High Peak TVR, Sports & Classic Meet 1pm, Sun 22nd Feb 2015
Discussion
Hi Guys 
Richard, please don't call me Sherpa Glen, or you'll have the 'S' boys trying to nick my very rare & expensive front indicator lenses, they don't know that Austin's are only cheap BMW ones.
High Peak Ice Road Truckers Meet, 1pm today:
Set off early, forecast was not too good, so packed extra Factor 50, an overnight bag with a few days supplies of medication, a sleeping bag, some nice woollie thermals, extra socks, my lucky pants, a pair of hiking boots, an OS map of the area, pair of wellies, wash bag, spare loo roll, a shovel, a spare can of petrol, a snow cape, a tube of pringles and some ginger beer.
Oh, and some shades to prevent snowblindness and as an added bonus, to look cool
Raining quite hard when I set off, so I'm afraid I wimped out and left the roof on
Arrived at the RV point 12:25hrs.
Now sleeting quite hard and v. windy too.
Went into the warm and welcoming embrace of the Arms of Stanley, ordered a nice refreshing beverage and settled down to peruse the choice of vittles available.
A local patron commended me on my bravery for turning up in a TVR, ( little did he know how prepared I was for the worst case scenario: Nothing worse than getting snowed in in such a place eh?
)
People came and went, most kept peering worriedly out of the windows at the increasing snowfall. Austin was looking quite snug in his blanket:
Then a chap who had left earlier returned to say that the road to the south was impassable, 4 cars were stuck on the upward slope.
The barman said he was going home, and advised me to do likewise, before the north road became blocked as well ( not quite as steep )
About this time the landlord told me that Richard had phoned to say he couldn't make it, & the meeting was cancelled.
I finished my pint ( excellent pedigree by the way ), gathered my things and went out to clear 2" of snow off Austin's important bits.
The road was treacherous, but my experiences with RAF Minivans & Land Rovers, executing lurid slides on snowbound airfield perimeter tracks were paying dividends. There was little traction on the uphill slopes, but I made it almost to the end where the lane joins the main road just south of the Cat & Fiddle, only to find the way blocked by a big Merc ML thing and a car stuck behind him.
All momentum lost, & no traction. B
r
Two resourceful passengers from the Merc thing had procured, from who knows where, a very useful large black & yellow roadsign, which they were busy employing to clear a path for the vehicles, and with all available hands on deck shoving away, we managed to get all our vehicles plus two more arrivals, onto the main road.
This was becoming rapidly as bad as the back roads, so I had to decide whether ( or weather? ) to play it safe & head for the inn, or attempt to make it back home.
I love a challenge, as long as it's easy, so off I headed into the deteriorating white-out conditions towards the silk town of Macc. I love the Cat & Fiddle pass, but this time it was awesome, lots of sideways action, bumping over wind-blown drifts which my exhaust would catch on, and trying to maintain momentum as well as some semblance of directional control, and trying to keep the side windows from misting up so I could see where I was heading. I could feel the wind gusting and rocking the carat each exposed stretch of road, and it was hard to see where the edge of the road was.
High gears, low revs, and tyre pressures lowered for a bigger contact patch, it works wonders.
At one point I was thinking of using one of the targa roof panels as a sledge, but I was still making progress - just!
A few miles further on, I saw a lorry stuck halfway across the road, the cab pointing at a crazy angle to the trailer, and four vehicles stuck behind him on the upward slope.
A Range Rover was slithering past them all, so I gently coaxed Austin to a halt to let him through, then managed to get going again down towards Macc.
A snowplough/gritter approached towards me, must have set off from Macc 10 mins earlier.
Then it was an easy run down hill as the snow became just lashing sleet / rain.
Mission aborted, no Sunday lunch, just pringles, and I'm hanging my head in shame for having my roof on.
Let's try again next Sunday folks
Edit: I wish I could have taken some pics on my return journey to illustrate the conditions, but I needed both hands on the wheel, and no way was I going to stop.
I also remembered to forget my compass, so I was very lucky to get back.
Titus Oates: ”I'm just going outside, I may be some time...."
Richard, please don't call me Sherpa Glen, or you'll have the 'S' boys trying to nick my very rare & expensive front indicator lenses, they don't know that Austin's are only cheap BMW ones.
High Peak Ice Road Truckers Meet, 1pm today:
Set off early, forecast was not too good, so packed extra Factor 50, an overnight bag with a few days supplies of medication, a sleeping bag, some nice woollie thermals, extra socks, my lucky pants, a pair of hiking boots, an OS map of the area, pair of wellies, wash bag, spare loo roll, a shovel, a spare can of petrol, a snow cape, a tube of pringles and some ginger beer.
Oh, and some shades to prevent snowblindness and as an added bonus, to look cool
Raining quite hard when I set off, so I'm afraid I wimped out and left the roof on
Arrived at the RV point 12:25hrs.
Now sleeting quite hard and v. windy too.
Went into the warm and welcoming embrace of the Arms of Stanley, ordered a nice refreshing beverage and settled down to peruse the choice of vittles available.
A local patron commended me on my bravery for turning up in a TVR, ( little did he know how prepared I was for the worst case scenario: Nothing worse than getting snowed in in such a place eh?
)People came and went, most kept peering worriedly out of the windows at the increasing snowfall. Austin was looking quite snug in his blanket:
Then a chap who had left earlier returned to say that the road to the south was impassable, 4 cars were stuck on the upward slope.
The barman said he was going home, and advised me to do likewise, before the north road became blocked as well ( not quite as steep )
About this time the landlord told me that Richard had phoned to say he couldn't make it, & the meeting was cancelled.
I finished my pint ( excellent pedigree by the way ), gathered my things and went out to clear 2" of snow off Austin's important bits.
The road was treacherous, but my experiences with RAF Minivans & Land Rovers, executing lurid slides on snowbound airfield perimeter tracks were paying dividends. There was little traction on the uphill slopes, but I made it almost to the end where the lane joins the main road just south of the Cat & Fiddle, only to find the way blocked by a big Merc ML thing and a car stuck behind him.
All momentum lost, & no traction. B
r Two resourceful passengers from the Merc thing had procured, from who knows where, a very useful large black & yellow roadsign, which they were busy employing to clear a path for the vehicles, and with all available hands on deck shoving away, we managed to get all our vehicles plus two more arrivals, onto the main road.
This was becoming rapidly as bad as the back roads, so I had to decide whether ( or weather? ) to play it safe & head for the inn, or attempt to make it back home.
I love a challenge, as long as it's easy, so off I headed into the deteriorating white-out conditions towards the silk town of Macc. I love the Cat & Fiddle pass, but this time it was awesome, lots of sideways action, bumping over wind-blown drifts which my exhaust would catch on, and trying to maintain momentum as well as some semblance of directional control, and trying to keep the side windows from misting up so I could see where I was heading. I could feel the wind gusting and rocking the carat each exposed stretch of road, and it was hard to see where the edge of the road was.
High gears, low revs, and tyre pressures lowered for a bigger contact patch, it works wonders.
At one point I was thinking of using one of the targa roof panels as a sledge, but I was still making progress - just!
A few miles further on, I saw a lorry stuck halfway across the road, the cab pointing at a crazy angle to the trailer, and four vehicles stuck behind him on the upward slope.
A Range Rover was slithering past them all, so I gently coaxed Austin to a halt to let him through, then managed to get going again down towards Macc.
A snowplough/gritter approached towards me, must have set off from Macc 10 mins earlier.
Then it was an easy run down hill as the snow became just lashing sleet / rain.
Mission aborted, no Sunday lunch, just pringles, and I'm hanging my head in shame for having my roof on.
Let's try again next Sunday folks
Edit: I wish I could have taken some pics on my return journey to illustrate the conditions, but I needed both hands on the wheel, and no way was I going to stop.
I also remembered to forget my compass, so I was very lucky to get back.
Titus Oates: ”I'm just going outside, I may be some time...."
Edited by glenrobbo on Sunday 22 February 22:56
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