It’s reckless, juvenile, and it’s too much fun to resist. Maybe it’s a leftover instinct from childhood that implies that the first snow of the season should be a time for play. It’s the only real reason to look forward to the frigid white crap, isn’t it? From my early days in Colorado up to as I type this out, I know that the first time I see snow that sticks and piles up on the ground, that I want to play in it. Back then, it was sledding…a speed junkie’s first safe bet. We’d take the plastic sleds up to the top of the hill in my grandfather’s backyard and sled into the snow berm that my uncle would build up at the bottom. That led to the days when I had a Honda 200 three-wheeler, and I’d be out in the middle of an open dirt field, ripping donuts and drifts at will. Driving in the snow at first wasn’t anything more than being careful with the Monte Carlo SS I owned, but when I owned my 1978 Chrysler LeBaron, the recently abandoned King Soopers parking lot just up the street turned into my playground, allowing me to try out drifts, bootleg turns, Rockfords, and other antics…right up until my battery tie-down failed and the battery tack-welded itself to the hood of the car.
Nowadays, I can’t say that snow days equal all-out hooning. The Chrysler didn’t tolerate any sideways shenanigans before the build, so maybe one day we will see just how much fun it can possibly be. And I’m sure at some point I’ll get a text from the boss, pushing me to rip donuts in my wife’s AWD Silverado SS. (BTW, Lohnes, the answer is still “no”.) But that doesn’t mean that when I’m on my way somewhere on some snowy roads, that I don’t punch the throttle just to step the back end out a little bit. That part hasn’t gone away. It’s kind of like what Marcus from Roads Untraveled recently did with his 1994 Toyota MR-2 GT-S…under the auspices of “let’s see how well it will do”, he basically filmed himself having a ball in the snow with his imported hot rod. The only sketchy part of the video…aside from the scientific pretenses, of course…is his friend eating in the car while snow driving is taking place. Seriously?