The other day, Robie, Ed, and I rendevouzed at Longmire to ski at Paradise. The LEO came by and said chains are required
on the wheels of all vehicles. I engaged him in a discussion: I had low profile chains in my 2011 Subaru; my car had a smart AWD and winter tires with ceramic beads to enhance traction; but use of chains on only two wheels could damage the Smart AWD computer on my car and would void warranty; I said I would have to go home rather than take that risk. There were only 1 concessionaire van (putting on chains) and 3 cars in the parking lot; the 2wd went home. The LEO, thank-you, came back and said we with the AWD and 4WD could go up without chains--saved the day.
Today I engaged in a Twitter discussion on the MRNP twitter board about chains. I know better than to waste my time arguing with the LEOs; in the future I will carry 4 chains to protect the AWD if I am ordered to put chains on to come down (I'll just go home if they are required to go up--I live 8 miles away).
I have a feeling that chains my be more routinely required on AWD/4WD this winter (I have never used them in 25 years of skiing in the park and I've only turned around once because they were required; I have turned around several times when the roads were very slick and there were lots of cars at Longmire--because of the crowd not the icy roads).
Anyway before we got permission to go up w/o chains, Robie asked "Why aren't the Park vehicles required to have chains?" [we saw them going up and coming down w/o chains including the LEO in a compact SUV.
So, here's a forecast for the coming winter:
If You Don't Use Chains ...
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