snow chains this weekend

Hello all,

My wife is driving from St Etienne to Courchevel 1650 this Friday
until Monday. Looking at the progs the weather looks like it will be
decidedly inclement. Are snow chains still recommended at this time of
year and if so what is the likelyhood that she will need to put them
on. I would have thought that with the sun so high in the sky that the
roads are now clear.

Any comments / advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Scott Whitehead

"Scott Whitehead" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

My wife is driving from St Etienne to Courchevel 1650 this Friday
until Monday. Looking at the progs the weather looks like it will be
decidedly inclement. Are snow chains still recommended at this time of
year and if so what is the likelyhood that she will need to put them
on. I would have thought that with the sun so high in the sky that the
roads are now clear.

Any comments / advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Scott Whitehead

They are obligatory to take in the car when going up the mountain IIRC. I
think it'd be daft not to have them at any time in the
autumn/winter/spring. We were travelling from Lyon (800ft) to Tignes
(7000ft) two weeks ago in persistant rain at 5 degC, it only changed to
snow at 6000ft and in Tignes, with a 1-2cm fresh covering on roads, chains
weren't needed. However, on descending the mountain they were needed.

Joe

Scott Whitehead wrote:
Hello all,

My wife is driving from St Etienne to Courchevel 1650 this Friday
until Monday. Looking at the progs the weather looks like it will be
decidedly inclement. Are snow chains still recommended at this time of
year and if so what is the likelyhood that she will need to put them
on. I would have thought that with the sun so high in the sky that the
roads are now clear.

Any comments / advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Scott Whitehead

Unless you have car with winter tyres then you absolutely require the
chains.

Without chains it may take from " Friday until Monday".
The roads could be covered in an hour or two with heavy snowfall, the
Gendarmes will simply not allow you up the mountain without them if
there is any chance of you getting stuck. The sun etc is irrelevant,
it's a ski resort because it snows, and the first weekend in March is
no exception to this.

Get the chains, and practice putting them on too. they cost very little
in French hypermarkets.

But which ones? I'm due to drive to La Plagne after many years of flying so
am after a set. However I have a Ford Galaxy with 215/55 R16. There seems to
be an issue with space around the tyre so most chains are nbg. Some sites
are offering low profile chians. I suppose my question is does anyone have
any recommendations for a Galaxy and also has anyone tried autosocks? These
look rather mad and don't look like they'r survive the trip up the mountain.
I was interested to hear the comment about not requiring chains going up the
mountain but fitting them for the journey down. Anyone got any more
experience of this.
Finally any comments about leaving the car for a week at low temperatures.
Should I take any special measures to make sure it will start again after a
week skiing.


"Scott Whitehead" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

My wife is driving from St Etienne to Courchevel 1650 this Friday
until Monday. Looking at the progs the weather looks like it will be
decidedly inclement. Are snow chains still recommended at this time of
year and if so what is the likelyhood that she will need to put them
on. I would have thought that with the sun so high in the sky that the
roads are now clear.

Any comments / advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Scott Whitehead

"Robin Sayce-Jones" wrote in message
...
But which ones? I'm due to drive to La Plagne after many years of
flying so
am after a set. However I have a Ford Galaxy with 215/55 R16. There
seems to
be an issue with space around the tyre so most chains are nbg. Some
sites
are offering low profile chians. I suppose my question is does anyone
have
any recommendations for a Galaxy and also has anyone tried autosocks?
These
look rather mad and don't look like they'r survive the trip up the
mountain.
I was interested to hear the comment about not requiring chains going up
the
mountain but fitting them for the journey down. Anyone got any more
experience of this.
Finally any comments about leaving the car for a week at low
temperatures.
Should I take any special measures to make sure it will start again
after a
week skiing.

As for the "leaving the car" scenario, if possible store the car indoors
and not outdoors. If outdoors lift the windscreen wipers from the
windscreen to prevent sticking. In either cases temperatures are likely to
be subzero. We had a diesel parked indoors and the temperature was -19
degC. This caused a problem as the paraffin in diesel starts to solidify
at around -10 degC and causes problems like spluttering. After a few
minutes of the engine warming up this goes away. If outdoors, just make
sure they have efficient snow clearing methods. Nearly all of the cars
parked in Val Claret outdoors on 12-19th Feb. needed pushing out as they
were all covered in drifts of snow.

Good luck !

Joe

Joe Hunt wrote:
"Robin Sayce-Jones" wrote in message
...

But which ones? I'm due to drive to La Plagne after many years of

flying so

am after a set. However I have a Ford Galaxy with 215/55 R16. There

seems to

be an issue with space around the tyre so most chains are nbg. Some

sites

are offering low profile chians. I suppose my question is does anyone

have

any recommendations for a Galaxy and also has anyone tried autosocks?

These

look rather mad and don't look like they'r survive the trip up the

mountain.

I was interested to hear the comment about not requiring chains going up

the

mountain but fitting them for the journey down. Anyone got any more
experience of this.
Finally any comments about leaving the car for a week at low

temperatures.

Should I take any special measures to make sure it will start again

after a

week skiing.


As for the "leaving the car" scenario, if possible store the car indoors
and not outdoors. If outdoors lift the windscreen wipers from the
windscreen to prevent sticking. In either cases temperatures are likely to
be subzero. We had a diesel parked indoors and the temperature was -19
degC. This caused a problem as the paraffin in diesel starts to solidify
at around -10 degC and causes problems like spluttering. After a few
minutes of the engine warming up this goes away. If outdoors, just make
sure they have efficient snow clearing methods. Nearly all of the cars
parked in Val Claret outdoors on 12-19th Feb. needed pushing out as they
were all covered in drifts of snow.

Good luck !

Joe



2 good companies, I've bought from both are,

www.brindley-chains.co.uk

www.skidrive.co.uk


Drove to Val once and my mates took the **** all the way about my shovel
in the roof box. Bloody useful at end of week as snow was half way up
windows of a Grand Cherokee.

We changed in the car on the first Saturday, and hate snow we brought
inside it was still perfect powder after a week, weird!

Took 20 minutes to melt the ice that had seized the boot shut, but roof
box opened fine :-)
Took about 30 minutes to dig out in all, and then drove out fine on the
all terrain tyres.

Would always be my chosen method of transport though, so much more freedom.

I had chains as well just in case. We were stopped on the way up in the
big lay bye, they saw the all terrain tyres and let us go, most others
were putting chains on, or going back to Bourg to buy some.

Bill

Robin Sayce-Jones wrote:

But which ones?

Ones that fit. Look for a TUV approved label.

I'm due to drive to La Plagne after many years of flying so
am after a set. However I have a Ford Galaxy with 215/55 R16. There seems to
be an issue with space around the tyre so most chains are nbg.

Well, we hired a VW Sharan (same vehicle) two weks ago with 17" wheels
(so the chains I took out with me didn't fit and I had to buy new
ones....) and that was fine. With 16" wheels you should have even more
space.


Some sites
are offering low profile chians. I suppose my question is does anyone have
any recommendations for a Galaxy and also has anyone tried autosocks?

I saw a couple of cars with them. They're more expensive than chains (!)
and I suppose for cars where snow chains are definitely not recommended
(like some Jaguars) they're the only solution. But I'd use chains.

These
look rather mad and don't look like they'r survive the trip up the mountain.
I was interested to hear the comment about not requiring chains going up the
mountain but fitting them for the journey down. Anyone got any more
experience of this.

If you lose traction going *up* you just don't go anywhere. If you lose
traction going *down* you bump into things. Or you launch yourself into
space. It strikes me that you may not be ready for mechanically
propelled vehicles in the snow, to be honest.

Finally any comments about leaving the car for a week at low temperatures.
Should I take any special measures to make sure it will start again after a
week skiing.

The battery will be fine, unless it's dodgy now. Take a set of jump
leads just in case.

As someone else said, diesel "waxes" at low temperatures (a damn sight
lower than -10, in my experience, as our rented diesel Sharan was fine
at -14: I think you need to be down to -18 before things get dodgy) but
it's so rare to get temperatures that cold for lengths of time.


--
Trophy 1200 (Doctored) 750SS CB400F CD200 ST70 DT50MX
GAGARPHOF#30 GHPOTHUF#1 BOTAFOT#60 ANORAK#06 YTC#3
BOF#30 WUSS#5 The bells, the bells.....

"Robin Sayce-Jones" wrote in message
...
But which ones? I'm due to drive to La Plagne after many years of flying
so am after a set. However I have a Ford Galaxy with 215/55 R16. There
seems to be an issue with space around the tyre so most chains are nbg.
Some sites are offering low profile chians. I suppose my question is does
anyone have any recommendations for a Galaxy and also has anyone tried
autosocks? These look rather mad and don't look like they'r survive the
trip up the mountain.
I was interested to hear the comment about not requiring chains going up
the mountain but fitting them for the journey down. Anyone got any more
experience of this.
Finally any comments about leaving the car for a week at low temperatures.
Should I take any special measures to make sure it will start again after
a week skiing.


"Scott Whitehead" wrote in message
...
Hello all,

My wife is driving from St Etienne to Courchevel 1650 this Friday
until Monday. Looking at the progs the weather looks like it will be
decidedly inclement. Are snow chains still recommended at this time of
year and if so what is the likelyhood that she will need to put them
on. I would have thought that with the sun so high in the sky that the
roads are now clear.

Any comments / advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Scott Whitehead


I drove to La Plagne last year and stopped at a hypermarket complex just
before Annecy. There was a French equivalent to Kwikfit (NorAuto?), which
had wall to wall chains of all sizes and quality. I picked up a set for
about £20 which as it turned out I didn't need to get up or down, but the
roads were clear.
If you buy some, try them on the car park, it is far easier to practice
there than in the lay by with a Gendarme breathing down your neck, and a
bugger if they don't fit!
..

Mike

I was in the pyrenees two weeks ago. Large group 2 identical cars. Fitting
snow chains first time (luckily in big lay by and in sun) took 20 mins
Next time less than 10 even in freezing conditions. The practice is indeed a
good idea. Its not particularly demanding in strength.

(Incidentally there was a very long traffic caravan following a dodgy white
van down the mountain on the Tuesday. It had barely any steering and nobody
wanted him to crash, but as it added over half an hour to our journey I bet
there was a lot of people wishing for the gendarmes.)

Enjoy the trip.

--
John Owens
www.goodviews.co.uk
Fax +44 1509 890822

"Robin Sayce-Jones" wrote in message
...
But which ones? I'm due to drive to La Plagne after many years of flying
so
am after a set. However I have a Ford Galaxy with 215/55 R16. There seems
to
be an issue with space around the tyre so most chains are nbg. Some sites
are offering low profile chians. I suppose my question is does anyone have
any recommendations for a Galaxy and also has anyone tried autosocks?
These
look rather mad and don't look like they'r survive the trip up the
mountain.
I was interested to hear the comment about not requiring chains going up
the
mountain but fitting them for he journey down. Anyone got any more
experience of this.
Finally any comments about leaving the car for a week at low temperatures.
Should I take any special measures to make sure it will start again after
a
week skiing.


I have some chains that will fit your Galaxy, that I can sell, and you can
try before you buy, at least you'll know whether they fit etc - I use to
have the V6 - I'm based in Worthing, West Sussex

Sold the Galaxy, and went Saab, last couple of years have driven out in our
old Landrover Disco!!

Regards
WC