Spring Mountain/Ron Fellows in winter
 

I’m about a month out from my scheduled trip to Spring Mountain and started looking at average weather forecasts. It looks to be a lot colder than I expected with average lows in the 20s and highs in the mid 50s.

Anyone been to SM in similar temps? Anything to be concerned about? I didn’t think about it when I first scheduled, just grabbed the first available spot. I’d hate have cold temps put a damper on what otherwise looks to be a fabulous experience.

Doesn’t make any difference! You take warm up lap(s) and go. May have snow in mountains on way from Vegas to track.

I wouldn't be as concerned about the cold as the rain. You can still get traction in colder temps and all your sessions will be in the afternoon if things haven't changed from the C7 owner school. Rain sucks. I've been there in twice, once in March and once in July. The one in March it rained pretty much every day except the two days of my class. I got lucky. The one one in July was dry as a bone but 106 the first day and 103 the second day. I didn't suffer at all. The track was dry and the car was nice and cool. So temps not a big deal to me. But you roll the dice on rain. The best part of the hot summer is there is very little chance of rain. So summer is almost my preference right now. When I get my C8 Z06 that's when I'll probably go.

I'm going in Mid Feb and Brooke warned me about the cold weather. She said it would be good to take a winter jacket when walking around the facility. I'll be staying another night at the Lodge instead of in Vegas. She also said to look at AIRBnB for cars to rent as they would not be from the rental agency's. They are mostly Tesla's. I hope they have charging stations at the lodge?

When I was there last November it was 43 and rained. It hadn't rained there in over 200 days, but lucky me. The first day it steady rained and there was no traction anywhere, car was stepping out and had nannies stepping in many times a lap. I was so worn out after the first day I told my wife if it is wet again tomorrow, I'll probably pass on driving. When we switched and the instructor drove it was stepping out and sliding everywhere it did for me and he said yeah there's just no traction. Looking down at the tire temps showing "cool" and thinking of pushing a car at track speeds in the wet on summer tires was not good. To put it in perspective, we were running almost 2:00 laps, the next day was cool (46 degrees), but dry and once we got some heat in the tires were running faster than the demo video at 1:17. It went from as miserable of a time in a car to the best time ever in a car. After the wrap up of the school on Sunday afternoon it started snowing at the track when we were leaving.

My classes are scheduled for January 25 -26. Hoping for good weather and then going to Death Valley for nature photography. Chose time due to a good winter getaway and wanted to be sure I didn't wait too long and lose the opportunity due to other stuff coming up.

I was there this Monday and Tuesday. Track sessions are morning and afternoon. The car has a heater and air conditioner. Both work. Warm up laps before track speed or any driving exercises. Any outside activities, you will need a coat but the car is as comfortable as you want it. Its a blast!! :flag:

I was there 3 years ago when it snowed above 5000 ft the day before...all high peaks around it had snow. The normal 5.5 hr trip from Phoenix took 11 hrs as there was 21" of snow in Kingman, AZ on way. It was in the low 40s and windy on our first day. Did we have our sessions? Absolutely.

Here’s what we woke up to for our first day. Did the braking exercise first. Hard getting tires up to temp in the morning, fine in afternoon


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c044780b3.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...366eaacad.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...5d0d5d4c5.jpeg

Wait, so the cars don't melt in the snow???? Maybe I'll be able to use mine this winter after all. :rofl:

Attended RF mid January 2019 for the GS class
low 30’s high mid 50’s with Michelin Summer only tires. Like anywhere else have to drive car as weather conditions allow. The instructors are first rate follow their lead and you will enjoy the experience!

On advice from others I went in September 2021. It was over 100 degrees each day, but little chance of rain. The class rooms have a/c and so do the corvettes. There was absolutely no problem with the heat. However, b/c of the elevation and heat our launch control numbers were around 3.3.

We live 5 miles from Spring Mountain and I can assure you that there are NO public chargers in Pahrump. The local Chevrolet dealer has a level 2 charger, but I don't believe they'll let you tie it up charging a Tesla. The local electric company (Valley Electric) has one as well, but it's behind a locked gate and only used for their vehicles. We have an electric car for chasing around town, but charge at home. Any Tesla should be able to drive out from Las Vegas and return without a problem. It's a 115 mile round trip from McCarran LAS to Pahrump.
...... and I think she meant to say TURO instead of AirBnB.

I was there the 15th and 16th myself. Missed breakfast the first day since my FJ was iced over and took nearly 20mins to melt the ice on the windows. The drive in the previous night was through some pretty torrential rain. The class before mine had their 2nd day afternoon track sessions cancelled due to the rain!

I've been there 3 times, and one time it snowed DURING one of my sessions. :rofl:

Goin January 16-18, lookin forwrd to it, wife is drivin the C8

Hope the weather turns out to be clear, even if cold. Should be a great time.

Hello all!
During the winter months, our lows are typically around 30-40's with highs in the 50's and up to 70 on occasion...when the sun is out, by 10-11 am, it feels warmer than the temp suggests. We will run the school unless there is snow sticking, or if the rain is falling fast and we have danger of hydroplaning. I've been here since the beginning of the track opening in 1998...In all those years, there has only been a few occasions when we had to stop running on track, or cancel a whole day/school. Last week, we ran up till we could, but did have to cut short one group, their last session. all the other parts of the program were completed...
today is a bit cloudy and a hair colder, but no moisture!
The car is very capable in most weather. If it's wet, we run wet mode in PTM, and coach to drive for the conditions. It actually makes everyone slow everything down, and allows more time to focus on smoothness, and adapting to the track, as the line can change from lap to lap. It can be quite intense! Anyone who watches racing, knows it's the great equalizer, and really showcases driving talent! I love when it rains during a Formula 1 race-makes it unpredictable!

^^^^^^

I'm 100% in agreement with Victor on this. A student with minimal experience will actually learn more about car handling and the fastest, smoothest line around the track on a day when the track is wet.

Jan 16-18
 

see you there!
Gizmos