Hudson Bay Or Bust

Sections: Events Feb 22nd, 2005 43 Comments

If you must roll your MINI, do it into snow!

The recent Hudson Bay Or Bust road trip took MINIs north into Canada and freezing cold, and David Rose (Ducttape on MINI2), led with the top down on his convertible!

David had driven the same route before but not in such cold; Months of planning and discussion on the MINI2 thread prepared everyone for their journey, but nothing could prepare them for the accident that occurred, when Davids convertible lost traction and flipped into a snow bank!

First reports were worrying but hopeful: “Just heard some bad news. No one hurt from what I hear but David rolled his MINI. Both passengers are ok. Happened with the top down. It did a couple of 360′s. Very icy roads up there“; later we heard “There’s speculation that the cabrio may still be driveable!” (from Cape Cod Mini)

Now, David is back home and safe – with his MINI!

David writes:

… flying in MINI was the not experience I think BMW had in mind. However, we ended up in the snow, upside down, and I was hanging from my seatbelt. I undid it, and fell into a face full of snow. Rather disconcerting. I reached behind me and grabbed the door handle, which pulled, but did not open because of the snow on the other side. Unfortunately, I could not get out because my parka hood was pinned under the headrest. Had you been under there with me, you would have heard me saying “would someone open the door, please?” …

…I sincerely want to thank ALL of you for your help … Everyone made what could have been an absurdly horrible situation bearable. I really did come out knowing I was OK. NOTHING hurt. I have 2nd degree frostbite on 3 fingers (not a pretty sight), but nothing broken or pulled etc. As to the car. Front bumper and those cool [driving] lamps gone. (Well, not gone. Now in the back seat) Passenger 1/4 panel dented. Passenger window broke on impact, and my window on flipping the car. Maybe some more, but it is remarkably clean, considering. No airbags, no electric cutoff and no fluids on the ground. And yes, put the key in and drove home. Far. With the windows down. And it was cold. Very cold. Colder than with the top down and windows up. My throat hurts.

…Now, on to brighter points. This trip was spectacular. Simply spectacular. And seeing the Bay was the event of a lifetime. I will always remember that. For all intents and purposes, we were up there in the arctic. I don’t care if we were technically 12 degrees too far south. We made it. It was incredible. You should have seen all of us. Like a group of 6 year olds let out on to a playground. It was SO much fun.

Photo credits: David (LePew) and Peter (Uptick) More info: see the MINI2 thread, the NEMINI thread, and Davids MINI page

Written By: Gabe

http://www.lagparty.org/~jared/gallery/minipics/ Jared/pezboy

Still going next year?
Kurt

Now if that’s not an amazing event and a great show of how strongly built the minis are, I don’t know what it…
Scott

Next year will be packed. I hear Ducttape is planning a special competition for everyone who goes – “how far can your MINI fly through the air?” – j/k D. :)

Sell the rights to that flip to MINIUSA – that’s one to use for marketing. “Look, you can put the cabrio upside down and it still is drivable!”
GrumpyGills

Scary moment, great attitude. Sounds like it was an awesome trip.
murphmini

So glad your ok you top down s#b, When I saw your pictures on the web I said , heres a guy I’d like to meet. Happy Trails.
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/ Josh Wardell

Apparently Ducttape too the MINI Jump Game the wrong way… ;)

Even without the rollover, we were all concerned about these nuts voluntarily driving way up there…and are very glad everyone made it back fine!
http://www.gbmini.net/ Ian

Check out a pic from David Rose on my weblog; how to dress for the arctic when travelling top down in a convertible ;)
Vanwall
A play on Edward Lear’s name for a similar strange manifestation: MINIpeeplia Upsidownia. You could look it up. ;-)
```
   BCNU,
 Rob in Dago
```
Vanwall
I just looked at the pics on Ian’s site – Robert W. Service must’ve had them in mind for “The Cremation Of Sam McGee”. They’re certainly dog-dirty and loaded for bear. Mush!
```
      BCNU,
     Rob in Dago
```
TJKonarski

David; Glad to know you’re okay. I’m sure that was a crazy experience. I have a curious question… Did you MINI Convertible have DSC by chance?
http://www.geocities.com/jaw0012/beetlemain.html MrV

Wow…. all I can say.
murphmini

Did your MINI CONVERTIBLE have DSC? somebodies been watching to much CSI.
MiniLifeCrisis

“Kids, don’t try this at home without supervision”.

I’m surprised you didn’t break the windshield. Good thing you landed in a pile of fluffy snow. BTW, love the pictures of the artic clothing with the top down.

-Eric ’05 MCSc HB/B
Nick

MINI windshields only crack (:
Nicholas P

did u have DSC?
Aaron

It’s a Cooper S… I believe that they ALL have DSC.

He may have turned it off… but I would doubt it. The DSC helps, but for any control to be achieved there must be some traction…
nemi

I have a 2005 Cooper S (hard top) and DCS was definatly an optional extra. Traction control is standard though, but does not help if your mini goes into a spin.
http://www.iinet.net.au/~sun/dlhome/ JB

standard is ASC+T. DSC is a costed option. mine is the only DSC equipped MINI that has been delivered to west australia out of 500 odd cars
Jon

Nobody has asked this yet, surprisingly: how fast were you going? To be in the lead, as you say, you must’ve been going at a decent clip.

Were you on a curve? Did you hit a patch of ice? C’mon, enquiring minds want to know!
Nick

Did the airbags deploy?
http://www.natureswiss.com Juan-Antonio Garcia

Wow, that’s what I call “passion” Thumbs up! BTW, MINI should post the photo of you guys driving in your winter parkas on their site. Cool, way too cool
Peter

Here are more pictures of the MINI convertible as of this morning, when Dave and I met for him to recover his gear and luggage: PHOTO GALLERY
Nicholas P

“It’s a Cooper S… I believe that they ALL have DSC”

no, that is an option…it is part of the Sports package, but not standard on a coop or an S
Deborah

Okay, those guys win the “Top’s Always Open” award… LOL

Glad to hear everyone’s safe & sound at home.
http://www.davidrose.us DUCTTAPE

Hi All

I just returned from Prestige where all the mechanics stood around in amazement when I told them the car rolled. It not only did it’s job of protecting me, it looks like a million bucks!

DSC was on. Top was down (of course.) Maybe 60 mph. I was in the number two position, if I recall. John Cary was up front.

We were driving along a nice straight-a-way. The road curved just at a patch of ice. The car did not turn with the road. (Now I seem to remember that rule of physics from high school)

It stayed straight. I turned right to compensate, then left. The nose went straight into the snow bank on the side of the road. The car kept the turn to rear end first as the rear wheels slid out. We traveled, oh, a good 100 miles backwards along the snow embankment :) At that point, I would imagine after the embankment turned enough with the road, the car mounted the snow. From there I am a blank until being upside down in the snow. I do remember the car landing in the snow, just not the flip.

I hung in my seatbelt. However, the headrest had me pinned under the car by my hood. I couldn’t get out. I was able to spin my body around to get my feet out of the passenger side, so someone could pull me out. They slid me out of my jacket and out of the car.

My major injury is 2nd degree frostbite on two fingers. I had to clear an airway to breath in the snow, and my hands got wet. When I came out I didn’t think about the cold at all (it was about -25C) With the wind chill, my wet hands froze very fast. Real frostbite is not a pretty site.

I have to say, even with this little adventure, this was probably one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. If you get the chance to go away with people from the MINI community, hop on it.

I’m going to try and post a picture/story page, probably on my web page and on the page Ross is setting up for this event and it’s pictures.

Also, thank you all for your good wishes and concern, and interest!
Franz

I went with the intrepid crew and may be able to answer some of your questions. In fact, we reshuffled our gear to give David a ride from Radisson to Matagami to pick up his Mini. No, the airbag did not deploy. It appeared that front contact with the snow bank was too low and just ripped the lowest point of the plastic off. The most evidence of impact was the aftermarket driving light assembly which had all four lights broken off and the steel bracket bent. His driving lights were the low ones (below the bumper over the lower grill. David was going around a curve that was shaper than it appeared initially and the first curve with a glassy coat of ice. The first 140 km were at least partially clear so you had at least two wheels on dry pavement, but then conditions decisively worsened. I was a couple cars behind David and we were all giving each other a wide birth so I did not see the incident. As we approached the curve he slid through, I said to wife/co-pilot, “Wow it got icy! I’m slowing down a bit. I hope the others behind me don’t get pissed. Hey was that a bumper on the left?” A few seconds later, I heard over the radio that a mini had gone off the road. We slowed and turned around with the others ahead of us doing the same and we then got the report that the mini was upside down and it was the convertible. We all rushed to the scene to help, but David’s co-pilot had already freed himself and partly freed David and the first on the scene had helped free him the rest of the way. Upon getting there we saw a laughing and joking David. What a guy? I don’t know if I could have been quite so jovial at the potential demise of my new mini in the middle of nowhere. It was a hell of a scene and a stoke of luck that nothing more happened.

As has been reported, despite all this we had a fabulous trip. I would do it again in a minute, but maybe a little better prepared. It was the most challenging and exciting driving I’ve ever done, the most extreme cold I’ve ever witnessed, fantastic scenery, and a terrific group of people. We had close range viewing of caribou by mini and turboprop airplane, awe-inspiring viewing of the Northern Lights, and got to walk on the Artic Ocean. It was an amazing experience.
dgszweda

I think this is funny. Everyone is questioning whether the car is stable enough and did it have stability control. I don’t think it is the car that is unstable. I see a flipped convertible with the top down in a pile of snow on icy roads in subzero temperatures, and I don’t think I am questioning the stability of the car.
scott

dgszweda – obviously you’ve met Ducttape. No stability problems with his cars, but him… well. :) He’s got more nuts than most of us for driving with the top down in all kinds of weather.
TJKonarski

dgszweda: Well! I have to applaud you for your candor. Good for you to speak of the elephant in the room. I wondered the same thing, too.
http://www.davidrose.us DUCTTAPE

What is so hard in grasping this concept: If I were cold, I would put the friggin’ top up.

BTW, I never said it wasn’t extreme cold. I said, and feel still that the cold was more than managable. (It was the ice that wasn’t. But it was the ice that caused the flip, not the cold)

David
DanStarr

Ducttape obviously saw this superbowl ad one too many times before leaving…

http://www.ifilm.com/WMPPlaylist.asx?ifilmId=2664182,-1&bandwidth=350

Seriously though – great story, and unbelievable testament to the MINI. And more importantly, everyone is OK.
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Amazing stuff David. Glad to hear everyone is okay and the MINI held up well. Best of luck with getting it all fixed!
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

I think it’s pretty hard for anyone to judge who wasn’t there. Especially considering the conditions.
Franz

I was there and I would say that it was operator error only in the sense that the conditions were such that there was virtually no traction and the speed was too high. Would this be operator error? Maybe in the sense that he did not know that the next turn was a sheet of ice and maintained high speeds. Was it crazy (ergo the Elephant in the room)? Well I would not drive a convertible with the top down in -20F temps or where shorts like another person on the trip did. That said, I think you have to be a little crazy to go knowingly into <-20F temps, down icy roads at high speeds, and often over a hundred miles from support services. However, it sure was fun! Did I see questioning of David’s sanity? I’d call him eccentric. In fact, he seems to take pride in that. I think that the message to take away from all this is not whether the mini’s construction is superior to other vehicles (we all like to think so). I don’t think the message is even what a miraculous close call this was. Rather I think the old axiom “nothing ventured – nothing gained” is relevant. Over the next few days check out the stories of friendships gained and sights seen on this trip. I was a tremendous trip. Kudos David!
murphmini

Growing up and living in wisconsin and minnesota my whole life I find the talk of DSC and AST + T, very humorous.When its -20 or worse and the black ice forms you SOL. Dave, I’m relieved your ok we need people like you around. Looks like you made quite a snow angel there. HAPPY TRAILS!
TJKonarski

Franz: Well said! It’s true, if we didn’t get out and live life — take risks — we’d all be at home, bored, twiddling our thumbs. Some of us have died doing what we loved most. Some of us have had close calls. And some of us have had no problems of any kind. But how would we know unless we tried. It’s like the grandmothers statement in the movie Parenthood. Some people like to live life like riding a merry-go-round. And some people like to live it like riding the rollercoaster. MINI should create an amusement park and make the first ride one that emulates DuctTape’s experience!
RB

Gabe, thanks for removing my comment.

My removed comment was a personal thought and I should have kept it to myself.

+++RB
http://www.gbmini.net/ Ian

[OT] TJ, did you know there is a MINI amusement ride coming this year?
TJKonarski

Huh! That was cool. I wonder where Paramount Kings Island is… California? The animation for the ride is pretty cool. What a good idea!
http://www.gbmini.net/ Ian

Ask Google (Ohio)
http://www.davidrose.us DUCTTAPE

Franz, I take that as a compliment.

I would have to say we all have a tad of eccentricity in us. Otherwise, we’d be in Ford Focuses, or Explorer SUVs. Admit it.

The saying the view never changes unless you are the lead dog is true. Go where you want, do what you want, live how you want. When it’s your time, it’s your time. If it’s not, don’t live (sic) as if it is.

Thanks too, to Gabe for saying don’t judge unless you were there. Persoanlly, sitting at a traffic light, on a cold, winter night with the top UP sucks. Why would I NOT want to be looking at the sky for those 60 seconds?

MAN I had a great time!
Franz

You should take that as a compliment. It was meant as such. Thanks again David. Mary King and I had a great time too.
NinerCat

I was there, too. Further back in the pack, as one of the “shotguns” (passengers) in the MINIs. I think Franz’s description of the road and the drive are right on.

As for the sanity of the driver to drive with the convertible top down in -25F weather, I say these few things: I was going to be his shotgun at one point, and I wouldn’t have done well. (I am “allergic” to the cold.) But, DuctTape was very well prepared — right down to the military -issue parka, the same kind they get for the poor schmucks stationed in Alaska and Greenland — and let’s not forget those humongous gloves with the fur on the outside. And, they weren’t flying full-face into the -30 wind; the windscreen is there, of course. And they had the side windows up and, no doubt, the heater & heated seats blasting away!

As for his new MINI cabrio (aka, a “topless” MINI), even with the snow landing zone, I was amazing at the lack of visible damage. The car essentially came to rest on its bonnet, roll bars, etc., and its windscreen — flexed fully horizontal by its position. I would have expected even the hardiest shatter-proof glass to break in that position, but, as reported, a stress fracture was it.

I feel certain that David’s grins upon extraction from the car (& his parka) were in part happiness to be alive and essentially unhurt and part shock; I imagine, the “uh-oh” part of cracking up the new car set in on the long, continued drive up to Radisson that afternoon. No doubt his worry wasn’t fully alleviated until he drove away from Matagami in “Orange Crush” Monday.

So, cheers to ya, DuctTape, for planning this amazing adventure, soldiering on with it after the crash, and even managing to put it somewhat in the back of your mind and enjoying the incredible experience with the rest of us! The comparison of our picture on the frozen Arctic Ocean (James Bay offshoot) in comparison to the first explorers is one I’ll never forget ….

A

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