Up to a foot of snow blanketed Lexington and Rockbridge County on Sunday, Jan. 25, prompting Washington and Lee to cancel classes the next day. Conditions on campus had improved enough by Tuesday that the university reopened on a delayed schedule, but some seniors living off campus were unable to make the trek in.
“I was so thankful that school was canceled on Monday, as there was no way I would have been able to get there,” said Bella Timmerding, ’26. But she said she was worried about getting to campus on Tuesday because the snow had turned to ice.
Timmerding rents a house in Rockbridge County with a group of friends because the university does not provide on-campus housing for most seniors. The house Timmerding rents has a steep driveway, she said, making travel in winter weather even more difficult.
“One of my professors reached out, saying she was having the same issues getting out of her driveway and to campus, and moved our class to Zoom,” she said.
Temperatures remained below freezing and even dropped into the negatives throughout the week, preventing most of the snow from melting.
Plows have cleared the streets in Lexington, but some sidewalks remain covered.
“I have to walk in the street because the sidewalk is where all the snow from the street has been pushed,” said Elise McPherson, ’26, who rents a house in downtown Lexington.
The ice melting and refreezing has caused the sidewalk to be so slippery, she said, that it is safer for her to walk in the street.
The university opened on time beginning on Wednesday, despite lingering snow and ice on campus and across the Lexington area. The Provost’s Office did not immediately respond to the Phi’s request for comment on how the university factors in students who live off campus when deciding to reopen.
In the county, Timmerding said it took her and her roommates two days to shovel their driveway well enough to easily get their cars in and out.
Cate Wachholz, ’26, and her roommates had a similar problem getting their cars out of the snow after their landlord plowed the driveway of the Rockbridge County house they rent.
“When he plowed, the snow ended up blocking all of our cars, froze and then made it impossible to get them out,” she said. “My roommates with four-wheel drive were able to get out a lot easier, but I am a Florida driver with two-wheel drive and I was stuck for a while.”
One of her roommates, she said, could not move her car for three days despite repeated attempts to shovel, push the car and use boiling water to melt the snow and ice.
In preparation for the winter storm, the university closed the top level of the parking deck off of Washington Street, which has made it difficult for some seniors to find parking once they make it to campus.
Lucas Piccininno, ’26, described his commute to campus as “horrible,” mostly due to the limited parking space on campus.
Piccininno said he showed up to campus 30 minutes early for a meeting and was almost late because he couldn’t find anywhere to park.
“I only made it on time as I gave up and parked at the Woods Creek lot,” he said.
Wachholz said she carpooled with friends to get to and from campus on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I was too scared to drive down my driveway,” she said.
