Traveling in The Alps: Use a Roadworthy Car in Winter

When planning to take your car into The Alps in winter, proper preparation might be worth your life. It might also be worth a lot of money as most countries may hand out hefty fines if you aren’t ready for snow and icy conditions on the roads. 

Traveling in The Alps in winter can be a trial; a trial in patience while others struggle and a trial of your own driving skills. Living in areas where with only little snow fall brings travelers to underestimate what mountains are able to throw at them. While Britain collapses under a few inches of snow, Alpine travel may make you face several feet of new snow during a single day. Equipment, therefore, is all.

Winter tires are a must (or at a minimum tires that are guaranteed to be able to deal with snow and slush). With winter tires on you might confidently expect to deal with most weather conditions. They will serve you excellently on snow and slush, but they don’t do a lot for you on blank ice. If you have to drive in icy conditions, slow is better than sorry.

If you plan to travel mountain passes, keep easy to install snow chains in your boot. Keep them on top of your bags or you’ll end up unloading your boot to get at them. The chains are mounted onto the tires to give additional grip in heavy snow and additional bite on ice. Mount them on all tires; while two will do the trick to propel the car, you really don’t want to go straight out over the next bend in the road. Once you reach cleared roads you should take them off again; the hard surface will make them damage your tires otherwise.

Generally when traveling in winter, take enough blankets with you inside the car. You never know where you might get stuck and for how long. Spending an hour in your car when the motor is not running is less of a trial snuggled up than otherwise. A blanket will also double up as a garment in the cold should you have to leave your car for any reason.

While these tips sound like common sense to most of us, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria felt constrained to pass laws making winter gear on your car mandatory and backed up with heavy fines. Switzerland in turn is relying on common sense to tell you what to do and how to do it properly.

You should be aware, though, that the proper fittings of your car are your responsibility. Insurances are able, allowed to, and encouraged to reject part or all of your claims if you venture forth unprepared. Saving on tyres could be an expensive mistake. Apart from that, sliding slowly over the edge of a mountain pass over a 300 ft drop is not my idea of a happy holiday.

Further reading
How to Pack Your Rucksack For Hiking
Wrong Footwear Makes Hiking Dangerous
Take a Ride