Terrified on US Hwy 50

Well, this last weekend was supposed to be a nice relaxing snowboarding trip with the DNC/Impulse staff. It did turn out to be a fun a$$ trip however the drive to and from the South Lake Tahoe area was the most terrifying experience of my life. I reserve the right as of right now to call my self a completely insane moron. I say this because who the F*$% takes a 2 wheel drive civic with no limited slip/posi/locking differential and drives through a 2 way traffic mountain pass? Well, I'm dumb enough to do it, and it was NOT fun nor was it a walk in the park. I swear there was no scarier feeling on earth, having only one wheel spinning to eat through the snow to grab what little traction was available. There on the rout up to Tahoe it wasn't so bad i fishtailed once or twice but quickly counter steered and regained control. However on the trip back home it was an entirely different situation.

The snow and fog made it tremendously difficult to see even 10 ft. in front of my car and the snow and ice was building up on my windshield and wipers, thus making it even harder to see. This was the least of my problems and didn't scare me even 1/10 as much as everything else did. I HAD NO TRACTION AT ALL and I was scared for my life along with my passengers lives during the whole mountain pass. Every banked turn we would come across my rear tires would slid out and i would have to counter steer and pray that i didn't hit the side of the mountain. There were two times where I wasn't able to regain control. Once I was thrown into a full 360 where there was a bank of icy snow in the middle section of a tight turn and once when I was crossing an iced over bridge. THANK GOD no one behind me hit me and I managed to keep myself out of the guard rails and rock slide area.

There are moments in situations like these that make you realize what and who matters in your life. As these things happen it's the only thing that flashes in front of your eyes besides turmoil. There were 3 situations that I remember in particular. On the last few hills of chain control the roads hadn't been plowed in hours and the snow became so thick that I could barely move the car. I was just inching in all directions. I had no steering and the car was drifting left and right faster and more unpredictable than ever and is i inced up the hill I passed a KO'ed 2wd vehicle on my right. At that point in time I knew there was no turning back but I seriously thought that my car was gonna be in the same situation stuck on the road stuck in the storm. Earlier in the drive I hit a patch of ice crossing an icy bridge and as I spun to a stop some jerk off tries passing me and comes within inches of rear ending me and sending me into a vicious spin. I almost pissed my pants when that happen.

However, nothing came even close to the horror I experienced when there was a line of 6 oncoming cars 20 ft in front of me. At that moment my rear wheels lost traction and I started to slide in nose first into the oncoming cars. As I approached the other vehicles I was at an angle of 45 or 60 degrees or more. I immediately counter steered and tried to hit anything other than a car coming at me. The last car past by me and I missed clipping his bumper by inches. Finally a second later after the last car traction caught and the rear snapped back and fishtailed a few times but control was regained. The horrible feelings that went through my body at that moment are indescribable. The feeling of being almost sure you are going to be T-boned and then miraculously by the luck of God you aren't is the most stressful and wildly terrifying event I've ever experienced.

I am not a huge practitioner of religion, but someone up there was really watching out for me and my passengers. Thank you God, Nana, Papa, Noni, Grandpa Carlo, Uncle Mike and all others watching over us all, including the 2 other vehicles I was caravaning with that night.

Here are a few snapshots I had Sanny take with my camera as we were engulfed by the treacherousness of this storm....