Snowmageddon

Northwind – Member
Snow is the best weather, fact.

see it’s this sort of nonsense. Sorry Northwind your posts are usually very well reasoned but how/why is snow & cold better than 20oC degree sunny days when you can go riding in shorts and T-shirt?

With so many credible papers predicting the best fat bike winter ever, can you risk not buying your fat bike and 45NRTH boots right now before the world runs out!
Don’t be left behind, stuck in the snow, freezing and stranded, with the wild beasts of England gnawing your face off.
It’s a freezing jungle out there and you need to think about where your bike and boots puts you in the food chain.

Warmth and sunshine is good in its place (summer). In winter I love snow, ideally deep and for 4-5 months.

Just how good are fatbikes in the snow? the local shop are selling a genesis caribou for £875 due to the new one coming out but in the past ive been fine on my normal bike until things get past about 6-8 inches. Would the fatbike keep me going through that?

Love it me, the hills in winter (even in the dark) are a joy to my life.

I’m pretty cynical about the whole snow thing, here in South Wales anyway:

I’m in my mid-30s, I remember snow when I was 3-4 years old, it lasted about a day.

Snow when I was about 10, lasted a day or two.

Those are the only 2 times in my entire childhood I remember it snowing long or hard enough to actually sit on the ground.

Then we had 2008/2009 which was colder than usual and had a bit of snow down south, which came as a shock, but didn’t amount to much really.

2009/10 and 2010/11, which ware exceptional, but aside from Scotland, North Ireland and the North of England I seem to recall Snowmageddon lasted about a week, I think I missed a day of work.

After that there seemed to be this change in thinking that we assume that every year we’re going to be snowed in, we all need Landrovers or at least Winter Tyres, and it’s still not gone away.

2011/12 was one of the warmest winters in history, it rarely dropped below freezing and never during the day, by mid-Feb is was 18c most days.

12/13 was pretty warm bar the odd ‘cold snap’ but was over 5c for most of it, which is fine by me.

13/14 was very warm again, but we got battered by storms and it looked like Arc building weather for a bit.

and 14/15 was another mild winter with 5c being the norm, bar the odd cold snap that lasted a week.

So here at least – 2 pretty weak snow events in 30 years and 28 mild ones, a cold winter, 2 bitter ones followed by 4 mild ones.

I predict it’ll be cold, but not freezing once the sun is up for 10 weeks out of 12, it’ll start drizzling in a few weeks and do so till march, it’ll dark and horrible, by Xmas I’ll be thinking about hibernation, by the end of Jan Suicide but hopefully by mid-feb it’ll start to get better.

I like Zeb @ Chalet Montana’s (Morzine) forecasting techniques for this season’s snow:

Well, my dear Reader, the most important thing about Wasps is this:

According to the Morzinois locals a hot summer filled with Wasps is a sure sign of a cold winter filled with Snow………and not only have we been sweltering under the hottest summer for many, many years, but, like a small child with an open can of Oringina at an outdoor swimming pool, we have been under constant assault from many, many Wasps

It may not be based on the most rigorously examined scientific principles, but the way I see it all boiling down is basically thus:

Wasps = Snow*

And with this in mind I am going to put my head on the metaphorical chopping board and declare this coming Winter 2016 as the best in a Generation!!!*

*Although it could be that Sun & Wasps = Cold & Snow it is also possible that it’s all just down to global warming and this is just a taste of life 20 years from now living under plagues of wasps in a fiery desert. Either way, the best thing to do is book a ski holiday now before the Wasps take over..

have we been reading the Daily Express again?

every year, they predict the worst winter for 50 years.

Yeah, they’re known for it. Their weather “expert” is a chap called Jonathan Powell who basically makes it up as I go along. The Guardian ran a feature on him a couple of years back, when they started asking uncomfortable questions as to whether he actually had any researchers at all he promptly closed his company (then opened another one when they went away). Charlatan of the highest order, fits right in with the Express who have been recycling the same dozen headlines for years. There’ll be new hope for Madeline McCann next week.

piemonster – Member

Love it me, the hills in winter (even in the dark) are a joy to my life.

because this is what you’re expecting/hoping for:

but in reality, being outside in winter means 8 or 9 months of this:

which is why we’re not allowed these:

Here,

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2012/jun/15/daily-express-weather-forecast-jonathan-powell

Face it, with the exception of a couple of weeks of mild inconvenience as the inch of snow settles, then melts (causing traffic chaos in both states), the rest of winter is just going to be cold-ish, wet-ish and windy-ish.

Like normal.

What tyres for generic mild winter in Cambridgeshite?

Actually the DE uses the clueless James Madden of Exacta weather (They are one and the same) along with freelance storyteller Nathan Rao to supply their sensationalist weather BS.

I’m going for a warm, wet, wild, and windy winter as those tools have predicted the opposite.

Snow is horrible.

If you want to ride over something crunchy, buy a Crunchie.

I’m not too bothered about snow falling.

Frost generally makes off road winter rider a pleasure though.

The horrible mudfest that is winter

FWIW in both of the last two years we’ve already had decent snow on the mountains here. It’s late this year.

The 4X4 will get you up to the back of all the other cars stuck in the snow. I find a good pair of walking boots more useful in these situations.

Mine got me home just fine past all the stranded cars at 9pm on the last hill up towards Matlock a few years ago – and that was with road/crossover tyres on. I was blummin glad of it then

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2015/apr/09/daily-express-weather-warning-beware-a-shower-of-extreme-inaccuracy

http://www.skepticalscience.com/winter-2014-15.html

Eventually of course, they’ll be right. And they’ll no doubt enjoy telling us at length about how right they were)

And of course nobody will believe them as they cry wolf every year. This will of course lead to much wailing and wringing of hands

well, you would hope so wouldn’t you.

but the number of ‘they say it’s going to be a bad winter’ type comments, that you hear every year from otherwise seemingly sensible people, suggests they’re not as ignored as perhaps they should be.

Well I’m off to Chamonix with my bike on Friday and the weather is forecast to do this tomorrow:

PRECIPITATION : light and scattered ? at times light to moderate in the evening ? rain?snow limit rising up towards 1300 m at first, then dropping towards 900 m in the evening.
WIND – aloft : variable cyclonic light to moderate.
TEMPERATURE : low 0 °C – high +3°C.

May have to revise the plans of crossing 2,300m cols…

Maybe I should be taking the Moonlander instead of the trail bike?

A man can dream

Mine got me home just fine past all the stranded cars at 9pm on the last hill up towards Matlock a few years ago – and that was with road/crossover tyres on. I was blummin glad of it then

In my entire life, I’ve never failed to get to my destination because of snow. I’ve never needed a 4×4.

Snow is fun unless you have to deal with the idiots who can’t drive in it.
Snow is fun unless it melts and then the resulting slush freezes and turns everything into an ice rink.
Snow rides are fun, the resulting slush/ice rides are not.

@awhiles

As well as hill/fell running I also like xc running.

So that second photo still scores highly on the ‘ooh I’ll have a bit of that’ scale

And finally, in the last 5 winters, none of my riding or running has actually resembled that anyway.

Snow is fun unless you have to deal with the idiots who can’t drive in it.

Being able to work from home also helps 😀

Snow is fun unless you have to deal with the idiots who can’t drive in it.
Snow is fun unless it melts and then the resulting slush freezes and turns everything into an ice rink.
Snow rides are fun, the resulting slush/ice rides are not.

The solution to all your problems:

since buying a 4×4 (a nice little one, not a nasty big one) and some winter tyres 2 years ago we havent seen a drop round here. stil have cars and tyres so rest assured south Manchester is safe

In my entire life, I’ve never failed to get to my destination because of snow. I’ve never needed a 4×4.

Well done you, my hero!

That doesn’t mean anything, you could live in Norfolk for all I know.

So when you were saying all a 4×4 is good for is getting you to the back of all the other stranded cars, how does your 2wd fare in that situation? Mine got me home in the Derbyshire Dales, whereas plenty of others were stranded. Had I not been in a 4×4, I’d have been in a van. If I were in a van, it would have been RWD and got stuck, or if FWD, would have had most of the weight in the back and still probably got stuck

trail_rat – Member
in the south east are we bikebouy.

😉

Bring.It.On!

+1

Scotland makes me feel more alive in the depths of winter than any other time.

Getting in the car on Friday straight from work and escaping the damp misery of the city, arriving, pitching tent, straight to pub, huge fires, relaxing/testing days climbing, skiing, biking and walking, world beating vistas, camaraderie, fewer of those people around who you sought to escape from, hearty meals, the sounds.

It’s like someone letting you stay in your favourite bike/toy shop after hours.

Bring it on 🙂

was fun getting that out of there and up the hill round the corner

this is after a 150 degree corner – it climbs up -obviously picture after snow is gone

Im glad i dont live there anymore :d

I bloody love snow. And yes, I’ve had disruption, I’ve experienced proper cold and snow for long periods, just made me love it all the more.

Anyway – this is a good read for people interested in weather and predictions:

http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twoother/twocontent.aspx?type=hpnews&id=2862&title=UK+winter+2015/16+outlook

The ‘buzz’ section on there is a great read.

Wondering if 29+/b+ worth it for snow..

Im in the lakes for christmas so hopefully there’ll be enough on the mountains but not enough to cause issues with getting there. The last time we were in the lakes was for christmas 2010 when the temperature never got above -10 and all the lakes were frozen. Which was brilliant.

Snow is great fun in countries that regularly experience it in it’s proper form. ie feet of the stuff for several months.

XC skiing and snowmobiling in Finland was ace and everything worked as normal. Trains, cars, shops – everything just worked.

Over here when it snows, you end up with just enough to cause complete chaos and not enough to do any skiing, snow-biking or have a decent excuse to stay off work. Then it thaws, freezes, thaws, freezes into a hotch-potch of ice and slush and mud and is horrible for the next 2 weeks.

Snow is fantastic. Snow in the UK (with the exception of the higher mountains) is rubbish. There are exceptions, when was that really cold winter – 2010? That was brilliant. Proper snow on the ground for ages, lakes and rivers frozen.

Well done you, my hero!

Thanks!

That doesn’t mean anything, you could live in Norfolk for all I know.

Do people never get stuck in the snow in Norfolk? I wouldn’t know, but a quick google suggests they do.

So when you were saying all a 4×4 is good for is getting you to the back of all the other stranded cars, how does your 2wd fare in that situation?

It would get stuck. That was my point.

Mine got me home in the Derbyshire Dales, whereas plenty of others were stranded. Had I not been in a 4×4, I’d have been in a van. If I were in a van, it would have been RWD and got stuck, or if FWD, would have had most of the weight in the back and still probably got stuck

Cool story.

do they get snow on groundhog day?

everyone else- Member
In the lakes for christmas so hopefully there’ll be some on the mountains which will cause issues with not only getting there, but moving around too. The last time we were in the lakes was for christmas 2010 when the temperature never got above -10 and all the lakes were frozen. Which was shite.

FIFY

Lives in London, can work from home, only hoping for enough Snow to entertain the kids and avoiding being forced to visit a customer.

So hopefully enough to cover the grass and suspend all rail and tube lines.

surely London is guaranteed snow, Boris bought all those snow cannons, just needs and excuse to use them.

“So when you were saying all a 4×4 is good for is getting you to the back of all the other stranded cars, how does your 2wd fare in that situation?

It would get stuck. That was my point.”

Wouldnt be the first time ive driven round them…….

another forum user i know drove up a ditch past all the stuck cars and onto clear open dual carridgeway and was stopped by the police telling him it wasnt safe to drive on…….

but then that means you have a good understanding of the limitations of your vehicle- and given the standard of driving these days im not sure folks understand the basic workins of their vehicle let alone its limitations.