Frederick’s snowplow operators competed to prove their skills on a realistic obstacle course as part of the county’s annual snow rodeo Wednesday morning.
While Jack Frost hasn’t come nipping at our noses just yet, Frederick County is already getting prepared for the winter weather. With more than 2,700 miles of county roads to maintain, Frederick’s fleet of snowplows are getting warmed up for the cold.
Jason Stitt, Director of Public Works, says the county has been holding the snow rodeo for nearly twenty years. “The snow rodeo is a training week actually,” Stitt explained. “Today the rodeo is where the guys and gals come out and compete and show off their skills.”
Snowplows weren’t the only type of vehicle on the track Wednesday morning, as competitors also got the chance to show off in skid-steer loaders, mini excavators, back hoes and grade alls.
The ultimate goal of the competition was to simulate real-world obstacles drivers are likely to encounter. This included driving serpentine -bot forward and backwards-, turns, navigating cul-de-sacs and avoiding mailboxes.
After all, no one wants to play bumper cars with a snowplow.
Danielle Stottlemyer has been driving snowplows for more than five years. She says the competition gives the community a reason to trust drivers. “We need to show we know what we’re doing here and how to be safe and take care of these trucks without damaging other people’s property,” Stottlemyer explained.
That county employs snowplows rated to carry one ton, and some can even carry 10. What’s more, a truck’s shovel can be as wide as 10 feet. John Thompson has been plowing for eight years and says it can be far more dangerous than it looks from the sidewalk. “The blindspot is a huge one,” Thompson pointed out. “People on the corners, when we’re making right turns and left turns as they come out, maybe into a crosswalk, they don’t consider that driver and his limited vision.”
Sometimes, that lesson is learned the hard way, laughed Kim Campbell, who works for the County’s Storm Water Department. She came out to watch the snowplows and told her own story. “One time I got a load of snow on my car because I decided to go ahead of the snowplow, which you should never do,” Campbell admitted. “Stay behind, stay safe.”
Pedestrians have reason to be careful too, Stottlemyer explained, as no one wants to go surfing on a frozen wave. “A lot of people don’t realize the velocity of the snow coming off of that plow can actually knock over a person.” Stottlemyer warned. “So if you’re plowing and you see somebody that is shoveling snow out of their drive way, the snow that you send to them can actually hurt them.”
While Frederick’s snow rodeo has a distinct lack of lassos and hay bails, it does feature truck inspections and a written test. A snowplow driver’s day can begin even before Santa's elves are out of bed. Before hitting the road, Stottlemyer says it's important to know how to check her truck.
Snow might create a winter wonderland during the day, but Thompson said he has to roll down roads without the help of the painted lines drivers normally use. He says as the work gets started, it can be pretty stressful. “Until you really get to moving and find center lines and edges, you know, the roadway’s only so wide,” Thompson said.
Stottlemyer on the other hand says she likes the time to herself. “I like listening to my radio, have a little jam session and basically just enjoy the road while it's empty,” Stottlemyer explained.
If there was one thing the drivers at Frederick’s snow rodeo could agree on, it was that coffee beat out hot cocoa for the early morning hot drink of choice.
