The sheer idiocy of playing in snow

[Hyzflip10]

But it's summertime in Antarctica right now.

It's a big place. Temps range from positive 40 on Shag Island, to minus 46 at Concordia Station.

 

[Barefoot744]

What kind of car were you racing?

The last car we were running was a blue #744 Mk3 VW Golf in 2009 and 2010, but for 5-6 years before that it was an old red 1987 GTI.

http://www.rally-america.com/assets/cache/0a31dc3138f7e9447b0f1344d3edd9c9917e0034.jpg

 

[da Crippler]

Beautiful day today

 

[da Crippler]

A few more.

 

[wproct]

Big time warning of caution. Being in my 70's and living in Iowa, last February I had a major case of cabin fever going on. Temperature was in the lower 30's and sun was out, little bit of snow and ice, but I ventured out anyway. Play hole one and all is good, playing with long sleeved shirt and a vest, it's great!

Then on hole two my drive lands up on a hill side covered in ice, uh oh, this isn't good. Tippey-toed out next to my disc and bent over to pick it up, fell flat on my elbow trying to catch myself, split my elbow open. Good for a trip to emergency room and a bunch of stitches. This spring I'll be a little more patient waiting for snow & ice to be gone.:thmbup:

 

[Pymm]

Don't need Facebook to update course conditions, you can do it right here where disc golfers and course info are both located. Would be nice if more members took a few seconds to update the conditions after they play when that info would be helpful to others. :thmbup:

I update course conditions on here after every round I play. I often am updating my own entry from 2-3 weeks earlier as other people don't seem to do it very often. Wish they did.

 

[joecoin]

Big time warning of caution. Being in my 70's and living in Iowa, last February I had a major case of cabin fever going on. Temperature was in the lower 30's and sun was out, little bit of snow and ice, but I ventured out anyway. Play hole one and all is good, playing with long sleeved shirt and a vest, it's great!

Then on hole two my drive lands up on a hill side covered in ice, uh oh, this isn't good. Tippey-toed out next to my disc and bent over to pick it up, fell flat on my elbow trying to catch myself, split my elbow open. Good for a trip to emergency room and a bunch of stitches. This spring I'll be a little more patient waiting for snow & ice to be gone.:thmbup:

So far this year, I've fallen 5 or 6 times. But I'm only 61.

 

[Vintage Folfer]

The last time I was in Minnesota it was January and it was around 0 F. I don't live there now but I did many years ago for about 10 years so I've been fascinated by this thread. The pictures make me feel nostalgic, but still, I'm glad I don't have to deal with snow where I live now. It does rain here in the Seattle area and I've tried playing in it and, it sucks, I don't play in the rain. Still, I play almost every weekend, usually once in between, and stay dry, mostly, and no snow, until yesterday! Yesterday it was snowing when I got to the course and kept snowing the whole time I was there. It was great! I love the way it just falls off instead of soaking in to your clothes. It did stick to my shirt, and my disk, and my dog at times but we shook it off ok. Didn't lose any disks. Near the end some of it was sticking to the ground and the wind started blowing. It was like a blizzard! Well, actually, not like a blizzard at all but it made me realize that the falling snow made it easy to see which way the wind was blowing. Cool! I'd like to try it again today but there's about 3 inches of snow on the ground and no one's going anywhere.

 

[simpletwist]

I play kick the snow from time to time during the winter. It's usually better if you aren't solo. If you do it often enough you get pretty adept at snow forensics looking for those telltale signs of where your disc knifed into the snow. Champion type plastics have a tendency to reflect light better and seem to glow if not buried too deep. I've never been a fan of ribbons.

The best solution is Super Class discs. Zephyrs and Condors. I haven't lost one to deep snow in my 10 years of winter golf. Standard discs I've lost more than I'd like to.

 

[Vintage Folfer]

Update: Did some field work the next day in 3-4 inches of snow. Almost lost my bright pink Tee Bird a couple times. Easy to find when it skips a bit and finishes exposed at all but if it knifes in it's invisible. On my final throw I saw exactly where it went, walked straight to it and almost stepped on it before eventually finding it 10 minutes later. More snow expected this weekend. Might have to get some ribbons.

 

[Vintage Folfer]

So I did get some ribbons and some of that Scotch +33 tape (we got over a foot of snow, most we've seen in years). Worked great! Couldn't get to the course but I did some field work at a nearby school to try it out. Didn't need the ribbon for most throws but when I did it was really nice to have. Buried it in a snowbank on one throw, found it over a foot from the ribbon. Cool! Will try to get to the course this weekend, snow or no. Home course: Howling Coyote in Bothell, WA.

 

[VictorB]

Looks like playing in the snow is the only option here for the forseeable future.

I've tried the ribbon thing, and man does it ever put some unneeded drag on your discs. Sure, makes it easier to find them (unless they dive down and through the snow) but it's not as much fun because of the lost distance on your shots. If you have a good group, share responsibility spotting and you'll be ok, as long as the snow isn't too deep.

 

[aphilso1]

Played in 8" of snow yesterday with drifts up to my knees in spots. Somehow managed to not lose any discs even though I was playing by myself. Definitely a lot of careful watching and searching for entry points in the snow. On a related note, I hate rabbits and how much their rear footprints look like a disc entry mark.

We're supposedly getting another 5"-8" tonight. If that happens I think I'll be waving the white flag in surrender. Y'all carry on the good fight without me.

 

[smarkquart]

I hate winter with another predicted 6-10 inches tonight. They already cancelled school for tomorrow - although, as a teacher I am contractually obligated to still go in. The only good thing about this new snow, it resets the course. Only about three of us have been playing the local 9, but we have put in enough rounds to create enough tracks to make looking for disc marks difficult. The course will be reset, making it easy to see their marks again.

 

[GripEnemy]

For those of you that do play somewhat frequently in more than a few inches, is much of your courses hard pack? I feel like when I do occasionally play in the snow that changes the way discs act under the snow vs. grass or mulch. Much more travel/harder to find IMO (limited experience).

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

 

[ru4por]

Played in our annual Frozen Flyer a couple weeks ago. Temp course set up with a varying number of holes out on the lake. Good ice this year, so we had about 4 holes on the ice. What trip it is to see the skips, spins and wipeouts of a disc on ice. Little wind so it was fun.

 

[Spiky]

I haven't played in many weeks, now. The record Feb snowfall here eventually became a problem. 2.5' of snow on the ground is a little too much for me. Normally, I'm the one mouthing off about "don't be a baby", but it is just too tiring at some point to slog through feet of snow, and search for discs on occasion. I should try to get out there, I'm sure Brookview is stomped down enough.

 

[Leonidas187]

I'm gonna go out this weekend. It should be warmer on Saturday. It's been since that last nice weekend in Jan since I've been out and it's driving me up a wall. I've got so much new stuff to throw. I'm picking up ribbon on Friday. Can't...take it....anymore!

 

[Hyzflip10]

I've had it with the cold wind and snow. I've been hitting the gym 4 days a week since January, only been on the course 3 times so far since 1/1. Hopefully getting back in shape will help me out on the course once this nonsense of a winter stops.