This has post has nothing to do with Ken Block! Now that the ski season is about to start this weekend I wanted to know if anyone has fitted all their kit, ie boards boots etc in a blobeye sti, I think it will just about fit! Also probably a dumb question but do you need to fit snow chains on a 4wd car and if you do which wheels to you fit them to? Anyway it doesnt get better then next weekend... 2hour drive from the coast into the mountains snowboard all day then 2 hour drive back down the mountain...happy days

 

Snow chains = Manditory above a certain altitude (if it's snowing hard) so take some

oops sorry, this is French alps I'm talking about

 

Thanks Scooby L. My local hill is sierra nevada in spain. Lets just say they do things a bit differently over here...i´m sure i saw a sign last time they closed the road up saying that only 4 x 4 ´s could pass without chains. Maybe not, will get a set just in case.

Cheers

 

I took my Scooby to MK Snowdome.. the only way I could fit it my STI was to take the board out of the bag and just about fit it through that cubby hole from the boot into the back seat area.. I have a 155 and it only just fit with the bindings on.. It did also pretty much take out a space on the back seat..

If your going on holiday I think a room rack is going to be the realistic solution.. Unless its just you + 1 .

As for snow chains no idea, when I was hosting out a few years back we had snow chains on the van but just on the front wheels. Worked out ok.. a few sketchy moments :P But the van had snow tyres of too, they make a big difference.

I toyed with the idea of driving to Morzine this year.. but decided that flying was easier, cheaper and with no chance of crashing on super icy roads :P . I have Eagle F1 Asymmetrics on mine and I think they are classed as Summer tyres so I dread to think of how they would be on snow.

Vash

 

I went to visit my friend in Geneva last year with my snowboard bag fully packed to the brim with boots, board, bindings plus all my clothes etc.. He rocked up to the airport in his 350Z!!

Somehow managed to get it in there without breaking it down though so i'm sure you'll be fine with the blob...

 

Snow chains go on the front and test fit them before you go so you know how they work and that they fit correctly etc. I've seen so many people at the side of the road trying to figure out how to fit them for the first time in the worst weather it's untrue.
Also make sure you have some gloves with you as there is nothing worse than trying to fit chains when your hands a freezing cold and wet. They don't need to be anything special just some PVC work gloves like these http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/im...TTED-WRIST.jpg

I would urge you to get winter tyres as "normal" 4 season tyres will be a liability.

 

As per Stiler 83 above, snow chains on the front. 4wd won't help you if you're on summer tyres - sure it's better than being in a rwd beemer or something but stopping is harder than getting going.

I got skis and a board inside once in a probably completely daft way in that I put tape around the grab handles and taped the skis/ board to it inside their bags. Passenger couldn't see much but I could still see the mirror and didn't have anything on the roof to spoil the already parlous fuel consumption all the way from the Uk to the Alps. probably more sensible to have a locking ski rack though as getting wet skis back inside was a pain.

 

Hey you guys thanks for the feedback.
Totally down with Vash´s decision to fly to the alps... i priced up how much it would cost for me to drive to andorra from malaga and basically it would cost the same to go to whistler and watch the winter olympics! Deffo with the spare gloves, still got the burn marks on my hands from last year, learnt the hard way, your fingers just stick to the cold metal when its time to take the chains off and when you try to pull them off the skin stays on the metal...not nice! Can´t believe all that kit fitted in a 350z...must have been the soft top and you took the roof down! Sounds like i´ll be able to squeeze all my kit in... will give it a go tonight when everone has gone to bed so that they dont know ive got demob fever!

Cheers

 

They'll be talking about large 4x4's with snow tyres on... not AWD Scoobies

Snow chains for sure, and as said above, practice putting them on! (Been there done that at 2am trying to get chains on an Audi when it's dark and -10, you lose feeling in your fingers within 3 minutes )

The chains help you stop more than help you go, coming back down (not going up when the scooby would probably cope).

 

good one... too funny when i bought a set in andorra on the side of the road for my last car they were well over priced so there was no way i was going to pay the 10 euros extra they wanted to fit. So a kind sole fitted one for me telling me to watch real carefully then i could do the other one myself...could i do it, er no, I had to pay 10euros just to fit one LOL.

 

A snowboard will fit easily. Diagonally in the back from one of the rear footwells and up.

But depends how many people are going, you could probably even get people in the back as well

As for chains, definitely (unless you are lucky enough to have an import car which came with studless tyres from Japan )

I remember many years ago in my dads audi, albeit an FF audi 100, one person came to a halt on a hill, and everyone behind had to stop. So people got out of their cars to help push the guy that stopped. He drives off, but the people who got out to help got stuck.... and so went the domino effect. Basically everyone got stuck and the people behind had to help, then got stuck themselves

 

hey thats a good idea studded tyres where can i get me some of them!

 

Lol, its not "studded" tyres, its "studless" tyres....

They perform very well in the snow and Ice. Take a look at some models like the Bridgestone Blizzaks, or the Yokohama Ice Guards

I think "studded" tyres would be illegal in most countries....

 

Finally got my kit out last night it was much easier than expected to get it all in I got two large board bags containing I board complete with bindings in each diagonally across back seats then everything else fits in the boot. Only room for two people though. Forecast looks good so didnt buy any chains, got a bag of nails though to make some studded tyres alan prost ice racing style if it does snow.

Happy days cant wait till saturday!!!

 

Ok just got back from the trip and it was even better than I imagined. Basically the resort told peeps not to bother coming as there would only be 1.7km of piste open which meant that there was absolutely no traffic on the approach mountain road...yes 32 km of smooth resurfaced mountain road all to myself, even the guardia civil were still wrapped up in bed. The beast was unleashed... lets just say I reckon I got about 5 mpg on that stretch...way more fun than the snowboarding! You just gotta love Spain. If you haven´t discovered it yet forget about France just go a little further south and dip into spain the roads are amazing, especially in cataluña and andalucia.