 Poster: A snowHead
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I’m coming back to this thread and the great advice I had as it turns out my tyres (Pirelli Scorpion Zero) are M+S marked after all, phew. So… last weekend in March, driving a Discovery to St Martin de B, with M+S tires and a pair of autosocks in the boot for any eventualities. I think this complies with the new law plus should get us out of all but a snowmaggedon type freak event. Does this sound sensible or am I one of those idiots referred to on the other thread?! (LR quoted £571 for a pair of chains! I know I could shop around but not planning a deep winter drive yet.) thank you all!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Skimum1, complies with the new law but more importantly yes I think it's a sensible set up under the circumstances. You're not and idiot in my book.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@Skimum1, Whilst socks are legal. With a Discovery I would feel safer with a set of chains in the back, theres is no need to pay Land Rover prices, plenty of suppliers on E Bay. The Discovery is a heavy old beast and do you really want to rely on 4 sq ins of textile between your tyre and compacted snow and ice to keep you out of trouble.
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I drove up the mountain the early December snowmageddon, I noted many 2WD vehicles stuck despite snow tyres. My hybrid AWD romped up (on winters). If an appropriately driven Disco on winters needs chains, the road will be blocked by lesser vehicles anyway 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@Skimum1, If your Discovery with quality winter tyres can't get through then the conditions will be such that you really, really don't want to be on the road at all. We have a rather less capable car, Skoda Octavia Scout, and I have never fitted my chains.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@DJL, Pirelli Scorpion Zero categorised as all season rather than winters.
I think late March is the key here. Yes, a storm can blow in even at that time of the year but the magnitude, longevity, temps, etc. will be less. Add in that the poster is going to 1450m rather than say ~2000m+ just de-risks everything. As I said earlier I'd still be taking a good look at the weather forecast 24 hours before to consider taking evasive action. But that should really apply any time. Holing out for a day before driving up or driving out a day early is never a bad idea if it saves you a lot of time and hassle. If it's a big storm the lifts will be mostly closed anyway and not much skiing. I certainly wished I'd left a day early back in Dec 2017.
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Thanks everyone, yes the plan is a trip on the last weekend of March on all seasons. Understand that an earlier trip or going up higher then winters would be necessary. Will definitely be checking forecast beforehand and remember receiving some useful links above for that. Will keep an eye on eBay etc for chains in case in see any that would fit the bill! If we come to do the journey earlier in season I will definitely go for the winters. Thanks for the wise advice Snowheads  much appreciated.
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@Skimum1, It may suprise you but I have only used chains twice on the drive up to Les Arcs even though I have done the trip dozens of times and one of those was in April. We arrived at the base of the climb in the middle of the night and the ploughs hadn't cleared the road. It was completely clear come mid morning. So my advice would be to arrive in the middle of the day.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@johnE, I think not the middle of the night would probably suffice 
Having said that one of the times I've put chains on was in something like 1am driving up to La Plagne 2000. And the drive up was pretty good because there were no cars and the chains (as they should) worked well. We weren't going to drive up but stay in a Hotel as it had already been a tortious journey from the UK but by then it had stopped snowing and we had a friend up at 2000 he convinced us it would be fine.
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Generally on smaller local roads ploughing will stop in late evening - and if it's snowing heavily, the sheer depth of snow build up can stop a car, even with chains on. This might mean being ready to walk the last distance to your accommodation. Happened to French neighbours of ours with two small kids - driving to their own apartment, in the same block as ours. They had to walk up about half a mile, fairly steep, deep snow and snowing and blowing heavily. Not a big deal for two fit adults, but they had kids too little to walk up themselves in a blizzard, as well as carry some essential baggage. They were people who had been doing the same journey several times a year, for some years and they'd never failed to get up the road before. They then, of course, had to go and extricate their car the following morning, after the plough has built walls around it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Thank you all. Warning stories are noted! I see that timing of arrival is particularly important when snow is a possibility. Traffic sometimes disrupts the best laid plans but I’d aim to get there early evening. Luckily the apartment isn’t too far from the main road into St M. Here’s hoping for lots of snow into late season in any event!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Re the chains, I have about 4 sets at home all unused from various cars over the last 30 years. ( one day I might get round to finding them all and selling some! ).
I have managed to re size my Spikes Spiders so they will fit the current car from the car they were bought for 15 years ago. It's a 4*4 with proper winter tyres, but we will take the spiders in March as a belt and braces approach. It will be our first trip down in a full electric car, and we are planning on taking our time and actually seeing a bit of France in both directions so a couple of stops each way, chargers at the overnight stops so during the day charging will be sufficient at natural stops .
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| Skimum1 wrote: |
| I’m coming back to this thread and the great advice I had as it turns out my tyres (Pirelli Scorpion Zero) are M+S marked after all, phew. So… last weekend in March, driving a Discovery to St Martin de B, with M+S tires and a pair of autosocks in the boot for any eventualities. I think this complies with the new law plus should get us out of all but a snowmaggedon type freak event. Does this sound sensible or am I one of those idiots referred to on the other thread?! |
As per my previous advice, perfectly adequate and no issue at all. Although your tyres are a bit of a hybrid all season tyre, I seem to recall you saying they're very new - with plenty of tread depth you won't have any problem and I'd be amazed if you needed the socks, even if there is a snowmageddon.
I suspect pam w would put me in the idiot bracket as she loves her horror stories but I've done two seasons in the 3Vs as a full time driver, she hasn't. I drove through Albertville and up to LT against the (snowmageddon) prefecture advice on December 10th in my ageing quattro on pretty worn all seasons (3-3.5mm tread depth) with only a bit of TCS coming on when I had to stop because someone with 2WD was blocking the road. I could certainly tell the difference between the tyres being worn and when they were new but ultimately they were still adequate to get up to my apartment. When they were new, I drove up to VT at 2,300m in a snowmageddon also with no issue so it's highly unlikely that 1,450m will be a problem for you.
The point about where your accommodation is is fair enough but I guess you can check how steep the access is on Google Earth Streetview if you're worried. Even so, 1,450m at the end of March really shouldn't be a concern.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Skimum1, should have added that I fully intend to go back to my apartment for the last 3 weeks of the season (so about the same time as you're going to St M) on my even more worn (by then) all seasons and I'm not even remotely concerned about them for then; they'll be fine. Shiny new ones can go on before next season
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I suspect pam w would put me in the idiot bracket as she loves her horror stories but I've done two seasons in the 3Vs as a full time driver, she hasn't.
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No, I haven't, thankfully. But I spent 15 seasons being an unpaid, part-time, driver, including a great many airport transfers. Though I usually told people who insisted on arriving on Saturday to arrange their own transfer. However experienced somebody is, the OP was right. To suggest that you will always get where you want to get to, when you want to get there, with worn tyres and no chains is indeed idiotic. Even the autoroute is not immune to weather disruption. Twice I decided to give up on the motorway journey between Calais and the mountains, too. Once because of thick freezing fog, near Dijon - conditions when motorways become very dangerous. Once because heavy snow had closed all but the inside lane and speed was reduced to 30 mph - turned into a hotel for an overnight stop and a couple of stiff drinks.
Mine are not "horror stories". I enjoy driving, did many trips solo to and from the Alps and in a masochistic way even enjoyed putting on chains as it meant there was SNOW.
I do agree though, that with a 4WD vehicle and snow socks, at the end of March, you are unlikely to encounter any major difficulties!
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Raceplate, thank you once again for the advice. Have been to the apartment before and driven the road in summer and it’s really very accessible on a big residential road not far from the main road into St M so pretty straightforward. Of course unexpected things do happen and important to be prepared but given the timing of the trip this seems like a sensible compromise. Reassured that you agree 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@pam w, thanks, noted… hoping this will be first of many drives to the area to ski so will be sure to review my winter kit in future should the timing be different. Thank you
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