Fam Gly wrote:
I'm planning to go skiing this Saturday (1/10/04) in Big Bear and am riding in
a rented Ford Focus, which is cheaper than a 4x4.

Does anyone know where I can rent snow chains in the mountain area, just in
case it snows?



The problem is that you usually can't rent in the mountains at all. Your
car rental agency may have some available but that's the only reliable
source and many agencies don't even do this (they'd rather you upgraded to
the 4WD). An L.A. car rental place is very unlikely to stock chains.

Delaying the decision to obtain chains until you get up there is usually
not a good idea. If it is snowing, then you're screwed because you can't
even get to the mountain without chains. Once you are up there, renting
chains does you no good if you are trying to get home. And local outlets
are going to be a lot more interested in selling you a set than hassling
with rental returns.

The good, no the great, news is that this is a non-issue. This weekend
should be beautiful in SoCal. Snow is definitely not in the picture but
there will be plenty at the resort. For this Saturday, bring sun block not
chains (though I firmly believe that going to any mountain range in
winter without a set in the trunk is a foolish thing to do).

For future reference, if you plan on repeatedly renting cars to go to the
snow, then it may be in your interest to simply buy a set of ***cable***
(not link) chains that fit the Focus. We do a lot of fly\rent\ski trips
and I've found that it is almost always cheaper to buy (perhaps $25 at Pep
Boys or any similar chain auto parts place) than to rent from an agency
($5 to $10 a day) or even worse, buy them from a roadside vendor in the
middle of a snow storm (upwards of $100 and always poor quality). The
problem is that individual sets of chains only fit a limited spread of
tire sizes so that usually one fits sub-compacts, another fits economy,
and a third takes care of midsized vehicles, etc. I wind up schelpping
around four different sets of chains in my boot bag when we fly and rent
but I'm a cheap SOB (and they don't take up too much room).

Have fun! It should be excellent by SoCal standards....


Nick