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I?m going to the Val D?Isere tomorrow. I phoned the hotel this morning to confirm arrangements and they said it?s snowing and I?ll need chains to get in to the resort. I have never fitted these in my life and I have a dread of it. Does anyone have a truly bullet-proof method for fitting tyre chains ?
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Mine are wires, rather than actual chains. THey look a bit like a curved ladder.
Its no big deal; Lay them on the floor in front of the wheel. Drive on to them. Get filthy clipping them together at the top of the tyre.
This process is best [usually] performed at night, when its snowing, in a lay-by, with other cars whizzing past inches from your ear, whilst the children cry and the wife sighs.
Usually there are a bunch of people in an appropriate lay-by offering to do it for you for a few euros - best policy is to let them.
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Somebody else to get frozen and filthy for a few Euros sounds much more agreeable.
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I had to fit them on a skiing trip in South Poland before entering the resort village. Police wouldn?t let us in without them unless you had 4X4. I just remember it being an horrific task in well below zero temperatures especially as it was the first time I?d done it, I really wished I?d practised. After five minutes brain and fingers ceased to function.
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Most chains these days can be fixed without needing to drive the car onto them - you simply wrap the chain round the wheel and join the two ends together. Best done in a parking area before they are needed.
BIG
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Fit the chains before you get stuck - 20/20 hindsight is a useful gift. Also, if you've got easy access to the wheel jack, lift the wheels one at a time - easier to fit with the wheel off the ground and gives more clearance under the wheel arch - and away from the crud which will have inevitably accumulated.
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My chains, which I bought 5 years ago to use in Austria, where they are compulsory, came with full instructions. I practice with them every year before we set out on our ski-ing trip, and it doesn't take long to fit them if you aren't trying to hold a torch and read the instructions at the same time! Practice first in comfort, take some warm clothes and a decent torch, which some-one else can hold for you, and they should be no problem.
Mine are still unused on the road. Of course, when I buy a new car I restrict myself to one with the right-sized wheels for the chains...
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I assume your car accepts snow chains.
My Mk I Mondeo Ghia X does not.
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As you hopefully already know, the avalanche risk in the Espace Killy at the moment is high. The road up into Val was closed by avalanche two weekends ago. We were stuck in the traffic jam on the hill between Bourg St Maurice and Val for five hours without moving. After sitting in the jam for five hours, the police insisted that all vehicles turn around and descend back to Bourg. Approx 3000 people spent a night on the floor of local schools and gyms (thank goodness our tour operator found us a hotel). Make sure you have snacks and drinks with you in case it happens again.
When we were there, the local police were holding spot checks to ensure that you had fitted your chains.
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