We had left mid-Michigan and made it to Marquette after dark on that Sunday. The snow was so heavy and blowing that all we could see were the glow of the headlights in my buddies Chevy pick-up. We were traveling about 5-10 miles an hour, bumping along the right hand snow bank so we knew we were still on the road!! There was no way to even see the road. By the time we got to Ishpeming, the road was impassible. We stopped at a gas station (BP I think) and only found this because they had all the parking lot lights on so the “snow glowed” in that area. After parking any which way in at the station, we walked about half a block to a Baptist church which they had opened for stranded students headed back to Tech. The was my first true understanding of mortality and that people can really get lost in a white out snow storm. By morning, about 150+ students were there sleeping anywhere they could in the church. We happened to be some of the first there so were privileged to be sleeping on the padded pews!!

Ahhhhh, those were the good ol days!!!

Rick Whisler
P.S. 7.5 hour trip took 27.5 hours!

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Hi Dennis,
I attended ’80-’83 and one weekend in Jan. 1982 there was an Ice Fishing contest scheduled on Chassell Bay that was cancelled because of a raging blizzard. We were disappointed but didn’t really care, we wanted to fish, a few of us from DHH trudged out there, helped ourselves to one of the many vacant shanties on the bay. Fishing was painfully slow but one of my friends that wouldn’t give up did manage to catch a perch or two. The blizzard never quit that weekend and it was announced that Sunday there would be no school on Monday; the party was on! Rumor had it that this was the first time in 25 years that Tech had closed because of weather, obviously not true after reading the email bag. The next weekend, still January, was a repeat blizzard with another Monday school closing; the party from the previous week was back on! That winter was by far the most memorable one in my time at Tech.

Keith Graboske
BS Forestry 1983

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I think that carcicle was at the head of the bay when US41 was covered with ice and a student’s car went off the road to be totally iced in. I once parked my VW van on the lot by the EE building and came back to find the rear engine compartment fully packed with snow. Naturally the engine wouldn’t start,but I came back with ether, found the carburator, squirted in the starter stuff and the engine turned over, revealing the fan belt! Once it started, in half an hour the snow in the compartment had all melted. We all have our snow stories.

It took us 40 hours to get from Michgan City, Indiana to Houghton, stuck aboard the Greyhound overnight at Rapid River where there was no electricity, therefore no water, therefore no toilet flushing in the restaurant. To keep my two little kids amused I hitchhiked to a nearby grocery store, bought party balloons (the only possible toys) and we had fun with balloons on the bus. The kids were perfectly behaved the whole time. No crying or fighting. We ate the entire load of sandwiches my mother had sent us off with.

Harley Sachs

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They closed the University that year (78-79). Only the second time in University history. Admin told everyone to make sure that they get their cars off the roads and to stay inside. I was in WADS that year and went outside the west entry doubting is was really that bad. I am a Michigander and have seen snow storms before. This was different. I stuck my arm all the way out and watched my hand disappear in front of my face.

Earlier that day a guy from CO-ED got his VW beetle stuck on 41 in front of WADS. About 2am I heard a big kachunk kachunk kachunk. I looked out the window to see a bumper then an alternator shoot out from the truck mounted snow blower. We received 365+ inches that year. During graduation there was still snow on the ground and mounds in places 25ft high.

Mark Callahan

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When visiting campus the week before Thanksgiving in 1970 there was a huge storm that closed all the roads in and out of town and we had to spend an extra day on campus. It was the tipping point in my decision to make Tech my college.

Randy Sikkema, PE

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Dennis, I remember that storm in 1985 well. My father having grown up in the UP decided to take me back to Tech early so I was there at Tech on Saturday before the storm hit on Sunday. I heard the stories of people stranded in L’Anse because US41 was frozen from the water from Lake Superior spilling over the road. I am so glad that my dad got me to Tech when he did because I would have been afraid for him going back home. We lived in Gwinn at the time, so it was only a 2 hour drive, but still, I know how UP winters can be. I have lived here in Texas for over 25 years, so I do not know if I could get used to those winters again.

Stacey E. Keener