Red Cone 10-13-2012

[cwin74]

I know I don't post these as often as I should, but this trip fairly fun due to the inclement weather. There were two of us, me and my 74 and a friend and his 95-96. I don't know what it is but I love to drive in storms, and snow storms are the most fun to me. The day started out sunny and the forecast was good, then reality set in at about 9000 ft. It started snowing and progressively got worse the higher we climbed. We encountered a Jeep and a an ATV that turned around. They complained about the weather and no grip. We decided to give it a go and we are glad we did.

A nice day and a nice start:


Airing down, still nice out:


It looked like it snowed the night before, no issues with grip:


More snow, the high we went...go figure:


First stop and it begins to snow:


More snow, still no grip issue so we decide to push onward:


Wind is blowing pretty hard, snow is coming down good:


Starting to drift, no grip issues:


Made it to the top! Winds blowing at 50+ MPH:


Can't leave without taking a picture of the sign. Can you see the horizontal snow?:


Trail down is a little scary:


There is a trail there right?


Pretty heavy on the other side:


Last rest stop when we got down on the other side, actually pretty nice out:


Just because it looks cool:

[Colorado75bronc]

Nice pics, looks like it was a good trip, thanks for posting

[ZOSO]

That's some balls goin over redcone in the snow. Looks like a fun time tho.

[akaFrankCastle]

I see some damn fine calendar quality pics in there!

[Justin]

For sure! I've always heard that Red Cone was a little sketchy when the weather was good, and am impressed that you did it in those conditions! Nice rig, BTW.

[Kinder]

Wow, nice trip, looks like your friend ran with no top! Crazy! How was the really steep section on the approach in those conditions?

[Jesus_man]

Wow, thanks for sharing. Your rig is really growing up! Ready for some full-on snow bashing?

[ZOSO]

Wow, nice trip, looks like your friend ran with no top! Crazy! How was the really steep section on the approach in those conditions?

Matt's bronco is always topless. In the winter he made a wind jammer type top. And you wanna see someone that can wheel he's the guy. His full size is stock. I've ran spring creek with him and he just cruised right through it. Since then he has added 4.56's and a Detroit in the rear. And the rig shows he's not afraid to use it either. I don't think there is much that is straight on it anymore.

[cwin74]

Thanks for all the replies, I too am happy the trip turned out well. I agree it was a little crazy to do Red Cone in those conditions, but we were there and were looking for to a day of wheeling. Fresh snow was key to our success since the Broncos were able to dig deep and find traction even through the drifts. It was a great test for my new 35's and they passed with flying colors. We monitored grip the entire way up and made our decision to push on with caution. Well...as much caution as we could muster on Red Cone in a snow storm. Slow and steady. The key factor here was we never lost forward momentum.

The ascent toward the top was surprisingly easy, I was in 4L and in second gear and it walked right up to the top. There was a little spin in places, but I hammered on the gas a little too hard due to my fear of losing forward momentum. The last time I was on Red Cone I had a 2 barrel carb and barely made it to the top. (it was a close thing) EFI is a blessing and this trip up Red Cone was much easier then the last trip.

The descent down the other side of Red Cone was a little tricky. The snow much deeper on the descent side. Both Broncos got a little sideways due to zero traction in spots. People warn about the descent and going sideways because of the loose rock, snow didn't make it any easier. Nothing life threatening, but the jolt of adrenaline was substantial. Applying some throttle straightened the Broncos out.

Good eyes Kirk, the Bronco in front of me was indeed topless. (half-top) By the time he decided it was time to put the soft top on it was too windy. He has a good heater so it wasn't a huge deal for him, his passenger and his dog. I think you met him on a trail ride earlier this year. (Matt) His FSB has a lot of body damage from wheeling the thing since 95-96. He has some nice pictures of your huge wheel stand climbing up some rocks.

I would love to do some snow bashing this winter. I love to play in the snow.

The Bronco is coming along well. The remaining items on my 'things to change' are Exhaust, Bumpers (being built), Upgrade steering and update the suspension. I'm sure there will be other things too!

If your interested, I have more pictures of this trip: (other less exciting albums of previous trips there too)
http://s1169.photobucket.com/albums/r50 ... 0-13-2012/

[cwin74]

Wow, nice trip, looks like your friend ran with no top! Crazy! How was the really steep section on the approach in those conditions?

Matt's bronco is always topless. In the winter he made a wind jammer type top. And you wanna see someone that can wheel he's the guy. His full size is stock. I've ran spring creek with him and he just cruised right through it. Since then he has added 4.56's and a Detroit in the rear. And the rig shows he's not afraid to use it either. I don't think there is much that is straight on it anymore.

I agree 100% with this. Matt has a lot of skill and loads of experience.