Snow chains from Turin to Courmayeur?

A snowHead

Hi All,

I'm off to Courmayeur in a couple of weeks and have a some questions regarding snow chains:

1. Is it a legal requirement to have snow chains in Italy?

2. Will I need them to get there?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

A snowHead

I'd doubt you'd need them. It's main road all the way there and the towns just off it (not up a mountain).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

it is a legal requirement when you get off the motorway onto the mountain roads - we have hired cars from both turin and milan for driving to ski resorts, and you must carry them, we've only been stopped once and asked if we had them, would of been quite a fine if not!

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harrythewino, We go to Pila from Geneva passing Courmayer on the way and I am guessing the French car we have will have summer tyres and no chains. Never been a problem over 10years and now cbowls30, has me worried now drink budget may go to Police in a fine. Pila is 25mins up a very windy mountain road Shocked

not the 5mins off the motorway you would have in Courmayer. So I doubt you wold need them but if it is a legal requirement then better get them. Peace of mind.

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I don't know whether chains as a legal requirement in Italy but we have always had one hell of a problem obtaining them with car hire in Italy. As for winter tyres..... ha! Maybe from turin.... no chance from verona/Venice treviso etc.

IIRC Geneva will have winter tyres as standard - it is the law in Switzerland.

We went to trois vallees recently in the pre-xmas whiteout. We had 4WD, wintrr tyres and chains for emergencies and boy was I glad we did. I think anyone who contemplates driving to a ski resort in a car with summer tyres and no chains is insane.

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harrythewino, I've frequently done the Turin to Courmayeur run. Most of the journey is on motorway/dual carriage-way and should take under 2 hours easily. I've never had to use chains, although there is a requirement to carry them in your car between mid-November and mid-April when journeying on certain roads. There's a road sign that shows this on those roads. The route to Courmayeur is looked after by snow clearance very well as it's the Mont Blanc Tunnel route from Italy to France, used by hauliers mainly. However, if there is a considerable dump you will need to have them ready.

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harrythewino, actually, it's a legal requirement to have snow tyres to use the motorway up the Aosta valle from 15.10 to 15.4 ...

After all it is free

If there's any chance that you will end up on a road that is covered in snow at any point in your trip and you are not very experienced at driving on the stuff I would say take chains. We just got back from a week in Austria and having been 'encouraged' by my better half to hire the chains at an extra cost, they came in very handy when we found ourselves in whiteout conditions, at dusk, going over a relatively low pass between Dienten and Maria Alm. OK, admittedly the locals were cruising past just on their winter tyres but we would have been making an embarrassing call for help had we not been able to fit the chains (after 30 minutes of swearing).

Now I really must learn how they manage to smugly get up those roads...

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getting caught out on a winding single lane road with no snow tyres or chains is a terrifiying experience that you will only allow to happen to yourself once!

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As others have said, it is Autostrade the entire way. Personal comfort factor, really. I got chains from Avis in Venice earlier this season for a drive up to Cortina, and never used them. I don't think I'd get them for Torino to Courmayeur, but to each his own.

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Thread resurrection.

Can anyone clarify whether winter tyres are mandatory in Aosta (Gressoney) or whether it's ok just to have snow chains?

For some reason I thought (from a legal perspective) that summer tyres with chains was fine, but have seen conflicting info)

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@TheGeneralist, I think the regulations say "winter equipment". I think you can get away (just) with specialist winter tyres, but otherwise you must carry chains. We had no problem renting them at Malpensa.

A snowHead

I'd be amazed if you need them - as already said Courmayeur is on the valley floor next to the autostrada which you'd be on all the way from Turin. A very different proposition to :

"We went to trois vallees recently in the pre-xmas whiteout. We had 4WD, wintrr tyres and chains for emergencies and boy was I glad we did. I think anyone who contemplates driving to a ski resort in a car with summer tyres and no chains is insane."

or
"getting caught out on a winding single lane road"

Legally though it sounds like you need them.

A snowHead

Winter tyres or chains are a requirement even on the motorways north of Turin. There are loads of signs.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

One of our drivers needed chains in Courmayeur today. Remember the last bit to accomodation can be very different to the main road - the last 200m can be the hardest.

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Many years we have been to Pila and it has been fine. One year there was a foot of snow in Aosta and we had to get chains on in the town before we even went up the hill. As Courmayeur is higher than Aosta then there could well be snow on the motorway and I would not fancy drive on summer tyres on it.
So 9 times out of 10 you would be ok. Fancy the gamble ?

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You would have needed them today after a sudden lunchtime dump which saw a truck blocking the Italy to France road just b4 the MB tunnel.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I've driven to the Frejus tunnel on the French side with heavy snow, vehicles in convoy behind snowploughs. Emerged into Italy without a flake anywhere. Sometimes it'll be the other way round.

After all it is free

@pam w, being one of the advantages of being in Chamonix or Courmayeur, sometimes a quick tunnel trip changes your whole day Happy

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@TheGeneralist, Legal requirement, try booking a car with Hertz on their website and it clearly states winter tyres or chains must be carried. We drove MXP to Courmayuer 4 years ago, slight rain in Milan, as we got into the Aosta Valley it turned to snow, and by the time we got to the turn off for Courmayuer the road was 2-3 thick with snow, had to put chains on to get to the apartment, not easy in the dark having never done it before.

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Surely, this is little to do with what's legal and everything to do with a sensible precaution?

So, you're taking all the trouble, cost and time of flying to Italy, and driving up into the mountains, in order to have a ski holiday, on snow. You're anticipating it will be snowy, and hoping that it will snow a lot. As indeed it did last week, has today, and looks likely to next week. The probability is high that it will snow. And moderately high that it will snow while you're driving.

So, the risk of snow is high. The cost of chains is what, €100? And the consequences of not having them? - Getting stuck completely and being totally unable to get to your destination. Getting stuck and blocking the road. Having an accident.

So the OP has to decide whether €100 is a worthwhile cost to obviate the relatively serious negative consequences of what is a relatively high probability event. Or not.

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@LaForet, you underestimate the human capacity for not understanding risk (and its consequences)

You know it makes sense.

I rented a car from Treviso to get to Arabba. Snowchains were included in the cost, as apparently in Italy they are a legal requirement in mountainous areas during the winter.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@lapcat, did you make sure they were;

a. actually in the car?
b. actually in the box?
c. not broken?
d. fitted the car?

A snowHead

Good questions, to which I would add.... Did you actually practice putting them on in the car park, if you were expecting to need them? One does pass a lot of struggling people....

A snowHead

@under a new name, a,b & d Very Happy

. I’d checked the long range weather forecast, so was reasonably confident I wouldn’t need them.

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Snow chains from Turin to Courmayeur?

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