I'm telling my New Year's story.
I live in the south of Russia in a village on the last street in the depths (this is important for understanding the situation), a 7-minute drive from the city.
20 cm of snow fell on December 29 and another 50 cm on December 30.
And so, as usual, the power went out at night on December 30.
We woke up on the 31st, there was no light, and 70 cm of snow, the temperature at night was minus 8-10 (for our region, this is cold). My boiler does not work without light. In the photo, you can see a woman walking along the path. Snow up to her jacket.
The snow was not cleared, our village was simply abandoned. Some Niva made its way part of the way to the parallel street. We have a track 10 meters from our gate, but it couldn't go further than the next street and returned home. Understanding that the light would not be turned on soon, for at least two days, my father and I decided to clear the passage to the Niva's track and break through to the city to buy a generator.
While we were digging, a passing woman said that a GAZelle was stuck further down the road. It turned out that after the Niva, at the intersection, a GAZelle-bread truck could not drive to the RIGHT and got stuck across the road. I generally don't know what the driver was counting on. The Niva was just driving to his rescue, but didn't make it 15 meters to him.
The intersection is T-shaped. To the RIGHT is the GAZelle, to the LEFT is uncleared snow 70 cm.
My father and I cleared the path to the Niva's track, in case the GAZelle would be towed. But it wasn't towed. While I was there, the GAZelle's colleagues from work arrived in a UAZ with huge wheels and increased clearance, looked and didn't even try. They said: "Yura, let's go, we'll take you for now, and leave the car here for now".
The only second chance was that someone would drive through the intersection on the road leading to the LEFT.
Since it was impossible to drive, I, having equipped myself with not yet discharged phones and the money that was in the house, went on foot to the city in the hope of buying at least an UPS for the boiler, so that the house would not freeze. I won't describe the story of how I found fellow travelers in another Niva and how we drove around the whole city and couldn't buy anything. For your happiness)))
I returned home with nothing, we're freezing, waiting for a miracle…
Around 21:30, I decided to go and check the condition of the road and the GAZelle. And OH, A MIRACLE! Someone on a very high car drove to our T-shaped intersection from the LEFT and a track appeared with a depth of 35-40 cm. I walked to the end of this track and it turned out that its length was 150-200 meters, and then it's already easier. People cleaned the road a little, somewhere even a small tractor drove, but the track was still about 25-30 cm on average.
I tell my family that there is a chance to leave the village to relatives in the city.
My father stays with the dog to warm the house with a pot of boiling water, and I take my sister, mother, and a shovel and go to meet adventures.
I only got out with a shovel once at the intersection to remove the top 10 cm of snow inside the track. I removed about 10 meters in length. Then I just pushed the snow with the car. I drove this entire section of 150-200 meters in three jerks. I drove, got stuck in the snow, backed up a couple of meters, and drove forward again. When I drove through this section, I realized that nothing could stop me now. There was no limit to the joy. The car was in "cactus" terrain response mode.
We arrived at our relatives' place at exactly 00:00, under the fireworks.
The next day, I drove around the city looking for a generator, and eventually found one from acquaintances, came home back to the village to rescue my frozen father. The village was never cleared. The situations on the road were the worst, both uphill and downhill at 15-20 degrees.
I drove every day for gasoline along the highway to the gas station until January 3 (the light was turned on at 17:00).
On the highway, I overtook EVERYTHING THAT MOVES, in the city, in the village, everywhere. I drove like a tank.
Of course, without sacrificing safety on the road, within reason.
THERE WAS ONE CASE ON THE HIGHWAY:
I'm driving behind a Volkswagen Polo. Our lane is snowy, a small mess, sometimes a track, sometimes ice.
The oncoming lane was cleared to the asphalt. I was going to overtake him, but as soon as the oncoming car passed the Polo, it jumped onto the asphalt and accelerated. And I had already tuned in to overtake him, and I decided that the snow wouldn't be a problem and rushed through the snow. As a result, I overtook him through the snow. Probably, now he has psychological trauma))).
I was descending a steep hill. A Snow-removing Kamaz was driving towards me. But the width of the cleared road was exactly enough for two cars. I pressed against the snowbank and at some point oversteered and got stuck in the snowbank. BUT I already understood the capabilities of the tires and my car, so without panic, I turned on the reverse and drove out of the snowbank without slipping.
There were many such situations over those four days. I drove without any fear or doubt.
The village was an off-road polygon with tracks and ice for a week
I WROTE SUCH A BIG AND DETAILED REVIEW IN GRATITUDE TO THESE TIRES.
WITHOUT THEM, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LEAVE. Something like a "ROAD" appeared closer to January 3.
In four days, both the house and the whole family would have definitely frozen.
BIG THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!
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