GrassyKnoll
01-09-2008, 11:22 PM
So, my brother and a friend and I are all on our way up to Waterville to go skiing. We are on 93 just past the Campton exit when we all hear a scraping sound that sounded like ice hitting the roof. My brother (driving) slows down a bit and begins to accelerate again. My friend in the back looks out the window and yells "ITS THE ****ING SKIS!" My brother is still accelerating at this point (oblivious to what was going on). I turned to him and yelled "PULL OVER THE ****ING CAR." He pulled over on the shoulder and I immediately jumped out of the car and began sprinting down the shoulder of 93 in the direction we came. A few hundred feet down the road I half of the mangled rack in the shoulder with 3 skis still attached. I glanced over to the fast lane to see a single ski sitting perpendicular to the direction of traffic. Realizing that if any car hit the ski it would mean a speedy demise to their car, I quickly jumped into the road and ran toward the ski. Car appeared over the crest in both lanes and I knew I needed to reach the ski in a hurry. I ran over and scooped up the ski and jumped into the shoulder just in time before the cars came.
Overall, an amazingly close call. Basically, we're all lucky that there was nobody behind us when the rack came off and that I had time to scoop up the remaining ski before traffic came.
THE LESSON: It didn't take long to diagnose the problem. Because the rack wasn't originally ours, my brother didn't have the key for the rack. Thus, the skis weren't locked in. When we went over a bump, the front rack popped open. Traveling 80mph, the skis instantly bounced up and acted as a sail for the rack. With 4 skis and 80mph of wind against them, the rear portion of the rack didnt stand a chance. It ripped the window frame on both sides of the rear of the car off as the rack and skis were ripped off the car. The rack was so mangled that we didn't even bother taking it from the side of the highway (yea I know... littering.... I'll do some community service and make up for it some day). Moral of the story: Lock those racks down! It only take one slip for the whole roof rack to become a sail. And realistically, no matter how hard that thing is screwed into the car, it won't hold against the wind against the object if you're traveling down the highway!
Overall, an amazingly close call. Basically, we're all lucky that there was nobody behind us when the rack came off and that I had time to scoop up the remaining ski before traffic came.
THE LESSON: It didn't take long to diagnose the problem. Because the rack wasn't originally ours, my brother didn't have the key for the rack. Thus, the skis weren't locked in. When we went over a bump, the front rack popped open. Traveling 80mph, the skis instantly bounced up and acted as a sail for the rack. With 4 skis and 80mph of wind against them, the rear portion of the rack didnt stand a chance. It ripped the window frame on both sides of the rear of the car off as the rack and skis were ripped off the car. The rack was so mangled that we didn't even bother taking it from the side of the highway (yea I know... littering.... I'll do some community service and make up for it some day). Moral of the story: Lock those racks down! It only take one slip for the whole roof rack to become a sail. And realistically, no matter how hard that thing is screwed into the car, it won't hold against the wind against the object if you're traveling down the highway!