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Hot Springs Ready: Preparing Your Vehicle for Driving on Icy Mountain Roads

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Elevation changes the forecast

Driving on icy mountain roads starts with a forecast you cannot fully trust. A forecast written for the region can be wrong for this valley by several degrees and one crucial category. Rain in Asheville can be freezing rain on a ridge road above Hot Springs. The stretch of road in the shade of a north-facing cut can hold ice all day while the sunny stretch a quarter mile on is dry.

The National Weather Service says it plainly: freezing isn’t uniform, and shaded parts of a road can be icy while sunny parts aren’t. Bridges freeze first, because cold air surrounds them above and below. Around here, that means the bridges, the curves under a bank, and any spot where a spring seeps across the pavement.

Black ice looks like a wet spot

NCDOT describes black ice as melted snow and ice that refreezes into thin layers and appears as wet spots on the road, and notes that most drivers don’t know it’s there until it’s too late. On a mountain road, the first sign is often the steering going light in a curve.

There is only one dependable response, and it’s the boring one. Slow down before the curve, not in it. NCDOT reports that excessive speed is the number one cause of wrecks in winter weather. The department also advises against braking while crossing a bridge, and against sudden acceleration, braking, or turning of any kind on winter roads.

Four-wheel drive won’t stop you

This is the most expensive misunderstanding in the mountains. Consumer Reports puts it directly: sending power to all four wheels improves straight-line traction, but neither all-wheel drive nor four-wheel drive improves braking. Consumer Reports puts the consequence plainly: drivers can be fooled into traveling too quickly in slippery conditions with an AWD or 4WD vehicle, only to discover they are going far too fast when trying to stop.

What does help you stop and turn is tires. Consumer Reports found that winter tires deliver better grip to start in snow and stop on ice, and they recommend four matching winter tires rather than two, identified by the mountain and snowflake symbol on the sidewall. If a full set of winter tires isn’t in the budget, at least check tread depth before the season and keep pressure at the manufacturer’s number on the driver’s door frame. NHTSA notes that tire pressure drops as the outside temperature drops, so the pressure that was right in October is low in January.

Check the road before driving on icy mountain roads

DriveNC.gov is NCDOT’s real-time site for road conditions, closures, cameras, and snow and ice reporting, and you can set alerts for routes you drive regularly. Check it before you head out, not from the shoulder halfway there.

Worth understanding: NCDOT clears roads in priority order. First come the routes in what NCDOT calls the Bare Pavement System, generally the interstates and four-lane divided primary routes plus other routes the department considers essential. Then other US and NC routes, then paved secondary roads, and unpaved secondary roads last. If you live off a paved route, plan on your road being cleared after the main roads are done, which can be a day or more behind.

Here’s a detail most people don’t know. The brine NCDOT sprays ahead of a storm is a solution of water and 23 percent salt, applied 24 to 48 hours in advance, and it only works under specific conditions. It has to go down on dry pavement, rain washes it away, and it stops being effective at around 18 degrees. So the white stripes on the pavement are not a guarantee. If it rained after the trucks came through, or if the temperature is headed into the teens, treat that road as untreated.

What to keep in the vehicle

NHTSA’s winter kit list is a good baseline, and all of it fits in a tote in the back:

  • Snow shovel, broom, and ice scraper
  • Abrasive material for traction, sand or cat litter
  • Jumper cables, flashlight, and warning devices such as flares or reflective markers
  • First aid kit
  • Blankets
  • Cell phone charger, water, food, and any necessary medication

NCDOT adds one habit that matters more here than in flatter country: keep at least a half tank of fuel through the winter. A closed road can turn a 20 minute drive into a two hour detour, and idling to stay warm burns fuel you may need.

If you get stuck

Stay with the vehicle. NHTSA and the National Safety Council both say it plainly, and it’s the guidance people most often ignore. A car is shelter, and it’s far easier for responders to find than a person walking a dark road.

Then do three things: tie something bright to the antenna or hang it in a window, run the engine only sporadically, just long enough to take the chill off, and before you run it at all, get out and make sure the exhaust pipe is clear of snow. A blocked exhaust pipe fills a car with carbon monoxide, and it does it quietly.

Winter here isn’t usually dramatic. It’s a Tuesday morning with a glaze on the bridge and someone in the ditch below the curve. Check DriveNC before you leave, put the tote in the back before the first cold snap, and give yourself the extra ten minutes. That’s most of it. Next: staying warm when a winter storm takes the power with it.

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