advice on ice: from sk8r

[Sk8r]

Having gotten into my own little black ice adventure on the back walk [nope, I didn't fall down]...I thought it might be a timely moment, given a storm unsually far south, to give some tips on walking on ice.

1. don't. If you have the choice to stay in, just do.
2. respect it: Dick Button, one of our former Olympians, got caught by a patch outside his NYC brownstone and nearly killed himself. If you know there could be ice---test with a toe.
3. don't overload yourself with packages: you've got enough problems with balance.

All that's for avoiding it.
But say there was an ice storm while you were at work. Now you've got to reach your car---on a downhill.

4. walk very flatfooted, no toes, no heels, just whole foot down flat, and about 8" apart.
keep your feet pointed straight ahead, even if they start to slide with you. Do not flail with arms: hold your hands, if you can, palm down in front of you. Keep your knees a little bent, and use your leg muscles to keep the width of your stance exactly the same---ie, if your feet are going to slide, they should do it as a set, not independently. This also applies to the forward/back axis---don't let one foot get in front, or out to the side. Think of skiing. If you have to lean, lean forward, not back; but don't lean if you can avoid it. Just ride the slide until it stops, with feet set in position. Then take up flat-footed walking again, calmly.

5. Getting into car. Keep your feet at 8" apart and even and pointed forward. Move slowly, always flatfooted. Get a door open. Get in. Get home real soon.

Good luck, all.

[dc]

yak trax are also real good and easy to slip on.
http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/f/8...2&op_sharpen=1

[Sk8r]

Very good things to own. And to have in your car.
[they're little slipons for your shoes that have wire loops on the bottom, that prevent skids.]

[right now we're getting rain atop ice: that is *particularly* lovely.]

[dc]

Our roads pretty much stay a sheet of ice all winter. I have the ones that have spikes in them also for thick ice.

[kfisc]

Believe it or not, I've been known to carry a box of Morton salt for just such special personal occasions.

Hey Sk8r! You 'holdin up in the storms ok??

[dc]

Originally posted by kfisc
Believe it or not, I've been known to carry a box of Morton salt for just such special personal occasions.

Hey Sk8r! You 'holdin up in the storms ok??

I carry kitty litter, non clumping. Or oil dry.

[kfisc]

Originally posted by dc
I carry kitty litter, non clumping. Or oil dry.

Oil dry? What is this de-icer of which you speak?

[pnosko]

Originally posted by kfisc
Believe it or not, I've been known to carry a box of Morton salt for just such special personal occasions.

Does it pour when it snows too?

[Sk8r]

We are fine here---just some nasty cold rain ruining our snow and giving us patches of craziness. I was at the grocery store when a 10 year old boy, to impress his mum, decided to do his silver surfer landing right in front of the doors. He did the splits so far I despair of his future generations. Of course, all the new drivers who started out with better conditions are now on their way home. Sigh.

[dc]

Originally posted by kfisc
Oil dry? What is this de-icer of which you speak?

It looks like kitty litter, only cheaper. I buy it at sams.

[dinoman]

Originally posted by dc
It looks like kitty litter, only cheaper. I buy it at sams.

Actually I believe it basically is kitty litter except it doesn't have as much of the dust removed out of it (heck, we've even used as kitty litter before ). We always have a 55 gallon barrel full of the stuff.

[pnosko]

Oil-Dry http://www.alphasourceintl.com/sorb/oil_dry.htm

or

Oll-Dri http://www.oildri.com/consumer/index.html

I don't get the feeling they are interchangeable.

[Apercula]

15or so years ago I hit a patch of ice on the top stop of our walk on the way to my car. Both feet went out in front of me and I fell on the top step in a sitting position with my back vertical. I then proceeded to bounce down each step, still vertical, to the bottom. I was virtually unable to sit for 2 months, and had back pain for close to 6 months.

[Sk8r]

That's rough.
Falls on the ice are common enough in my sport, but the worst are when you go backward or if you aren't practiced and don't know to [against all instinct] get your arms in front. That has three effects: gets your head up, protecting your skull, and gets your vulnerable arms out of harm's way, and third, will make you fall like a kidney bean in shape, much less vulnerable. [The fact I wear crash pads [little gel pads] in practice is another biggie. I really HATE it when I know I'm going down---there's this moment of oh, no! AM I? Oh, fudge brownies [fill in your own]! This is going to smart! [Bang!] ---But the fear has gone, via experience, and it does hurt less than a fall on non-skidding pavement---if you learn to angle it, you can slide as much as impact, because you ARE usually going quite fast. Now watch, tomorrow I'll slip at my own front door and break something.
But falling on the rink ice isn't that bad. It's the nasty, lumpy, often tilting sort of fall out in the real world on irregular pavings that will get you hurt bad, and steps are among the worst. That and the backward number.
My most interesting one on the rink was the time I spun around and expected to meet the wall and rebound, lazy stop, eh? Somebody had left the hockey entrance door open. I knew I was in trouble when my butt met nothing---my skate tails hit the rim of the wall, and I hit, in rapid succession, the left side of the door, the right side of the door frame, the floor mat, and my head. Couldn't complain. I'd just assumed the door was closed---it's ALWAYS closed during our sessions. Wrong.