I decided to slot myself behind a truck as that's generally the safest choice in challenging conditions.

BHPian supermax recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Back in August of 2023, I had my first experience of motorway driving during an active yellow warning (due to extremely heavy rain) , and yesterday, I got my second experience, this time, driving under extremely heavy snowfall!

When I called my wife during the day and asked what she'd planned for dinner, she mentioned pizza, and my interest was piqued. Both my wife and I love pizza from Pizza Hut, but ever since they shut down their only outlet in Linköping where we live, we make the trip to the neighboring city of Nörrköping, whenever we feel like some Pizza Hut pizza. She wasn't really insistent, but I felt that a pizza would be rather nice, and told her to order online mentioning a later time of pickup, so I could finish up my work and do the 50 km drive to Pizza Hut. It's barely a 30 minute drive, and with the seat-warmer on full blast, the pizzas stay perfectly warm, we've done this in the past, so I didn't give it the slightest second thought; I should have!

As I finished up and was preparing to leave, my wife called me to say that it'd started snowing. Again, I didn't think much of it, as snow is hardly news. What I didn't know though, was that there was a yellow warning for extremely heavy that had been put out by the national weather provider.

The hours? Between 1700 hrs in the evening to 1000 hrs the next morning. What was expected? The unloading of around 10 centimeters of snow, 15-20 centimeters in many places. Where? Linköping (my city), Nörrköping (where I wanted to drive to!), and many surrounding areas!

They'd even put out a map showing the affected regions, something that would have convinced me to stay home, if only I'd seen the report!!

When I reached my car in the parking lot, fifteen past five, it was already quite dark, and the car was already covered under a thick mantle of snow. Reaching for the snow-brush, I brushed away the snow even as more kept descending. I hoped this was a heavy but brief spell, as I hopped in and turned on the heater and defogger full blast to clear up the windows. The drive through town was uneventful, but even as I hit the on-ramp for the motorway, it was clear that this was not just any ordinary burst of snow. The on-ramp was completely snow covered, and it not even possible to make out where the road ended and the shoulder began. And the snow was now chucking down, hard. The motorway is a 110 km/h road, and in normal conditions, there's simply no way I'm joining it at anything less than the full 110 km/h, but there was no way I was going to push the pedal to the metal in these conditions. I joined the motorway at around 70 km/h and found others doing the same or driving even slower.

I decided to slot myself behind a truck as that's generally the safest choice in challenging conditions, but within a few moments, he started to drop his speed. From 70, to 60, and then to 55. At 55, I started worrying that even cars doing 80 would be quite a bit faster and might not expect me to be trundling so slowly. Even as I was starting to consider passing him, he turned on his warning blinkers, got to the shoulder and stopped!

I was not very far behind him and didn't decide soon enough, so I too ended up turning on my warning blinkers and stopping a bit behind the truck. Having done so, I now regretted the decision already, as I now had to pass this truck, starting from standstill, and it would not even be safe to simply floor it, given the conditions. I dismissed mental images of a much faster vehicle plowing into me, checked my rearview for a traffic-free patch, checked the blind spot, indicated and made my pass. Having passed the now stopped truck (which I suspect stopped because he didn't have proper winter tires that were needed for the prevailing conditions), I picked off a few more slow moving cars before finding a gap that was large enough for me to safely get back to the right lane, without being either too close to the vehicle(s) ahead or behind me, and vacated the passing lane.

Unlike rainwater which helps the wiper blades to move smoothly, snow or a combination of snow and slush ice is harder to handle. If you leave the wipers on full blast, they start squeaking and possibly overheating over the clear glass, or making screeching noises as ice chunks get dragged across the windscreen, but if the wipers are turned off even for a bit, the visibility worsens quite a bit. Turning on the heat full blast helped a bit as it kept the glass free of condensation buildup at least, and helped melt down some of the ice too. I'd now slotted myself behind another truck, which meant I didn't have to play the guessing game about where the road ended or lanes were separated, and all seemed well, till disaster struck. A big chunk of dirt and snow loosened from the truck ahead and landed on my windscreen and the wipers simply couldn't clear it. I was afraid that the sand/gravel mixed with the snow could scratch up the glass, so had to turn off the wipers, blast away with the wiper fluid and just perform one or two tentative wiper strokes to ensure that the windscreen still offered me a view of what lay ahead. I saw that there was a fuel station some two kilometers away, and made up my mind to stop there to clean up my windscreen properly before proceeding.

Even as I gingerly got off the motorway and proceeded to park the car, the incoming snow had already managed to clear up a lot of the grime, and a new blast of wiper-fluid managed to get the remaining grime off the screen. The pizzeria was still a good 20 minutes away, but the snow had started to recede just a bit, just enough to allow me to drive without being seriously worried.

When I pulled into the parking lot Pizza Hut and walked up to the reception, I was nearly a full hour late. I explained my predicament to the staff who kindly offered to fix me up with fresh pizzas instead of the soggy and cold pizzas in the boxes that had been waiting for me. After a short wait, I picked up the now steaming hot pizzas, thanked the staff, who wished me a safe journey back home, and got back to the car. The return journey was far less scary as the snow had let off just a bit, and my eyes were already adjusted for the conditions. I realized that I just needed to drive alertly, and ensure that I didn't end up being part of the statistics that are shared after a weather episode like this. I did however see plenty of vehicles with their hazard lights, some pulled over as they were too rattled to continue, and some which had actually driven off the road, having been unable to fathom where the road ended. Nothing really scary though.

I did most of the return trip at a steady 80 km/h and when I exited the motorway, realized that for the first time in a while, I was actually above the posted speed limit! I quickly dropped the speed some more and downshifted too. This was the first time since my drive in torrential rain in August that I'd spent a large part of time in gears below 6th, while on the motorway! Entering the city, I found that the inner streets had received far more snow since I'd last seen them, and I even came across a multi-car incident at a roundabout, which told me to keep my guard up even though I'd made it back to town. It was only after entering my parking garage that I allowed myself to fully relax.

I'd been out in some really bad weather, and had come back unscathed. Would I have made the trip had I checked the weather beforehand? Definitely not; having made the trip however, I was happy that I'd acquitted myself well, driving sensibly and carefully in those challenging conditions. I'll certainly be less nervous in a pinch, should such a situation arise again. The pizzas were still hot, as I'd not forgotten to turn on the seat-warmer all the way Time to enjoy the fruits of the hard labor, I thought, as I made my way to my apartment, leaving behind a trail of fragrant pizza aroma in my wake.

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I have taken it to places where I would not have dared in my Triber. It easily glides over potholes and rough roads.

BHPian AdityaDeane recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got a chance to go for 2 snow drives near Manali over the weekend, and the car has been performing splendidly:

I have taken it to places where I would not have dared in my Triber. It easily glides over potholes and rough roads:

Climbs effortlessly through most of the steep inclines, despite the clutch needing a replacement any time now:

Goes over snowy sections of the road mostly in 4x2 mode, with 4x4 being applied only as a precaution where I get scared it may get stuck midway:

The last mileage has been a measly 8.42Km/L, but I have been going with 5-7 friends on most recent trips, so I am okay with that:

Have driven it in narrow village roads near Manali, and seen views which I never saw in this Kullu valley.

Once the servicing and clutch replacement is done, I am pretty sure that there will be no stopping this mean machine from going to places I have never known existed.

Will keep the thread updated as time progresses with Saffira.

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We were constantly driving on 3 to 4 inch of snow. The Dusters never missed a beat. They were sailing happily on the snow in auto mode. Even on deep snow, it was just a cakewalk for the car.

BHPian Samba recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

When I bought the Duster AWD in 2018, I had a couple of trips in mind. One was scaling Sandakphu & the other one was to enjoy the snow drive in winter Spiti.

Sandakphu was done and dusted in 2019 November.

I had been planning for Winter Spiti since 2020, but every year, due to some reason this trip would not materialise. I was adamant on completing this trip in Feb 2022, but again due to some situation had to postpone it.

I was hellbent, come what may this winter, I will head for a Winter Spiti in Feb 2023.

Planning started from late October. I was not much keen on going with the expedition teams where they take 20-30 cars in a convoy. Plus, I am the kind of guy who gets irritated when there is a team leader or a boss kind of figure, whose instructions I need to follow! Blame my genes for this, which came from my dad's side!

Did some research, and I was more than confident, that this trip can be pulled out without any support team.

From the beginning the plan was with three cars. Two Duster AWDs (mine & Bhpian mountain_deep's) and one Ford Freestyle which belonged to Bhpian Arghya_heart. But in November Bhpian DogNDamsel12 confirmed, she had certain commitments in Feb, so the trip needed to be shifted to January!

Further research showed that very less people visit Spiti in Jan. All the homestays were empty. But everyone warned, the weather can be pretty harsh in January and snowfall will be unpredictable. Okay! That's even more fun! We can get stuck in Kaza for few more days! Awesome! Let's plan in January!

But sadly Arghya & his wife had to opt out from the trip as they had a close wedding to attend in Jan.

But there is always a silver lining. My old friend Aritra aka Bhpian Aray wanted to join us with his family for this trip from Hyderabad in his Duster AWD.

Now the the research for hotels began. I was not ready to use the pits instead of a proper attached washroom in Kaza. I started calling many home-stays, but none were offering us an attached washroom.

Finally, I zeroed in on Jigme Homestay. They offered us generator backup, attached washroom (they said they would supply us water in buckets), bed warmers, room heaters and tandoors at the common seating place. So Kaza was sorted.

Had to fix Kalpa and the default choice was the Grand Shambala. They offer the best facility during the winters in Kalpa. I was not bothered about the stay options in Shimla and other places, as I knew there are plenty of good hotels.

Now as the hotels and homestays were sorted, we needed to prepare ourselves and our cars for this harsh weather.

One of the biggest advantage we had was Bhpian mountain_deep's parents joined us for this trip and both of them are doctors. That was a great assurance for all of us. They are avid trekkers too, so they guided us well on what to do and what not to do.

The preparation:

For us:

We visited Decathlon on a weekend.

Bought the following:

• Water proof trek boots.
• -18°C rated down feather jackets.
• Warm Gloves.
• Neck warmers.
• Cottswool inner wears.
• Woollen socks rated for -12°C.
• Down feather pants rated for -18°C.

Apart from the above we carried:

• Medicines.
• Pulse oximeter.
• Oxygen cans.
• Flasks, so we can keep the drinking water warm. In plastic bottles the water freezes.
• Moisturizers for harsh winters.
• Loads of dry food.
• Powerful led torch and led lights which can glow for 72 hours without charging.

Now for the cars:

The nearest Renault service station from Kaza is Solan (approx 450 km). So we knew, if anything goes wrong, we won't get any support & we are on our own.

In winters getting fuel might become dicey, so we bought 20L metal jerry cans with a good sealing and a Groz funnel to pour the fuel.

1/2 inch Taparia tool kit, few spanners, an OBD scanner. Incase anything goes wrong, I visited the Ranault workshop and prepared myself for doing some basic DIYS. If I cannot change a spare, I made sure I can guide a local mechanic to do so and we kept the necessary toolkit and spares with us. All our Dusters were serviced with some basic checkups 15 days prior to the trip.

We carried few spare fuel injectors too!

Among the other spares we had:

• Timing belt (The old one).
• Accessory belt (The old one).
• Diesel filter (The old one).
• Air filter.
• Extra fuse.
• Jump start cable.
• M-seal.
• Tyre inflator.
• Tow ropes & D-Shackles..
• Snow chains.
• Extra mats for traction.
• Coolant, engine oil, Brake oil for top ups.
• Puncture repair kit.

The itinerary:

The plan was, I along with Bhpian DogNDamsel12 & Bhpian Mountain_deep will drive from Kolkata to Karnal in two Dusters. Bhpian Aray along with his family will join us somewhere on the Yamuna Expressway near Agra. Bhpian Mountain_deep's parents will fly to Delhi from Kolkata, and join us at Delhi/Karnal.

On the return leg Bhpian Mountain_deep will stay back at Gurgaon, as his office is in Gurgaon, and his parents will fly back to Kolkata. I along with Bhpian DogNDamsel12 will drive down to Kolkata & Bhpian Aray along with his family will drive back to Hyderabad.

• 6th to 7th Jan 2023 Kolkata to Lucknow
• 8th Jan 2023 Lucknow to Karnal
• 9th Jan 2023 Karnal to Theog
• 10th Jan 2023 Theog to Kalpa
• 11th Jan 2023 Kalpa to Kaza
• 12th Jan 2023 A drive on the road to Losar, Chicham bridge, Kibber, Kee Monastery
• 13th Jan 2023 Langza, Komic & Hikkim
• 14th Jan 2023 Kaza to Kalpa and visit Dhankar Monastery, Tabo Monastery & Nako lake on the way back
• 15th Jan 2023 Kalpa to Chitkul & back to Kalpa
• 16th Jan 2023 Kalpa to Shimla
• 17th Jan 2023 Shimla to Greater Noida
• 18th Jan 2023 Greater Noida to Lucknow
• 19th Jan 2023 Lucknow to Dhanbad
• 20th Jan 2023 Dhanbad to Kolkata

The introduction of the whole team & the cars:

The whole team:

Bhpian Aray aka Aritra Ray:

Rituparna Mazumdar, Aritra's wife:

Arish Ray aka Rion, who roasted us every-time we felt cold:

Dr. Dibyendu Mukherjee aka Bhpian Mountain_deep's dad:

Dr. Debarati Mukherjee aka Bhpian Mountain_deep's mom:

Bhpian Mountain_Deep aka Dyutimoy Mukherjee:

Bhpian DogNDamsel12 aka Sukanya Bhadra:

Yours truly:

The Duster family:

 The Duster which carried Bhpian Aray's family:

The Duster which carried Bhpian Mountain_deep's family:

The Duster which carried us:

And a couple of teaser pics:

And a couple of teaser videos.

Enough of preparations done, let the journey begin, but before that I want to thank Bhpian Turbonath, Bhpian PointZero & Abhisek Toto Lahiri for their valuable inputs to help me plan this trip!

Continue reading on BHPian Samba's road trip to Spiti with 3 Duster AWDs for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

He thought I would drive away in an 'Igloo Car', putting us and everyone around at a high risk of an accident.

BHPian 14000rpm recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

We are currently having a Snowstorm in Helsinki for the last 2 days. Life, however, doesn't stop and everybody gets on with life as usual so did my wife and I and we went to the gym in the morning. When we returned to the parking after 90 mins, we saw a pile of snow on our car. It was garage parked the previous night which meant it had no snow on it when we went there. An 80 yr old man was to get into his Mercedes E Class parked next to ours and was clearing the snow on his car.

Meanwhile, I got a bit lazy and I tried to run the wipers till they cleaned the windscreen. Seeing this, the old man thought I did not have a snow-clearing brush and pleasantly surprised us by starting to proactively clear off the snow from our car. before I could even react and get out of the car, the man had cleared off my side windows. I got out, thanked him and quickly pulled out my snow-clearing brush and started cleaning my car while embarrassingly admitting my laziness. In the meantime, I asked him why he did what he did.

Apparently, he thought I would drive away in an 'Igloo Car' - A car with only a small viewing port cleared on the windscreen.

He shared his concern that Finland has far too many Igloo cars on the road during the winter which is highly unsafe (It impedes visibility, and poses a danger to cars and 2-wheelers following your vehicle if chunks of snow fly off your car when*it's*in*motion). This man is an example of the kindheartedness of Finnish people. Won't forget. he paid it forward, now I have to.

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The heavy snow forced us to turn back, but am happy it gave us a chance to test the SUV's 4x4 capabilities.

BHPian zenmaster666 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Reporting on a short drive in the snow. (Am I the first one here?).

Dt. 14/11/22, 0730 hrs. Z8L D AT 4x4.

Drove up from Naggar (HP) towards the Atal Tunnel, with an intent to cross over for a day trip to Sissu. Accompanying me was my 91-year-old dad with a triple bypass and multiple angioplasties in the proverbial rearview mirror.

It started snowing soon after crossing the Beas bridge at Manali. Light flurries quickly became heavier flakes as we gained altitude. Crossed Solang without turning on the Terrain Mode, but within a few minutes, the snow was a few inches thick on both sides of the road. Some vehicles coming downhill advised us to turn back as the Atal Tunnel was being closed down temporarily, due to much heavier precipitation in the upper reaches (and beyond, into Lahaul).

Undeterred, and wanting to test the 4x4 capabilities of the "Green Goblin", we proceeded further uphill (up to the place where the tourists rent ATVs and Snowmobiles for their fun and games. Luckily, it was early morning, and the news still hadn't filtered down to the honeymooners (and disco boys) in Manali. That's when I turned the dial to snow mode. and drove on for another 2-3 km, up to a point where a Himachal Roadways bus driver coming down in the opposite direction told us the tunnel was closed and there was heavy snow ahead.

Disappointed, but nonetheless happy to have been able to test out the 4x4 (High) on the Scorpio-N, we descended - keeping all wheels engaged till the slush lasted - there was a fair amount of tourist traffic, both local taxis, as well as Kias, Hondas, Toyotas and Suzukis, headed uphill, with some struggling to grip the road, which by now had patches of semi-black ice.

Coming to the car's performance, am happy to report that it matched expectations with 4WH engaged. The vehicle was rock stable on both ascent and descent, with no skids at all (I was driving defensively on the downhill stretch because some idiots were zig-zagging across the road in their 2WDs in the opposite direction.

Will make another attempt tomorrow to cross the tunnel tomorrow, weather permitting, of course. Some random pix attached.

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The job is very hectic and demanding, both physically and mentally. All the individuals involved are some of the most hardworking, dedicated and selfless chaps you'd see out there.

BHPian MotoBlip recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My dad was the Commander of one of the BRTFs(Border Road Task Force), under Project Vijayak in Kargil. He also overlooked several RCCs(Road Construction Companies) that fell under his purview. I had the good fortune of spending a few months with him in Kargil (had to leave since officers/JCOs are not allowed to keep families during winters, mostly due to ration issues & also my college was starting soon). He used to take me along during many of his inspection visits, needless to say, I enjoyed every bit.

The job is very hectic and demanding, both physically and mentally. All the individuals involved are some of the most hardworking, dedicated and selfless chaps you'd see out there. I have immense respect for them and their work and anyone who has driven on these roads would second my views. Heck, they are better than what you'd find in many metro cities. It's not all technical, but a lot of administrative work is involved too, appropriating land, dealing with stubborn locals, coordinating with local politicians, rescue operations etc., it's all part of the job.

Would like to share a funny anecdote here, during an extreme winter in Kargil, due to some hapless and weird rationing glitch, only daal available to eat was black masoor. Dad had to eat it everyday for a month or two, until the supply stabilized, and now he has developed such aversion to this daal that whenever my mom cooks it at home, he stays clear of it.

Here are some pictures I found:

During routine land and aerial inspection:

Bridge construction near Khaltse, this very bridge was later inaugurated by then Chief minister of J&K, Mehbooba Mufti:

A view from our house after fresh snowfall, lots of khubani(apricot) trees here:

En route to Dras, India's coldest inhabited place:

Enroute to Zo Jila Pass:

Snow clearance at Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport:

A BEML Dozer:

Off-topic:

Random click, somewhere on the Leh-Kargil highway. Also notice the partially frozen Zanskar river:

A new of our gardens during summers:

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The snow drive in my Ford Endeavour 2.2 MT 4x4 was amazing. It was my first drive of this year.

BHPian Ace F355 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Past week's snow drive was amazing, to say the least. Sharing some pics from the first drive of 2022 and hoping for many more to come in this year.

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The trick of driving in snow even in a 4WD without chains, is to not lose momentum, if you lose it, there is a fat chance that you will get stuck, and if you lose traction, the snow below the tyres quickly turns into ice making them spin freely without any movement.

BHPian akshay4587 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Leg 1: Ambala-Chail; Encounter with a Blizzard:

Since it was raining and snowing most of the time, didn't get a chance to click many pics and videos, so sharing what I have.

It was a cold morning,and it had been a couple of hours since it was raining.

I was driving towards the gym in my Thar at 9:30 AM; just about when I was to enter the gymnasium gate, a sudden thought cropped up in my mind, the weather forecast looks good, and it might snow in the mountains later in the day. That was it; I decided in my mind, let’s go for a snow drive. I called up my close friend as he has a V-cross, and asked him if he would like to join for the drive; however he informed that his Isuzu had gone for service, but he can hop in with me, but we need to be back the same day by 8-9 PM, which was fine with me.

I quickly drove back home, picked up some heavy jackets, snow boots,snow chains, gloves, eatables etc.

Picked up my friend at 10:30 AM and we were off towards the mountains in search of some snow, little did we know what lay ahead of us. We called up a mutual friend in Solan who has a Thar and asked him if he would like to join in for the drive. He agreed and we caught up with him at Solan around noon, and it was still raining.

Next, we had to decide the destination; Narkanda was dropped as it would be a bit too much and we were skeptical about Shimla due to traffic and if it snows there, it will be  mayhem due to 2WD’s on road. So, it was decided that we will head to Chail, since the road is secluded and if there is no snowfall there, we can head towards Kufri.

The two Thars:

We left Solan around 1 PM, and started driving towards Chail, about 30 minutes into the journey, the rain turned into tiny snowflakes, which ensured that it would be snowing higher up.

First glimpse of snow:

We kept moving at a steady pace, and took the right turn from Kandaghat towards Chail, which is about 35 kms from there, which may not seem much, but the road is very narrow and in snow it can get a lot tricky. 20 kms onto the road towards Chail, no snow, 25 kms, still no snow; At this point, we had started to wonder, if we had made the right decision.

Just as we were about 7-8 kms from Chail, everything changed; it started to snow, we were happy. The snowfall then turned heavy, and it was time for me to lock the hubs and switch to 4H. Slowly and steadily we kept driving towards Chail. Now the snowfall had almost turned into a blizzard. The snow on the road was getting deeper and deeper, however, the two Thars were trundling along comfortably.

Snowed out:

By this time, the snow on road was already at least 6 inches deep or more. We were about 2-3 kms from Chail, when we came across our first hurdle.

Stuck:

The trick of driving in snow even in a 4WD without chains, is to not lose momentum, if you lose it, there is a fat chance that you will get stuck and if you lose traction, the snow below the tyres quickly turns into ice making them spin freely without any movement.

For those who have been to Chail, you would know that there is a hair pin turn just about two kms from Chail near the green tax barrier, my friend was leading us, and he had to brake suddenly, as an Alto was stuck in the  snow. That braking made him lose momentum and he got stuck. Luckily, I had managed to bring my vehicle to halt slowly.

Now to move forward, I had to ensure that I do not lose traction, else I would have got stuck as well.

Shifted to 4L and gently released the clutch, and I slowly inched forward and parked my Thar ahead after finding a flat patch with less snow.

At this point, we decided it would be wise to use chains since the snow had started to turn into ice.

Now Installing chains is not that easy; and with freezing temperatures and 8-10 inches of snow on road, even with gloves on, we struggled for 15-20 minutes and gave up. Meanwhile, we were able to move the other Thar out of the icy patch after rocking it back and forth. It was still snowing heavily and there was no chance that it would stop for the next few hours.

We reached a consensus that we will drive up to Chail which was about 2 kms from there, have a cup of tea, call it a day and drive back, since we had already driven in enough snow.

In heavy snow, driving for even 2 kms can be a tedious task and sure it was.

I was leading this time, and barely 700-800 meters from the spot, my Thar lost traction and slipped into a tiny ditch towards the mountain. We were 4 people in two Thars with one stuck in heavy snow fall and not a single vehicle or a soul in sight. 3 of us tried to push the Thar out while I was at the wheel, but it didn’t budge. It was stuck at such an angle that tow strap wasn’t an option. Times like these, you wish, you had a winch.

Moments before my Thar got stuck:

Team Maroon Thar:

World is a small place:

While we were waiting for someone to drive (which was highly unlikely) or walk past us, I notice a group of people at a distance walking towards us, it was still snowing heavily, and we were all covered up. As the group inched closer, I walked up to them and asked if they could help in pushing my Thar out of snow, and I could feel the reluctance. Then suddenly, one of them shouts, "Arey Akshay Bhai, is that you?". I was like yes, and he was an old friend from bcmtouring.com, who was working in a bank in Chail and was walking towards civilization as banks etc. would be closed for the next few days. Upon exchanging pleasantries with the group, who had of course now agreed to help us push the Thar out, we managed to move my Thar ourselves in a few minutes and decided to drive back from there.

The parting shot:

Return leg: Chail-Ambala, when 4WD owners turned into wood cutters:

It was almost 4 PM, when we decided to drive back, little did we know what lay ahead of us. Siddharth had informed us that a few locals had already driven ahead of us towards Kufri in Gypsies/Vcross/Thars, and they will be returning soon. We decided to wait for them.

Meanwhile, a couple of locals who were walking up towards Chail gave us the dreadful news that the road from Chail to Kandaghat was blocked as 18-20 trees had fallen and were blocking the road. This came up as a big blow, since this would mean that we could get stuck easily for 1-2 days. By this time, the locals had arrived in their 4WDs, and we reached a consensus that we will drive and see what lies ahead of us. Meanwhile, Siddharth being the local bank guy, had some contacts and arranged an axe for us. So we rolled off and a few hundred meters later, we came across our first blockade, it was a small one, and now that we were a group of 15-18 odd people, we managed to push the tree aside. We lost the axe while trying to cut the second or third tree. Luckily, Siddharth, our saviour had asked for a petrol-powered chain saw. With a tank full of petrol in the chain saw, and manpower of 18 odd people, we managed to chop 15 odd trees and covered the distance of about 35 odd kms in about 5 hours.

Here is a short video of the events:

Snow drive to Chail: February 2021

Once we reached Kandaghat, we thanked the local guys and our 'Man of the Day' Siddharth, and drove back home to be in our comfy beds by 12 AM.

Thanks for Watching/Reading.

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