[Supercell]

I took a spin (and it was literally a spin in many parts, and a slide in a few!!) over Sally Gap this afternoon from Laragh up the Military Road and down by Michael Jacksons gaff into Roundwood

Here some of the pics i took.

Looking back towards Laragh direction




Kippure in the distance



Which way to go?



My chariot..



It had a desolate beauty to it. The black patches on the roads are not slush, they are pools of water frozen over that the snow has blown off. Totally treacherous, i found it hard to stand upright never mind drive on.



Light snow showers in the distance



I had a few really big slides and my snow driving experience from last winter really came in useful. I would not recommend any one that isn't used to driving in the snow making the trip up there tomorrow, its a total ice rink, i could barely stand upright on the road. Wild animals couldn't drag me up there after dark.

A fun drive

[Scubadevils]

Looking good... I might make my way up towards Glendalough on Sunday, depending on the conditions.

[In_tuition]

very very nice Supercell,

thanks a lot for sharing those.

[Duffff-Man]

Nice pictures. Hopefully theres a bit of snow around there on Sunday, be really tempted to take a trip up. Nice car btw

[Supercell]

Originally Posted by Duffff-Man

Nice pictures. Hopefully theres a bit of snow around there on Sunday, be really tempted to take a trip up. Nice car btw

That snow is going nowhere, it was -2°C at around 2PM when I took those - the warmest part of the day.
More snow is likely, good luck to those insane bikers that try it on two wheels..blorg if you are reading this i mean you!!, my four wheels could barely navigate it.
I could barely stand upright, there must have been a lot of standing water before the cold air came as the snow appears to be sitting on sheet ice, totally lethal!

[BoardsRanger]

Great pics Supercell. I was up by Mick's gaf aswell today- plenty of cars trying to go up, only having to reverse down because one car decided to stop half way up! How did you get on coming down that strech of the hill? I walked on it and it was pure ice.

[Supercell]

Originally Posted by BoardsRanger

Great pics Supercell. I was up by Mick's gaf aswell today- plenty of cars trying to go up, only having to reverse down because one car decided to stop half way up! How did you get on coming down that strech of the hill? I walked on it and it was pure ice.

With extreme caution!, though at one stage i met a muppet driving too slowly and had to stop and let them plod and slide along.
You are right it was pure ice, in slush and snow you at least have some traction, but under the snow up there was pure ice so its was very very difficult to control direction!
In rolling hills in the snow you gotta use momentum as well as traction otherwise going up hills is a total disaster, this guy was all over the place on the uphills, sliding all over the place and i just decided to park over and let them at it until i could have a straight run down.

Mountain rescue are going to have a busy day tomorrow.

[BoardsRanger]

Yeah- they will certainly have their work cut out for them tomorrow! Im sure there will be plenty of abandoned cars lying in ditches.

[RayM]

The last time I visited that neck of the woods to play in the snow, it ended badly... upside-down in a ditch at the bottom of an embankment, having rolled at least five times. And that was in a 4x4. After climbing back up onto the road (more injurious than the crash itself), we flagged down a passing car and got a lift home. Had a second mishap a few minutes later, when someone locked up and ploughed into us near Glencree.

If it's anywhere near as slippy as it looks, I seriously would not recommend driving up there, experienced or not. Looks great though.

[arctictree]

Nice one SC. Did you get that sick feeling when you are driving down the steep hill, your brakes are having no effect and you just seem to be going faster and faster?! Then you have to accelerate to get some traction to take a corner?!

Best thing is to just drive in as low a gear as possible going down hill and in reverse going up hill without stopping.

[Supercell]

It was great fun AT , actually my biggest worry was not the snow on the road but meeting someone else that wasn't used to driving on it and having them slide into me or doing something silly.
I only met one other person that hadn't made it to the top and was all over the place so I just let them get down before I went down. If they had made it to higher up they probably would have gone off on some of the more icy bends so it was a blessing in disguise for them that they were not able to get up in the first place. The rolling hills by Michael Jacksons gaff were particularly tricky in spots.

[homersimpson]

Great photo's

[stooge]

great pics there. can i ask a seemingly stupid question though? what/where is michael jacksons gaff? and are you talking about the dead popstar?

[BoardsRanger]

Originally Posted by stooge

great pics there. can i ask a seemingly stupid question though? what/where is michael jacksons gaff? and are you talking about the dead popstar?

Its a reference to the Luggala estate which is located outside roundwood on the Sally Gap road. The estate has been rented out to numerous celebrities, who include, Michael Jackson who stayed there in 2006(?) for 3 months at a cost of €20,000 a week!!

[stooge]

cheers BR. just checked out the website for Luggala and it looks very impressive!