Despite the fast-falling snow, the road to Happy Valley on Saturday was wet, but apparently not too wild.
But AccuWeather says it will be awhile before the white stuff stops.
Sportswriter Frank Bodani from York reported it took just two hours of driving up Route 322 to State College.
Jason Mortimer, a videographer for “The Penn State Football Story” highlight show, said there was no big story about his trip in from Pittsburgh.
“It wasn’t too bad,” said Mortimer, a 1999 graduate of Penn State with a degree in film/video. Good thing for him; he’s the only cameraman at the game for Mind Over Media
MOM is the company that produces the show and is based in Pittsburgh. The firm is co-owned by Guido D’Elia, who also serves as a consultant to Penn State, overseeing its branding and marketing efforts for Nittany Lion football.
“Traffic was around 40- to 45-miles per mile,” Mortimer said. “I left around 9 o’clock.”
And he rolled into the media parking lot — a football field away from Beaver Stadium — a little after 1 p.m.
That lot, like most of those surrounding the stadium, was half-full – at most. Still, many of the nearby parking surfaces (both asphalt and grass) were occupied by cars, SUVs and tents. Earlier in the morning, Penn State shut off access to those lots.
Fans traveling to the stadium from 322 were directed to Innovation Park, about a mile-and-a-half from Beaver Stadium, where they were taking shuttle buses to the game – a scenario repeated throughout the State College area. Some earlier-arriving fans parked at the Mount Nittany Medical Center and walked the half-mile to the stadium.
ON THE FIELD
Meanwhile, inside Beaver Stadium three small snowplows and about 150 people worked methodically yet diligently to make the field ready for the game.
Just before 2 p.m., the snowplows took a final swipe at clearing the field, which was covered with a plastic tarp. After the plows would clear a section, a row of workers stretching sideline to sideline pulled the tarp 10- to 15-yards, exposing the green grass to fast-falling snow.
The workers would then roll the tarp to the sideline, and double back to do another section.
The metal bleachers inside the stadium were covered with four to five inches of snow just 90 minutes before kick-off. It looked as if the ushers and stadium workers are not going to clear off the seats.
If there was any doubt that Joe Paterno would spend the game in the coaches box atop the west-side stands, the snow removed it.
Thick, fluffy flakes will somewhat obscure his view, as a heavy snow that started a few hours ago are actually swirling inside the top part of the stadium.
On the field, there appears to be little wind. The red flags atop the goal posts were barely flapping.
Piles of snow, no more than four feet high, line much of the sidelines, plowed up against the concrete walls that separate the field from the stands.
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