all virgin snow. I could trail blaze about 30 feet at a time before I'd start to sink and have to back up. I could see major carnage on Freeway Ridge with snow.

Its still worth a try i have 40s lol and my big is full of carnage

I make it no problem. The Guys with smaller tires (or street/bald tires) struggle on the hills a lot. The snow has never stopped one of our runs, but occasionally you get a weird condition on the trial where the whole thing is just ice - when this happens the trail is often impassable. This usually happens when you get a few hot days followed by a few very cold freezing days.

Sorry SASyoda, Id love to wheel tomorrow, but I gotta get one more day of skiing in while I can.

[quote="desert dog"]I make it no problem. The Guys with smaller tires (or street/bald tires) struggle on the hills a lot. The snow has never stopped one of our runs, but occasionally you get a weird condition on the trial where the whole thing is just ice - when this happens the trail is often impassable. This usually happens when you get a few hot days followed by a few very cold freezing days.

Sorry SASyoda, Id love to wheel tomorrow, but I gotta get one more day of skiing in while I can.[/quote]


It's warm daytime temperatures that allow the snow to melt, then freezing temperatures at night. That's what it was like on Rancheria last night between 4,000 and 4,500 feet. Above that, the snow was dry and no problems.

So anyways, no one seems to want to do Piute tomorrow, so I'll come do Freeway ridge as well.

-Larry
578-7087

[quote="desert dog"]I make it no problem. The Guys with smaller tires (or street/bald tires) struggle on the hills a lot. .[/quote]


so are you saying snow wheeling is like sand? try and stay ontop of it rather than cut down to good bite?

[quote="chrisrigby"][quote="desert dog"]I make it no problem. The Guys with smaller tires (or street/bald tires) struggle on the hills a lot. .[/quote]


so are you saying snow wheeling is like sand? try and stay ontop of it rather than cut down to good bite?[/quote]
Sorta Chris, thick snow u wanna be on top, less than a foot you wanna dig for dirt...

good to know with my little pizza cutters

If its over a foot deep air down... Are diesel club went up Friday night. It was a wicked run in full size diesels... Some made it and others rode walls.. lol I went into one ditch but powered my way out... All it cost me was a bad alignment lol

[quote="Phimosis"]It's warm daytime temperatures that allow the snow to melt, then freezing temperatures at night. That's what it was like on Rancheria last night between 4,000 and 4,500 feet. Above that, the snow was dry and no problems. [/quote]
Thats what its like on almost any given day in the snow (Ice at night/early morning and slush by noon), but not what I'm talking about. What im talking about happens when you get a couple of warm days that turns everything to slush and wet mud, then a few days follow where the temps never get above freezing for 24 hour periods. When this happens, the whole trail is just a thick sheet of ice and we can't even make it to broken axle hill. When this happens there is often very little and sometimes no snow on the surface. You would have to have tracks or tires with metal spikes to get through. I have only seen this happen twice but it kicked our asses both times. Other than that, I have never been denied full run of the trail, even with deep snow on the ground.

I have always thought the coolest thing about Freeway Ridge in the snow is all of the "surprise ruts" you fall into because they are covered by the snow It took 2 winches to get me out of one on the far right side of piston hill last year that was about 6 ft deep!

[quote="desert dog"]

I have always thought the coolest thing about Freeway Ridge in the snow is all of the "surprise ruts" you fall into because they are covered by the snow It took 2 winches to get me out of one on the far right side of piston hill last year that was about 6 ft deep![/quote]


Whoa wait... Your the almighty desert dog, you don't get stuck!! from what I "hear" thou Chris is those guys could possibly still be up there. One of the wife's is asking if I know what's up cuz her man's phone goes straight to voicemail.

[quote="desert dog"][quote="Phimosis"]It's warm daytime temperatures that allow the snow to melt, then freezing temperatures at night. That's what it was like on Rancheria last night between 4,000 and 4,500 feet. Above that, the snow was dry and no problems. [/quote]
Thats what its like on almost any given day in the snow (Ice at night/early morning and slush by noon), but not what I'm talking about. What im talking about happens when you get a couple of warm days that turns everything to slush and wet mud, then a few days follow where the temps never get above freezing for 24 hour periods. When this happens, the whole trail is just a thick sheet of ice and we can't even make it to broken axle hill. When this happens there is often very little and sometimes no snow on the surface. You would have to have tracks or tires with metal spikes to get through. I have only seen this happen twice but it kicked our asses both times. Other than that, I have never been denied full run of the trail, even with deep snow on the ground.

I have always thought the coolest thing about Freeway Ridge in the snow is all of the "surprise ruts" you fall into because they are covered by the snow It took 2 winches to get me out of one on the far right side of piston hill last year that was about 6 ft deep![/quote]

I don't know the names of the individual hills, but just taking a guess, broken axle hill is the first big challenge after gatekeeper and piston hill is the last big challenge before the connector to rancheria? The one I suspect is piston hill did have nasty surprise ruts in it. With a full head of steam I couldn't keep out of the ruts because it was snowy and slick. I fell into the rut and it didn't seem to bad, so I kept on the throttle. Within a hundred feet I abruptly came to a stop. I thought I must have hit a log or a big rock. After getting the strap, I surveyed to see what happened and it was simply that the ruts were so deep that I set both diffs down on the dirt. The problem is that it's steep and slick so you have to keep you momentum up. When the floor falls out from under you at full throttle, you slide for a ways on your axles and there was no backing up! We did make it, but had major carnage with broke motor mounts and leaving a rig up on the trail. Another had a
Broken locking hub and had way more problems than expected in 3 wheel drive. And, another ate his front ring and pinion at piston hill. It became part time
4wd and by the time he got to rancheria, the Front drive was completely gone, necessitating multiple tows to just go down Rancheria. Lasty, one popped a bead at 10 psi and just changed the tire out. crazy how much stuff broke this weekend!

Larry that last hill was not piston hill we took the black gulch side due to haveing stock rigs with us piston hill is way steeper and longer with huge ruts in it

Is there a trail guide with the named areas? I've only been on the black gulch side. Also, what is the other side called and does it have signs with the name like black gulch does?