 Poster: A snowHead
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There seems to be a dump forecast for Saturday (at last!) but we're due to fly to Zurich that afternoon and then drive across to Chatel. Does anyone have experience of how good the snow clearing is on the access road to Chatel?
Thanks for any intel.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Depends which way you go. Not sure why you are flying to Zurich when Geneva to Chatel is one hour away? If your route plans to go up the valley and through morgins, Les crossets etc then you have to go over a high pass into Chatel. The easier route if conditions are bad, it to continue through Aigle to Lake Geneva and access Chatel by going through Le Biot, Abondance etc.
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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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As Rick suggests, pas de Morgins would be my worry, although arriving ZCH you will have a winterised car 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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And if by chance you pass through Le Biot, you are going the wrong way. 
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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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@BergenBergen, although, by that point, pas de Morgins should be irrelevant.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@BergenBergen, shhhhhh! Yes my bad you should have turned off before that point. But if not, the road from Le Biot over to near Abondance is superb. I had to drive from Pre La Joux to the bottom of the Les Prodains cable car once to pick up he wife who refused to ski any further, so I had to ski back to Chatel, pick up the car and drive round. Loved that mountain road over to Le Biot!
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Thanks for the responses. We are intending to route via Aigle, but I'm wondering if the last stretch up to the resort is kept clear during a heavy fall?
(Btw we chose Zurich with Swiss as it was significantly cheaper and had availability at the time we booked)
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@moresnowplease, the part from Morgin to Chatel is the main part that could cause you problems, but I think you would be fine unless it's snowing heavy. The issue I had when I was there, the top of the pass is on the French/Swiss border, the French side was clear, but the Swiss side hadn't been ploughed yet. That God for the winter tyres on the rental car.
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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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@Ricklovesthepowder, Was that before or after you were married ??? 
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@moresnowplease, Rental car with winter tyres will almost always be OK coming over the pass but during or immediately after a big dump it can be a bit dodgy.
You can drive round the South side of Lac Leman towards Thonon and then up via Abondance which is sure to be Ok but adds at least 45 mins to the journey.
With winter tyres on I've always been able to cross the pass.
In the kindest way possible I hope you have an utter nightmare - we need the snow and I'm due out 3 Jan!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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nope, a good 1 hour and 45 minutes, if traffic not too dense.
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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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This AM the Col Du Corbier, which links Vallee d'Abondance [Chatel] with the Vallee D'Aulps [Morzine] had about 2 cm of snow at the top [1230m], but it has been ploughed, and was perfectly fine do drive on. When the ash cloud thing happened I drove from Le Biot to Zurich [I worked as a transfer driver for a few yrs] and it only took 3 hrs, so to Chatel ( with good roads ) you will be looking at about 2h45. The Pas de Morgins is normally pretty good in terms of snow clearance [ I drove across it all times of day / night ], but on a Saturday, there will be a fair bit of traffic which will keep it pretty clear. Also, the climb from Morgins to the top of the pass is pretty gentle, but the French side is steeper, so it is easier from Mor->Cha but safer the other way. If you get stuck I have a landy 110 with a winch, and live about 20 mins away
Also bear in mind that the rules for winter tyres are different for CH and Haute Savoie. In CH winter ( M+S is fine, Snowflake is better ) tyres are mandatory but studded tyre are banned ( although I have never been stopped in CH for using studded tyres). In Haute Savioe winter / snow tyres are reccomended ( studs are permitted ) but not compulsory BUT chains are obligaotory ( even if you have a 4x4 with snow tyres you are still legaly required to carry chains, I have never used the ones in my Freelander or Defender, but have been stopped on the road to Avoriaz to make sure I had them )!
So if you get your hire car in CH it WILL have winter tyres, BUT it may not have chains so you will need to rent / buy some to be legal in France.
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@BergenBergen, before we were married, now married to her. She threw a right strop and her legs were hurting. Couldn't be doing with the moaning so I told her to wait in Avoriaz in Chez Flo restaurant, get a drink and take the cable car down in 2 hours as I will go and get the car. 
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You know it makes sense.
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You may get a bit of congestion on the road to Morgins at the point just after the hairpins. This is where the road gets slightly steeper, but not steep and is where some dimwits always choose to put on chains in the middle of the road. The road levels out 200m later.
The Pas de Morgins is usually cleared very quickly. I drive this road a lot and have never had a problem. However there's always a first time, but I think you'd be better off having a coffee in Morgins and waiting for the pass to be cleared than taking the detour via Evian.
After the pass, there's only a couple of kms left on French roads before you arrive in chatel, so the chains requirement mentioned above is unlikely to be an issue if you have winter tyres.
I'm due to drive the pass on Saturday at about 2pm if you're arriving near that time and want me to SMS you a status report.
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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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Another +1 for using the Pas de Morgins route. Much quicker and more straightforward and usually well cleared.
Two things to note.... The Swiss border guys are being really vigilant at the moment, asking your comings and goings and what you're carrying and what you have to declare. In 4 years of coming here this is the first time we've had the Swiss asking questions. They are particularly interested in whether you are bringing booze and meat in from France. Bizarrely they are stopping traffic from Morgins to Chatel and asking. It was the same at the Vallorbe border too, asking every car going through.
Second thing, depending on your time of arrival the traffic through Chatel centre could be very heavy. Last year on NY Saturday transfer day it took us over an hour to get from Route de Vonnes to Route de Pre la Joux just because of the volume of traffic arriving.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've hired cars from Geneva airport to drive to France in the past and chains were a simple and not too expensive option you could add at pick-up.
You probably won't need them but if you're feeling is 'better safe than sorry' when you get to Zurich I'm sure it will be the same deal there.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@sarah / @snoozeboy how have you found that the new lifts have affected traffic flow in the lac de vonnes area ?
( or have they not run in anger yet ?)
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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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@WindOfChange, new lifts not operational yet so no change so far.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Are they due to start tomorrow, or is Linga still closed ?
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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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@WindOfChange, lifts are not ready yet, not finished the work yet. Linga is still closed as of latest update today.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@WindOfChange, our 4x4 as mentioned above has a manual that specifically prohibits chains (it messes with the CVT or LSD or something).
In 2 versions and 7 years of living in CH/FR we've a. never been stopped and b. never been asked for chains - even when driving past the plods assisting (?) with chain attachment in the usual winter carnage. We're not in the mountains all the time, but very often when it snows... 
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@under a new name, I think 1h45m extra is a bit pessimistic. Villeneuve - Vinzier - Vacheresse and up the valley shouldn't take much more than an hour and a half in total. If you're taking that route because of snow on the P d M I reckon it could be close to an hour via Monthey and Morgins.
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@uann - I had heard that about some 4x4.
My defender is from 1987 (ex-military - no handbook) but as stated never needed the chains. I would worry about putting chains on the Freelander though as the Viscous Coupling Units on them are very prone to failure.
In 10 years living here full time I have been stopped on the Avoriaz road 4 times, once on the Ardent road, and once in Bourg St Maurice when going to Val.
I think it depends on the Gendarmes you get though. They let me through in my old Subaru Forrester without chains when they were stopping other cars and making them chain up. Twice in the defender it was to make sure I had chains, but once they told me that I had to put them on. I pulled over ahead of the line of cars, got out, got the chains out, waited for them to start paying more attention to other cars, then quickly got back in and drove off  The gendarmes themselves had a defender 110 the same as mine without chains!
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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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| under a new name wrote: |
@WindOfChange,
In 2 versions and 7 years of living in CH/FR we've a. never been stopped and b. never been asked for chains - even when driving past the plods assisting (?) with chain attachment in the usual winter carnage. We're not in the mountains all the time, but very often when it snows... |
+1
In 10 years living here, with much time spent driving around local hills, have never been stopped for chains and only used them once. However, I always used winter tyres and the roads I drive are generally not steep.
I don't think I even even put the chains in the boot this winter, so it's Sod's Law I get stuck on my way home tomorrow.
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@DJL, you see, this is where my lack of detail re Chatel fails. I was ass-uming a detour through Geneva. I think you're route is likely much better.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@WindOfChange, titter.
In fairness, we rarely are driving past the "chains" sign. I don't think (!) there's one on the road up to Chamonix.
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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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The pass at 3pm was fine, recently ploughed. The only hazard is the road up to Morgins where several, at least 20, of our Benelux friends choose the narrow part of the road to put on their chains, blocking the road in both directions. I'd estimate about 45 mins delay because of this.
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Had to put chains on today on road to Montriond as people were driving too slowly and others had to stop which resulted in carnage.
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You know it makes sense.
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@snoozeboy, +1 they are sliding about all over the place tonight! We have new winters on and had to chain up today.
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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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For the record, we made it over the Pas de Morgins to Chatel around midnight Saturday 27th with just winter tyres on the hire car (although we had chains with us as insurance). It was a bit slippy but no problems - compared to the chaos in other places we seem to have got off very lightly, and the dump meant we had a great week!
Many thanks to all for the useful advice - not to mention the fascinating digression about 4WD VCUs
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