SNOWPOCALYPSE Feb 2010 Sterling VA Adventure

SNOWPOCALYPSE Feb 2010 Sterling VA Adventure

We live in Sterling VA, so we were hit hard by the Feb 2010 Snowstorm. The snow was about 30 inches, but since the wind blew very hard near the end of the storm it was hard to tell since the snow drifted quite a bit. The power stayed on, which was a slight disappointment for me since I wanted to test our power solutions for short emergencies.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity that nature had presented us, my son and I decided to walk to the store and pick up some super bowl party items. We didn’t really need any, but we thought the trip would be a good training exercise. First, we checked the weather and made sure there would not be any sudden surprises. I did not want to put our overnight winter survival skills to the test just yet. Thankfully, the weather would be clear for several days. Next we planned the route. We decided to take the shortest and most direct route, which is only about 1 mile to the store. Lastly we prepared what clothing we would wear and what gear we would take in our day packs.

We put on a standard set of 3 layers of clothing, thin wicking layer, a warm layer and lastly a barrier layer. The temperature was 29’ outside and the wind was very mild. We decided on the three layer system so we could avoid overheating. We took only 1 quart of water, each, since the trip was very short and we were surrounded by snow. We also took 1000 calories of energy bars each. We did not expect to be out for more than an hour or so, overkill but this was practice. We took no firearms. They are heavy and might scare the neighbors. Things I forgot that I should have taken: Map or GPS, phone(!), and a scarf.

We thought we were ready, so we started our training mission. My son is strong and in shape, almost 20 years old. I, myself, am an overweight, and out of shape, and in my mid 40’s. Our first problem was getting out of our own front yard. It was only about 10 yards to the poorly plowed road, but the snow was at almost 3 feet. Even my son who runs almost every day was breathing a little harder than normal by the time we reached the road.

Other than being slick walking on the roads was easy. The only danger was the few vehicles on the roads that might hit us, so we avoided them the best we could. There were only a dozen or so, total, for the whole trip. Most people do not have to travel on a snowy Sunday, early in the morning and were wise to stay home.

We made only slightly less than normal time until we hit a major road. It was too dangerous to walk down the road due to the icy conditions and the less than adequate room. Instead we decided to cut across a field that we knew would lead to a frontage road that should have been semi-plowed. The snow in the field was about 3 feet deep. My son took the lead and I followed in his footsteps. It was exhausting; his stride is much larger than mine and due to his greater height he did not have to push as much snow as I did. It was only about 30 yards to the frontage road, but the drifts got very deep, at one spot the snow was about 4 feet deep. I was beginning to worry about my judgment, and wonder how intelligent it was to venture forth. I also cursed myself for forgetting my phone; not that I would have wanted my wife or daughter to attempt a rescue if things went from annoying to bad but a phone is a tool I should not have forgotten. We made it to the frontage road but my legs were aching from the effort and both of us were out of breath and worse we were sweating.

The frontage road had been driven on so walking on it was very easy compared to our short push though the field. Our next challenge was a 12 foot ice constructed by a front end loader that was clearing the road and was still clearing the road making the wall even higher as we watched. My son scaled the wall when the loader moved down the road, and said it was pretty clear on the other side. I clambered up the ice wall, regretting that I had not worn proper gloves for the task. I walked the top of the artificial mountain scanning the area that we needed to traverse to reach the store. I could see that we had about a quarter of a mile to go with no roads and various drifts of unknown depths. I looked down and could see my son standing in waist deep snow. When I got to the bottom of the hill I sunk to my chest in a drift. Clearly, it was going to take much more effort than I was expecting to move the rest of the way to the store.

At that point we decided we would take the back roads to the store and abandon our direct route. It was about a mile more and I figured I knew the way, but without a map, or a GPS, I was not absolutely sure. Since we did know the way back, and both of us thought we knew the back roads well enough to navigate them even without a map, we journeyed on. The rest of the trip to the store was long, but uneventful. I slipped twice and my son slipped once. Nothing happened that was more than uncomfortable or annoying, but even uncomfortable and annoying can quickly become dangerous and deadly in a real situation.

We learned much in our very short adventure to the store. We learned that we should practice as much as possible, so we can avoid the annoying things that in a real situation could become dangerous and even life threatening. We learned that no matter how prepared you are nature will always give you an unexpected twist to your plans. Being prepared is more than having stuff, it is about training not only how to use your stuff but how to act in situations since we never know what the situation is going to be from minute to minute. The best tool we have is our mind.

-Viscount