Alexander L 80 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 bulldozers clearing roads is good. Link to post Share on other sites
stemik 14 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 7 hours from hakuba to Suwa, Should take only 1,5 hrs. This sucks. Wow! That is very bad. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 bulldozers clearing roads is good. Yes indeed! Link to post Share on other sites
Metabo Oyaji 71 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 News said Kusatsu got 69 cm? Looking at the highway maps, closures all over the place. Does not look fun to be trying to drive anwhere now. Link to post Share on other sites
Alexander L 80 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 7 hours from hakuba to Suwa, Should take only 1,5 hrs. This sucks. that is bad. How did your fuel last, have you got a kei car? Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 The roads are covered in frozen snow now as everything has frozen up. When I was out and about today driving around, I saw no end of cars getting stuck and bottoming out in the snow. Was so glad I was in my car. The motorway from Just before Otsuki here in Yamanashi all the way to beyond us is closed because of snow. The snow sure has caused a lot of problems today! Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Just come back from a walk outside. Just 5 cm of heavy wet snow on the top of the car which has not moved since yesterday. Sleet, almost rain,malingering just before but stopped. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 It's 2am and we got as far as Kofu. Not a highway is open and route 20...the only route back towards Tokyo is grid locked. The three hotels we just checked we're booked up but we lucked out and found a spa hotel. Thursday... No, I don't have a k car. Far from it actually. A gas pig LandCruiser. Had to top up twice just in case it was going to be a night in the car situation. Link to post Share on other sites
panhead_pete 27 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Glad to read you got somewhere to stay. Travel safe today. Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Like an ice rink everywhere todau. Be carrful out there today. Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Back on the road this morning however nothing is moving yet. Wow....just wow!! Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Tell me about it im stick in trafic every where in Kofu has stopped. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 dude, good luck. Skipped the bike for the first time ever today and got the train in to work. Its alright, think ive got a bit of groin strain from yesterday anyhoo. Weather is still pretty nippy out here so doubt its going to melt anytime soon. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Cycle to work was dicey with the black ice all over the place. U can see Shonan ppl aren't used to snow and ice.....everyone is "clearing" ice by spraying it with water!! Convini worker was out turning the car park into an ice rink....the water was also draining onto a main road where it was re-freezing into polished ice! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Well, I think I set a new record for what should be a 4 hour drive.......24 frickin hours!! I'm bloody knackered.. Most people trying to get to Tokyo are still sitting.... while I managed to sneak over a mountain pass that opened up mid morning. That's just so outrageous to have "THE" only major artery coming from southern Nagano and Yamanashi closed for two days. The regular roads can't handle the load and are completely stopped even now as the ice that melted today will be starting to firm up again.. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 That's insane. I've never heard of it being that bad before. Was shutting down the highway warranted from what you saw? Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 That's insane. I've never heard of it being that bad before. Was shutting down the highway warranted from what you saw? For the most part,, NO.. My wife, a Hokkaido native was grumbling the whole time about how silly the whole thing was......BUT as we know Hokkaido is flat and there are a few steeper sections on that Chuo coming up out of Kofu and it was pretty damned icy. I think the trucks slipping around was the big issue. Regular cars with a stud-less check like they do at Suwa and around Azumino should have been allowed to pass. There is no reason why snow and ice geared vehicles shouldn't be given the option to travel at your own risk. I was hitting some pretty skinny back roads through Matsumoto, Suwa-ko, and Kofu (LandCruisers are the bomb...) but ultimately the bottleneck closed and I couldn't go any further. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I thought so. I wouldn't have been very happy either... my 4WD and studless tires have been able to handle any of the craziness I've come across so far. I've also got a set of chains in the back. They had the Chuo closed on us the day of the Tohoku earthquake because the power was out... it made no sense to me at all. Luckily it only added a few hours to the trip. Anyway, glad you made it back. Now get to work!! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Haha...ya...back in time for the last few hours of work. Yes, the Chuo and Fujigoko were closed on the day of the earthquake as we were in Gotemba when it hit. That was a dark eery drive wasn't it.... That time however the Chuo was only closed to Kofu Minami......not all the way to Azumino...and the traffic at least crawled along over the Misaka Pass. It only added a few hours onto the trip for us as well. Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Closed all the way to Azumino? I would have just turned around and gone skiing again today! Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Well, I think I set a new record for what should be a 4 hour drive.......24 frickin hours!! I'm bloody knackered.. Most people trying to get to Tokyo are still sitting.... while I managed to sneak over a mountain pass that opened up mid morning. That's just so outrageous to have "THE" only major artery coming from southern Nagano and Yamanashi closed for two days. The regular roads can't handle the load and are completely stopped even now as the ice that melted today will be starting to firm up again.. It took me 2 bloody hours to get from my daughters school back to my house and that was like just about 6klm! Although I did help a stuck person by pulling their car out of the snow with mine! The snow that melted on the roads is already freezing again, so everywhere will be like an ice rink again tonight! Although I know we had heavy snow here, still amazing how all of Kanto and Koshin came to a standstill. Glad I had my Delica, that is good for snow up to about 40 cm deep, so was a piece of piss driving through the snow. The main problem around the smaller roads here is the depth of the snow was higher than the bottom of most K-cars so some where grounding out and getting stuck holding others up. I do think it is crazy in this country how they shut the roads off even if the snow isn't that bad, which on a motorway Im sure it was not so deep at all. They should let people who have got 4x4 with winter tyres use the motorways, it's crazy! Link to post Share on other sites
Chriselle 158 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Closed all the way to Azumino? I would have just turned around and gone skiing again today! THAT is what we should have done in hindsight. But, we never could have imagined how bad it was going to be and I'm running low on holiday leave and my daughter was keen on getting to school to keep her attendance record in tact. That was the worst traffic I have ever experienced. Snowdude...man that's a horrible bottleneck you live in there around Kofu. Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Sounds terrible. Was it worth it!?!? Link to post Share on other sites
Thundercat 60 Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Closed all the way to Azumino? I would have just turned around and gone skiing again today! THAT is what we should have done in hindsight. But, we never could have imagined how bad it was going to be and I'm running low on holiday leave and my daughter was keen on getting to school to keep her attendance record in tact. That was the worst traffic I have ever experienced. Snowdude...man that's a horrible bottleneck you live in there around Kofu. I know it's not really all that easy to turn around once you've already left... especially considering the holiday leave and attendence record thing. Do you lose a day if you show up with only a few hours to go? Is the attendence record still intact? Link to post Share on other sites
snowdude 44 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Closed all the way to Azumino? I would have just turned around and gone skiing again today! THAT is what we should have done in hindsight. But, we never could have imagined how bad it was going to be and I'm running low on holiday leave and my daughter was keen on getting to school to keep her attendance record in tact. That was the worst traffic I have ever experienced. Snowdude...man that's a horrible bottleneck you live in there around Kofu. Yes really sucked, normally the roads are fairy empty, except for evening rush hour, but even then cars move. First time ever to see so much bottled up traffic in Kofu. Luckily were I live is kind of out in the mountains so sod all cars! Link to post Share on other sites
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