Ski Holiday and Snow Chains

[jonathan_phang]

Hi all,

I have been organising a stag to, which will be a snowboarding holiday in Andorra. We will be flying to Barcelona then driving hired cars to Andorra. When booking the cars (From Hertz) I was unable to get snow chains as an extra.

However, someone has told me that it is European legislation to carry snow chains and you can be told to leave your car if you are stopped and then spot checked.

Is there any truth to this? I'm not sure what to do. I guess my options are:

1) Buy them somewhere enroute. This could be risky and expensive, but surely they would have them there?

2) Buy some here and take them with us. Not sure where to get them really. I ordered a 'Ford Mondeo Wagon' from Hertz, but i think that it states that this may not be guaranteed, so basically, I dont know what size to buy the chains for, even if I knew where to get them

3) Not bother

I'm going to Halfords to have a look today, to see if they have any, maybe an adjustable set or something, but I would really appreciate it if anyone could give some feedback on this - bit worried about this, and I have a week and a half to go...

Thanks in advance

JP

[kalniel]

It depends on the road - some roads will be marked as requiring snow chains if it snows. If you never have to travel on them then you don't need snow chains.

[GAteKeeper]

My parents live on the french side of Andorra and they and their friends have been prevented from entering Andorra at certain times of the year because they didnt have snow chains.

I would have thought that it would be cheeper to buy snow chains out there once you have picked the car up, they are a bit of a speciality item over here and are probs therefore expensive.

GK

[jonathan_phang]

My parents live on the french side of Andorra and they and their friends have been prevented from entering Andorra at certain times of the year because they didnt have snow chains.

Do you know if that means that they didnt have any chains at all, or that they werent fitted. I have heard that you just have to be able to produce them to be able to pass, though not necessarily fit them. The reason I ask that is that I can buy them here from halfords for £55 but you need to know the tire size. I have just been trying to contact the hertz rental place in Barcelona airport, but cant get through - so if I buy them, there is no guarantedd that they will fit...

I would have thought that it would be cheeper to buy snow chains out there once you have picked the car up, they are a bit of a speciality item over here and are probs therefore expensive.GK

I know that this is a big ask - but there isnt any way you might be able to find out from your folks if there are places to buy from near the french side of Andorra? I will be driving through Spain, then a little bit of France to enter Andorra (The resort is Pas de la Casa) and any info they might have would be really useful.

I'm more than a little worried now. Not sure who else I can attempt to contact really

JP

[GAteKeeper]

I think they were making people fit them before continuing into Andorra.

As to if there are places to buy where you are driving, no idea and you will be using a different route into Andorra than I have used. This time of year most supermarkets (of which you will be able to find quite a few) sell them and a lot of garages as you get closer to the mountains.

GK

[tiggerai]

If you're hiring a car it's usually a "extra" to get chains included.... I'd keep trying the Rental place.... or can you phone the call centre here and ask them to get them?

[jonathan_phang]

If you're hiring a car it's usually a "extra" to get chains included.... I'd keep trying the Rental place.... or can you phone the call centre here and ask them to get them?

Yeah - it was an extra, but it wasnt available (probably as there isnt much demand for snow chains from there?) through the web directly. I think that my best chance is to get the tire size and then pick them up in the uk first...

Have tried calling a lot, but the Hertz number is probably the desk in the airport, so will probably unmanned for a while. I guess all i can do is keep ringing... If i cant then I guess that I could try ang guess the snow chain size? or err on the larger size.

Still, this is turning into a bit of a nightmare really. What a way to waste your Saturday!!!

[Zak33]

/the old boy walks in and the voice of common sense has to be vented.

Have you ever tried fitting sow chains?

It's a MARE, and it's always.... er... bloody cold!

Buying them and taking them is gonna cost a FORTUNE cos they weigh loads, so I think this is a damn hard thing to get around.