Winter Fun Fest 2002 - Grass Valley California	Short Cuts
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Article and Photos by: Dan Hoover
Edited by Randy Wheeler

When Glaciers Thaw...

Grass Valley, CA January 2002- Winter in the Sierra Nevada mountain range is different each year. This year, Mother Nature delivered lots of deep, dry snow early in the season, but the blizzards turned to rain when storms from the south soaked even the highest mountain passes. When the storms cleared, cold clear nights froze the rain soaked snow into a giant mass of ice providing the 2002 Winter Fun Fest Glacier Assault run conditions true to its name. But what we didn't expect was what happens When Glaciers Thaw... 

Saturday morning began crisp and cold at the Grass Valley Fairgrounds where the main organization is centered. This year Cal4Wheel secured a new and larger building and there was plenty of room. All of the raffle prizes were on display and the breakfast area was buzzing with activity. Breakfast smelled great and I met some familiar faces from past trips.

I arrived at the staging area a few minutes late after swapping a rear driveline, and quickly aired down while the trail crew performed the a required safety check. The trail crew then held a brief drivers meeting providing some last minute instructions and an overview of the run. 

The ice covered road and the weight of the full-size truck was too much for just one light CJ5...

Glacier Assault is an in-and-out run approximately 7 miles long. The road drops down into a beautiful section of the Tahoe National forest and heads to Onion Valley, the lunch stop. During a long lunch there is the opportunity for snow play or you can head off on one of several cross roads. This allows small groups to explore on there own. Everyone was to regroup at 2:00 and head back to civilization and return to Grass Valley in time for dinner. Well this was the plan. 

As we reached the trail head, a stuck Chevy pickup truck greeted us less than 100 yards down the unplowed road. The ice covered road and the weight of the full-size truck was too much for just one light CJ5 so with my tires still on dry pavement I strapped the CJ which in turn strapped the Pickup. Soon the obstacle was removed and we were on our way. 

As we headed in, the scenery became more and more beautiful and the snow depth increased, but the road was very hard and icy. It was like driving a slot car at Disneyland. It really didn't matter where you wanted to go, or what you did with the steering wheel, the hard snowy ruts determined your direction. Occasionally you could climb out of the ruts and drive with two wheels on the center berm and two wheels on the snow bank, but the slightest slip or wheelspin placed you back into the ruts again. 

Drivers yield to the snowman...

The first bridge crossing had deep snow piled higher than the guardrails, which made crossing somewhat interesting. The deep ruts were welcome as they kept all of the vehicles safe and dry. A snowman stood guard at the first bridge and all drivers yielded to him (or was it her?).  This also made a very scenic place to stop and take a photo or two and say high to everyone as they drove past.

Once moving again, we crossed the second bridge over the north fork of the American river. The wild and pristine river is quite a sight when the trees and rocks are covered in snow. 

My copilot Todd and I decided to wait by this bridge for the tail end of the group but after waiting a fairly long time we decided to catch up with the pack. I didn't want to get stuck alone and miss all the lunchtime action so we headed off. We came across a Scout attempting to pull a Land Cruiser out of some deep snow that was starting to soften and both were mired in the sierra cement. I went past and gave a quick tug and we were off to the lunch spot. 

Snow play seemed to be the most popular lunchtime activity. I wanted to retrace last years route, and I headed off towards Black Mountain along with a green YJ with lockers. The road was in full sun and was very firm. The repeated thaw and freeze of the snow in open areas made it very firm with excellent traction, but the snow in the shadows was a different mix. It was now possible to break through the hard crust of ice revealing a couple of feet of dry, granular snow. 

Taking a break in the action.

As we climbed the mountain the skip increased on the CB and when adjusting it, I must have accidentally changed the CB channel. At first I was surprised but I was no longer in radio contact with the driver behind me who had turned around. It was about 1:15, and we had 45 minutes and had gone less than a mile. Well, its not a good idea to be out here alone so we headed back. I stopped to take a picture as the clouds broke and was surprised to seem James, one of the participants heading up the trail. He asked if everything was OK and seemed concerned. Apparently the trail leaders decided to head out early and could not raise us. I was a bit red face, but also happy to see how well they tracked everyone.

At this point I was somewhat disappointed that the day was coming to a close and we were headed out. I wanted to play some more and wondered how the Avalanche and Siberia runs were going. We headed out and caught up with the group lined up on the road out. But the line wasn't moving because of a couple of stuck rigs. Cool. It looked like were would get our moneys worth after all.

The solid layer of ice had thawed revealing a foot or two of soft dry granular snow providing little or no traction. The rigs with less clearance were high centering or dragging axles and had blocked the trail. I dashed ahead to take some pictures and survey the situation. 

Shoveling, additional airing down, some occasional winching and frequent strapping enabled the back of the pack up to catch up with the rest of the group. The lineup was at my favorite bridge over the north fork of river. Several rigs were stuck just past the bridge and a few were stuck lined up to go across. After a couple of exciting attempts to cross the bridge, a shovel brigade was formed to clear it off.  This was one place we did not want a spinout. 

A Bronco getting a tug...

Once across the bridge the conditions degraded. It was no longer deep snow down hill, it was deep snow up hill. Progress had ground to a halt. We were now moving at the Warn speed. Not warp speed as in the speed of light, but warn speed as in the speed of a winch. 

By now about 20 rigs remained on the run. About half could more or less make headway, but the other half was struggling. A few were having great difficulty in the soft deep snow that was frozen solid just a few hours earlier. At times even the tall rigs, which were locked front and rear, needed a strap. 

We cleared a path across the bridge and I suggested that the bronco strap a rig behind his cobra powered Early bronco and just drag them until they made it to pavement. This seemed to work well so I had the red landcruiser strap another up past the snarl. We were onto something. I strapped a rig through and the combination of strapping and winching and shoveling started to get the line moving. But we were moving slowly. The Sun was long gone and we were still mired at the bridge. It seemed as soon as one rig was free, another was stuck. In the space of an hour several winches became disabled. The cold weather and the hour were starting to tax the group. The fun was beginning to wear off, but the mix of the group kept things lively all evening. 

The author digging out of the snow...

The trail crew put the remaining winches still in operation at the deepest spots and shovels and manpower was put into play. If the vehicle could move on its own the group helped and pushed and rocked it past the hardest spots or winched it when a winch was in reach. If it couldn't keep forward progress, a strap was hooked up. The challenge was keeping both vehicles from digging in.  Progress was slow but after several hours of persistence, everyone who needing a strap was on their way, and a final group of 7 headed out under their own power.

Looking back at what worked best, 35"+ or taller tires aired way down had the best success at towing, and 33+ was more or less what was needed to escape without help, but Nick the trail boss proved us wrong when he maneuvered his nearly stock CJ5 past the deep soft stretch despite open diffs and 31" tires. Must have been the low air pressure in his tires! One thing to remember when wheel'n in deep snow is to AIR DOWN your tires! Too many people on this run either refused to air down much below street pressure, or didn't know that airing down would help with traction. Those that didn't air down were the ones who got stuck the most. 

When we reached mile marker 5 we were on solid hard packed snow once again. The straps and shovels were put away and the final group headed out together with Nick bringing up the rear. Talk on the radio turned to food and the desire for a warm bed when suddenly we heard over the CB "Eric Stop, your tire is coming off!!" Sure enough a combination of low pressure, a stiff cold tire, snow packed in the bead and a hard icy rut grabbed the swamper off of the rim. 

Following a tire change we all decided to air up. A few minutes later (thanks to a York and a power tank) we were on our way and soon back on hard dry pavement. It was now 1:30 am on Sunday. Everyone was tired and hungry but we all had a great time and will have a fun story to tell for years to come and looking forward to see what Mother Nature will bring us next year. For those people planning a trip into the snow, remember that traction aiding devices (like lockers), tall tires, and low air pressure will help make your trip more enjoyable for you and those with you.