Snow chains

we are off to La Plagne on Saturday and have heard that the Police aren't letting any vehicles onto the alpine roads unless they have snow chains and this includes 4x4's - can anyone confirm or shall we just 'wing it' and hope we don't get stopped! Otherwise it's off to a loacl shop to purchase some!
Cheers,

Razor

News to me. The U supermarket place in Bourg sells them for the same price as renting them for a day from Europcar.

razor, the latest weather forecasts I have seen show some snow coming in later next week. So, you'll have an easy drive up to LP without chains, but it will be a pig of a trip back down to Aime without them.
Anyway, tis' a requirement in inclement weather, the police are within their rights to turn you back if they consider you ill equipped for the journey. Just imagine getting stuck and having 15 transfer buses behind you...ooh the embarrassment :shock:
Get the cheapie chains, it's not worth the hassle....really!

Have a great time :D

Hi,
I went to Les Arcs in January-lovely day when we arrived and I've never had any problems in the past as the local authorities clear the roads well. On the day we left we had a couple of feet of snow and the roads were recovered as quickly as the bulldozers could clear the fall-you couldn't have left the resort without chains.
Hire chains or buy them in the Geant hypermarket, Jct 27 of the N90 at Albertville on the way to the area. You'll need to make a note of your tyre size to buy the right ones.

Think the only legal requirement is to have snow tyres, no mention of chains.

Hire cars have snow tyres and you have to order chains. This shows that they are not a leagal reqt - as budget told us when they forgot to give them us this year!! :mrgreen:

There's been an earlier thread on chains and winter tyres which I recommend you dig out.

I recommend you check your owner's manual and see if your particular wheels can even take snow chains first. Many English cars are fitted as standard with wheels that won't take chains, as the manufacturers assume we need wet-weather, low-profile wheels instead. The issue isn't with the diameter as the outside 'rolling radius' is the same whatever wheel/tyre you fit (if it wasn't, your speedo wouldn't work), it's with the width. Many lower-profile wheels intrude into the wheelarch too much to fit chains on the inside: they can foul the suspension and, on front-wheel drive cars, the steering.

Many thanks for the responses - having not driven to a ski resort before it's good to get advice from those who have. We did find out that our vehicle could not have snow chains anyway, so we are looking at possibly purchasing 'socks' instead! This time tomorrow we'll be 4 hours into the trip.... yippeee! 'Look out LP, we're a comin'!'

Take them regardless of what the law states!
We drove on our first holiday in Austria and only (reluctantly) brought chains at the last minute and God did we need them. The Europeans are superb at dealing with adverse weather but even they struggle when it gets bad. We hit an enormous snow storm entering Germany and without the chains we would have spent hours on the hard shoulder going no where.
BUT try fitting the chains before you leave! I did not and had my first go with them on the side of a four lane autobahn in horrible conditions with trucks sliding past. Practicing on the driveway at home will be easier.
Have fun!