Do you really need chains in the snow?

**dodo19** · 02-22-2007, 03:16 PM

Question for the experts. We are planning to go to Mammoth Mountain this weekend and the wife insists on using chains in the higher eleveations of the resort. Wouldn't the AWD and snow tires enough? Thanks
Doni

**wgriswold** · 02-22-2007, 04:01 PM

I live in South Lake Tahoe and don't own a pair of chains for the XC70. That said, when there is more than a foot on the ground I stay home or take the Suburban. In a tourist area like Mammoth you probably won't need chains since they do a good job of plowing. I would buy chains just to be safe and probably not use them. It should be a great time this weekend. We just got 10" of new snow here and there should be off and on snow showers through Monday. Probably similiar in Mammoth.

**Loran** · 02-22-2007, 04:46 PM

hello,

i live in France, and every week end in the winter i go skiing... i've very good chain (koenig) but they are new in box since 3 years!
but i'm happy to have it, in secure...

all depend of your tire... with my pirelli scorpion, no problem

**xc4life** · 02-22-2007, 04:51 PM

I am in Tahoe right now, where it's snowing. When I came up yesterday, it was snowing like hell in the freeway, near Tahoe. There was a roadblock, due to heavy snow, and I talked the chp into letting me go by the side (since I had awd). A Lincoln Navigator and a Nissan Xterra were allowed thru (b/c they both had 4wd). It was really fun 4 wheelin' through the snow, and my girlfriend got some cool pics of our car 4wheelin, I'm not in them though, but there's one vid. of me thrashing the car through the snow..

i'll put the pics and vid. on the board when I get back (i didnt bring my USB cable for my digi camera/camcorder for my macbook).

**JRL** · 02-22-2007, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by wgriswold

I live in South Lake Tahoe and don't own a pair of chains for the XC70. That said, when there is more than a foot on the ground I stay home or take the Suburban. In a tourist area like Mammoth you probably won't need chains since they do a good job of plowing. I would buy chains just to be safe and probably not use them. It should be a great time this weekend. We just got 10" of new snow here and there should be off and on snow showers through Monday. Probably similiar in Mammoth.

Isn't there an altitude in CA ( during a snow storm or when there's a lot of residual snow) when the CHP requires chains?

**xc4life** · 02-22-2007, 05:59 PM

yup, ur right jrl.
but, the snow was cleared out for the most part, and i drove on the shoulder, there was only a sprinkle amount on the shoulder,
when i passed through, he started letting others come behind me, I think that the road was opening(1 lane)
in the other 3 lanes, there was alot of snow..

**wgriswold** · 02-22-2007, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by JRL

Isn't there an altitude in CA ( during a snow storm or when there's a lot of residual snow) when the CHP requires chains?

There are three levels of chain controls. R1= chains or snowtires required, R2= chains required, 4wd or awd with snowtires ok, R3 = 4wd or Awd with chains only, after that the road is closed. In reality, R3 never happens, the road is closed because bad drivers have gotten into so much trouble. CalTrans (the California Dept. of Transportation) makes the decision and they are very conservative. I have seen R1 when the roads are mostly dry with maybe an inch of packed snow in some places.

The XC70 with tires at least as good as the OEM tires it comes with should have no trouble at all with R1 and R2. Any difficulty will come from secondary roads that have not been cleared of snow. Any vehicle can get stuck there.

**Boarder** · 02-23-2007, 07:36 AM

Originally Posted by dodo19

Question for the experts. We are planning to go to Mammoth Mountain this weekend and the wife insists on using chains in the higher eleveations of the resort. Wouldn't the AWD and snow tires enough? Thanks
Doni

We frequently take our XC70 to Mammoth and are headed up ourselves today. You should not have any problems without chains. There have been a few very severe storms over the years where it would not hurt to carry them as insurance, but I have never had chains on a AWD/4WD up there. This storm is no problem. No issues with Cal Trans or CHP with AWD.

That said, I have seen plenty of high end AWD vehicles spin off the 395 as a result of driving too fast in winter conditions. In fact, in the storm two weeks ago a shuttle bus, driving too fast, when over the edge on the twisty part of the road from Main Lodge into town.

Driving with reasonable caution and an XC70 you should be in good shape. This car welcomes snow and handles winter conditions very well. Call last night from a friend in Mammoth said snow fell all day! Have a fun and safe trip.

**bouvier** · 02-23-2007, 09:48 AM

Chains on ice. It sounds like an exotic club drink but nothing else will do when there is an underlayer of ice. We were happy to have them here in NY State when the upstate roads were covered with 8" of snow over a coat of hard ice. Our WR's did very well on snow alone but were all but useless on the ice. Our village roads were plowed and salted but most of the county roads were covered in ice. My wife was stuck in a friends driveway and called AAA who came and put on her chains. They are now back in there canvas bag and all is right with the world.

Bouvier

**littlewaywelt** · 02-23-2007, 12:12 PM

awd is ok in most conditions, but awd plus the standard tires in an xc aren't enough if you have to really push through snow. More than 12 inches of heavy wet snow and you may have difficulty.

Look into Z-Chains. They are much easier to install than a standard chain set and allow higher speeds. They are made by many different companies.