Tips to prepare for Winter in French Alps?

Beware of the mountain roads where they prefer religious faith to steel crash barriers.
 
Village said:
I’ve run WR A4’s for a while now. Superb tyre. I believe they are being phased out in favour of the significantly less competent snowproof, which is why these, and weatherproofs (phased out for seasonproofs; again, an inferior replacement) are so expensive.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That explains the piece tag.

markob said:
Drive to the alps every winter with our 2wd shuttle. Proper snow tyres and you will be fine. Top tip, worth carrying a bag of gravel in case you get stuck on an icy parking space, got us out of trouble a few times..

View attachment 133410
Click to expand...
That's a great tip. Thanks Markob.
 
Im currently running goodyear 4season cargo all season tyres on my 2wd T6.2 combi. Planning on driving to ski in France in Feb. Should i go snow sock or chains ? Any recommendations ? I live rural in Wales with a 300 yard ungritted road to my house so they will come in handy for that too. Its my first season in 10 years without a 4x4
 
The cynic in me thinks you should bear in mind that your reg could be considered “easy pickings” by some (eg those in authority)

Observe the local laws and requirements….ski season could become the “fishing rights” of the mountains!!!
 
JOG said:
The cynic in me thinks you should bear in mind that your reg could be considered “easy pickings” by some (eg those in authority)

Observe the local laws and requirements….ski season could become the “fishing rights” of the mountains!!!
Click to expand...
Indeed it does seem our governments are getting quite petty at the moment. On reflection i bought some Pewag chains. The all season tyres have the mountain snowflake symbol so i should be good.
 
Nande2000 said:
Indeed it does seem our governments are getting quite petty at the moment. On reflection i bought some Pewag chains. The all season tyres have the mountain snowflake symbol so i should be good.
Click to expand...
It’s like the bloomin require to carry spare headlight bulbs….pick up a Poundland pack of bulbs and have them available in your glovebox (there is no legal requirement that they need to fit or that you are capable of fitting them or consideration for LED units!)

By the way, don’t forget your unopened booze tester kit! Also not required, but don’t rely on Les Flic understanding that during a roadside discussion!
 
Not a seasoned explorer….but just discovered you can now get heated sleeping bags …What next..

3A78E943-768E-45F0-B621-C9C81A077497.jpeg
 
Last edited:
@JOG, I'll think you'll find that 99.9% of the locals in the ski areas will be welcoming with open arms, any Brits making the trip over next ski season. They've had a bad couple of years financially, and aren't stupid enough to scare away potential customers, and are intelligent enough to know most Brits didn't vote for Brexshit and are making the trip over the channel because they love our continental neighbours.

Back to the OP- I've used full winters and all seasons, and carry chains and socks, and have only once resorted to the socks on a icy sloping car park. Get a TAG for the autoroutes, doesn't save you money, but saves time at the tolls.
 
Scruffy said:
@JOG, I'll think you'll find that 99.9% of the locals in the ski areas will be welcoming with open arms, any Brits making the trip over next ski season. They've had a bad couple of years financially, and aren't stupid enough to scare away potential customers, and are intelligent enough to know most Brits didn't vote for Brexshit and are making the trip over the channel because they love our continental neighbours.

Back to the OP- I've used full winters and all seasons, and carry chains and socks, and have only once resorted to the socks on a icy sloping car park. Get a TAG for the autoroutes, doesn't save you money, but saves time at the tolls.
Click to expand...
Apologies, I wasn’t casting any aspirations when offering a “cynical” view! I may be a victim of Brexit by residency but am a passport wielding European! (I would offer the same jaundiced advice to a visitor to my country of birth!)
 
My Goodyear Ultragrip Cargo winter tyres have struggled twice in UK, once in the Lakes, and again in Glencoe car park. So I always carry chains, and I always do a trial fitting in the comfort of my own drive (on a nice day) just to practice the technique. It amazing how quickly your hands go numb when fitting them for real in snow!
 
Drove to Tignes on Sunday. Snowed for the last 15 or 2 miles on white roads with maybe a few cm. Some where stopping for chains but we pressed on. 4motion, 6 up with roof box on winter tyres (maybe three year old on separate set of wheels). No problems all the way into resort and it was really impressive. No need for chains and lots of vehicles without chains but winter wheels. Amazing vehicle (but we know that!)

0ACBF1FC-9927-4091-8090-72345889F467.jpeg
 
Sturge said:
Drove to Tignes on Sunday. Snowed for the last 15 or 2 miles on white roads with maybe a few cm. Some where stopping for chains but we pressed on. 4motion, 6 up with roof box on winter tyres (maybe three year old on separate set of wheels). No problems all the way into resort and it was really impressive. No need for chains and lots of vehicles without chains but winter wheels. Amazing vehicle (but we know that!)

View attachment 138079
Click to expand...
In 17 years of living in Munich and going skiing most winter weekends, I never had to fit snow chains to a 4wd with winter tyres. Not so with a 2wd.
I only wish VW had sold the TSI in UK as a 4motion as I would definitely have taken that option!
 
OK, probably a dumb questions but here goes.. On the advice of a few people on this forum I've purchased the Nokian WR SUV 4 235/50 R20 104V XL, see here and after some debate I've decided to buy a spare set of alloys. The ones I'm thinking about purchasing are the Wolfrace WolfsBerg.

Really dumb questions and you can tell I'm in no way mechanical but... How can I tell that the two will fit? They are 20" alloys and the tyres are 20" but is there another measurement like tyre width I need to take into consideration?

Will they fit? Thanks in advanced.
 
timjones95 said:
OK, probably a dumb questions but here goes.. On the advice of a few people on this forum I've purchased the Nokian WR SUV 4 235/50 R20 104V XL, see here and after some debate I've decided to buy a spare set of alloys. The ones I'm thinking about purchasing are the Wolfrace WolfsBerg.

Really dumb questions and you can tell I'm in no way mechanical but... How can I tell that the two will fit? They are 20" alloys and the tyres are 20" but is there another measurement like tyre width I need to take into consideration?

Will they fit? Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
Yes, they'll fit. The wheels are 8.5J (eight and a half inches wide) which is fine with a 235mm wide tyre.
 
I don't want to pi$$ on your chips ( pardon my french), but you could have gone down a few inches on tyres and wheels and saved quite a bit of cash. Or purchased all seasons and saved the cost of alloys and the cost of having them swapped over every year. Sorry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Winter tyres and chains for the Austrian Alps
Replies
10
Views
1K
Bundy88
B
NorthernJoy
Eleanor the Kombi (Day Van Build)
2
Replies
22
Views
6K
Saffa365
Saffa365
Dellmassive
  • Sticky
Dellmassive’s "How I Done It" blogs.
2
Replies
28
Views
43K
Dellmassive
Dellmassive
Back
Top