Snow on Fillmore St.

September 30, 2005 2:51 AM

Ski San Francisco. Ski wax company trucks a bunch of snow into SF, dumps it on Fillmore St., skiers and snowboarders get air while others take pictures.
posted by planetkyoto (23 comments total)

Interesting views like this.
posted by planetkyoto at 6:08 AM on September 30, 2005

Here in the Midwest, we pay the city to take the snow OFF the street.

Somehow, the other way around seems less irksome.
posted by ToasT at 6:10 AM on September 30, 2005

How did this not immediately melt into a big slushy mess?
posted by blue_beetle at 6:29 AM on September 30, 2005

It didn't melt because a large amount of snow will reinforce its own coldness for a time, just like ice in an ice-house will for a longer time. It'll get hard on the surface pretty quickly though, I suppose.
posted by paperpete at 6:54 AM on September 30, 2005

Not a particularly original idea. This has been done in a number of other cities.
posted by MetaJohn at 7:45 AM on September 30, 2005

Not to nitpick but the only people skiing in San Francisco were close personal friends of Johnny Moseley. But it does look pretty cool.

blue_beetle, have you been to San Francisco in late September? Its not really what you would call a hot city then, sure, there are hotter days but overall the fog and fall chill keep the city like a slowly malfunctioning meat locker.
posted by fenriq at 7:54 AM on September 30, 2005

Saw this on the news today. While it certainly looks fun, I can't help thinking that it is just a little wasteful. Aren't there better things to be done with that money?
posted by pinkpanther23 at 8:07 AM on September 30, 2005

Can't people have fun anymore without other people pissing all over their snow?
posted by pmbuko at 8:13 AM on September 30, 2005

I was there. It was the hottest day of the year in San Francisco, no wind and not a cloud in the sky. By 1:30 what was left of the snow was melting fast.

It was a surreal experience to say the least.
posted by vaportrail at 8:51 AM on September 30, 2005

blue_beetle, have you been to San Francisco in late September?


Actually yesterday was absolutely beautiful out 80+ degrees and sunny one of the nicest days of the year.

We also get Indian Summers, Sept and October can be some of our best weather.

The pix of the skiiers with the Bay in the background are pretty damn cool
posted by bitdamaged at 8:51 AM on September 30, 2005

We need more people to throw money away at temporary measures of fun and excess. Yay!

Anyhoots, people can do what they want with their money. In Rome, it meant throwing ostriches and squirrels into a cage and shaking it up. Apparently in S.F., it just means covering a street with snow.
posted by Atreides at 9:24 AM on September 30, 2005

The city didn't pay for this...the wax company did. And another reason why I love our mayor...he thinks it's a great idea. Seems silly to many, but to us, it's just another reason why SF is such a damn cool city in which to live.
posted by aacheson at 9:34 AM on September 30, 2005

We kicked serious ostrich ass, we did!

Not to nitpick but the only people skiing in San Francisco were close personal friends of Johnny Moseley

Nitpick away! And while you're at it, note that Moseley is a close buddy of Mayor Gavin Newsom. I can just see them sitting in their private booth at Ruby Skye, eying their evening's moutain of blow and saying, "hey... SNOW!"
posted by squirrel at 9:37 AM on September 30, 2005

Yeah for SF. What a meh town indeed.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 10:19 AM on September 30, 2005

Being from Minneapolis, I'd expect you to be bitter. ;)
posted by aacheson at 10:36 AM on September 30, 2005

FYI, this sucked for the people who live in that neighborhood. It's not a commercial zone. Sorry you can't get in your driveway for 3 days old lady, the rich kids are using your street for a playground.
posted by 2sheets at 10:40 AM on September 30, 2005

Wow, what a sensible use of resources. I guess we can pretend that this sort of thing is ecofriendly because the snowboards don't use any fuel themselves...
posted by drstrangelove at 11:29 AM on September 30, 2005

We need more people to throw money away at temporary measures of fun and excess. Yay!

Yay! I heartily second that.

The photos are very cool.

Is 80 F hot for SF? So it means it never goes over 90 degrees?
posted by funambulist at 11:57 AM on September 30, 2005

Is this from all the ice that was supposed to have been trucked into NO by FEMA?
posted by nlindstrom at 1:09 PM on September 30, 2005

funambulist, when it goes over 90 degrees in SF, people die.

Ok, that's exaggeration. It does happen, but it's very infrequent. It never gets very cold, either.

I've not lived there, but I visited many times. From memory, I'd guess the yearly average temp is about 60F. It probably averages about 70F in summer and fall, and 50F in winter and spring. It'll get colder and hotter than that, of course, but those days tend to be unusual.

The constant wind bothers some people, and the damp ocean air carries a lot of humidty. So it may only be 50F, but the wind will cut right through most clothes and suck the heat right out of you.

My grandmother grew up and lived in Wisconsin, and came out to visit the family one winter. We were living about 90 minutes north of the city. She said she'd never been so cold in her life. As far as she was concerned, California at 35F was worse than Wisconsin at 30 below.

As temperate as it sounds, in other words, it can still be pretty uncomfortable at times.

The snow idea is cool. Wish I could have seen it. I think in the 25 years I lived in the area, it snowed in SF exactly once... a light dusting, gone in a few hours.
posted by Malor at 1:42 PM on September 30, 2005

hey 2sheets - do you live in the neighborhood?

i do. though, i often feel like it's not my neighborhood. if you wanna talk about rich white folks, that's who lives on these streets. well, ha - not on the streets but, in the very posh houses and apartment buildings along the few blocks that were closed off.

so sorry the YUPPIES couldn't move their mercedes and hummers in and out of the garage; guess they had to walk 2 or 3 blocks to get a latte or pedicure or... taco bell fix.

this event didn't disrupt any of the bus services. i was able to walk all through the area the night before and morning of the event, and it was all cleaned up by 8 the same night.

it was really similar to the grand prix bicycle competition they have on the same street every year(which actually does mess with the bus lines, a bit). you know what? both events are awesome! i hope icer air comes back and does it again.

and hey Malor -wish you coulda seen it too. hella fun! and totally surreal, especially since it was so damn sunny. the photos just don't quite capture it.

the best part was watching the little kids in the neighborhood play in the leftover snow. such delight! snowball fights, on the hottest day of the year.
posted by lapolla at 5:39 AM on October 1, 2005

One-two-three-four, I call a class war.
posted by squirrel at 9:54 PM on October 1, 2005

pinkpanther23 : "Aren't there better things to be done with that money?"

Besides it all being given to me, I can't think of a whole lot. Sure, we could spend it on disaster relief or feeding the poor, but the same thing could be said for the money I spent on an mp3 player, or the money I spent on a novel, or the money I spent renting a DVD.

Now, if they'd spent all that money to cover a street with snow in the middle of the night and then cart the snow immediately back to the mountains, then, yeah, there are better things to be done with the money.

Atreides : "We need more people to throw money away at temporary measures of fun and excess. Yay!
funambulist :"Yay! I heartily second that. "

Yay! Thirded.
posted by Bugbread at 6:17 AM on October 2, 2005