Snow in Scotland

I live in London, and having had an "interesting" white-knuckle experience trying to get into my road last night, I'm now wondering about my holiday around Inverness, Aviemore and the general area in a weeks time. According to the BBC it will snow all this week there. Does anyone who's spent much time up there think I should take snow chains? One one hand it can't really hurt to get some, but I think I'm going to have a hard time finding some that fit in time. I tried OPC West London, but they don't have any in stock, and I'll have to wait 5-6 days, plus however long before London is operational again to get some - which isn't fast enough. I have a 996 pre-facelift C2, no PSM. First time I've wanted PSM, serves me right for saying I've not missed it the other day in another thread! Thanks in advance for any advice. - Steve

It snowed heavily there last year when we went in the Audi (2wd). The main roads were kept well clear to be honest and it really dumped down. Just don't follow Sat Nav in the snow. Look at the map and try and stay on bigger roads for as long as possible.

You will find the guys who grit and plough up here to be the best in the business. It has to be REALLY bad for them to shut the snow gates - then unless you are in a tank you will be going nowhere anyhow! What you should/must pack/keep in car is: Basic 1st aid kit Plastic shovel Warm spare clothes( socks, gloves coat etc)....not the ones your are walking/skiing with/in LOL A good powerful torch(or a skull headlight) + spare batteries Warning triangle Some candles and a lighter Always keep food and drink in your car boot Mobile + car charger A good map - and always know roughly whereabouts you are! A foot/elec tyre inflator + tyre gauge If you do get stuck take the PSI down to 6/8psi on all four tyres as this spreads the tyres contact patch and usually gets you out the sh*t!...then re-inflate when clear(of course). and lastly......never ever let your fuel tank get below 1/2 when you are in our mountains, as you may need to run the car to keep warm if you get stuck. There are a good few filling stations so keep an eye on the gauge Enjoy!

theno23 If you think your fine 911 is crap in the snow you should try a Boxster!!

Theno23, I am presently in Aberdeen and so far there is no sign of any snow. Also my GF is located in Aviemore at present and she phoned tonight and said they have no snow........but as we all know it can dump fast! I know very little people that would ever use snow chains in scotland. If you are really concerned with the snow I would just recommend winter tyres. Other than that, unless you are planning on exploring the deep stuff then you should be fine. As wizzard 993 says, they are used to the snow up here in Scotland, especially up near inverness, so you will find all the main roads should be kept clear.

...just make sure you have the correct Scottish visa(clearly stamped with your visit dates). You can pick one up at any UK post office. The new Passport control at Gretna/on the M74 can be a tad funny with 911 drivers so grease the officers palm with a nice £20 placed inside your passport and you should be all set. ...just thought I'd let you know :thumb:

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm not that concerned about the snow, but I know what I'd think of someone who went to Inverness in the winter without any real thought and stuffed a 911 into a snowbank I did think about winter tyres, I know how much difference they make after being in Helsinki one winter. But I have nowhere to keep my summer tyres, and they are so rarely useful in London that it seems a bit crazy. I think I'm going to do as wizard993 suggests and pack emergency supplies, just incase the worst happens, and stick to main roads if it's icy. Cheers, Steve

As a softie Southerner I can also vouch for the excellent snow management in Scotland - even out in the sticks. I had to go up there with my dogs for a film shoot in the snow a couple of years back in my 3.5 tonne RWD motorhome in some very remote highland forest areas and the roads were fine: In fact, you would not be able to use snow chains as they were so well plowed and gritted.

...holy s*** that pic is like something straight out of the Omen Very nice dogs though :thumb:

love the dogs

Just remebered that I never posted a followup saying how things went. The weather was really bad the week I was there, the main roads were fine but most minor ones were iced up. Thanks to the hints here I never got stuck, but I did spend a fair bit of time helping people push their FWD family cars out of trouble I did have one incident where I was sure I'd got stuck and damaged the car: I was moving very slowly at the top of a small incline which was iced up, trying to get down the incline and round a bend, but as soon as I crested the top the car just slid straight down and into a snowbank. No ammount of 4WD or traction control could have helped, as there was zero grip on summer tyres. I think winter tyres would have been a godsend though! Using excessive swearing and spinning the wheels in reverse I managed to just get clear of the snowbank and roll/slide past it down the (short) slope. The snow filled the front offside radiator vents, but there was no obvious damage, and I managed to clear most of the compacted snow out, and the rest melted. One extra tip, ontop of those posted here: if you're parking on snow, make sure you can get out by driving forwards. The heat from the engine melts all the snow around your rear wheels, but it refreezes into sheet ice quite quickly. In reverse there's far too much torque (at least with a tip) to get clear easily. I got caught out by that twice, and only just managed to get out, using the aforementioned swearing and spinning technique Overall it was quite fun, I spent a lot of time sideways and got some great wintery photos. Thanks again for the advice people posted here. Though, if I was doing it again I'd definitely get winter tyres though... or a Subaru. - Steve

Theno23, Yes I am thinking very seriously about getting winter tyres for next year, the additional expence puts one off initially, but if you weigh this up against a repair after shooting off the road backwards then it could well be the cheaper option! Not to mention the additional driving pleasure we would get being able to push it abit in the winter months also. My parents have a very steep drive into their house and with 2inch of snow on it, my fathers gold 4motion equiped with winter rubber just walked straight up it. Meanwhile my 996tt gave up right at the bottom! (much to the pleasure of my father!) Any chance of the odd photo of the porker with winter scenery?!

Well, if you have somewhere to keep your summer tyres the additional cost probably isn't that much, just the cost of getting the tyres switched and wheels rebalanced. I think some people keep two sets of wheels, but that's quite an outlay. I had the same problem with drives at the hotel we were staying at, couldn't even make it one foot up the drive. I have some photos of the scenery without Porsche: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveharris/3311882223/in/set-72157614481919980/ . You live in a very beautiful part of the world. But the pictures with my 911 in mostly show how grubby it was - all the jetwashes were closed and there was tonnes of grit on the road. Oh and one with icyles hanging off the radiators, but they're not very artisitic sadly. I can dig some out if you really want to see though.

err, i didn't know Tigers were indigenous to Scotland?

I think they must have a taste for haggis Weirdly they seemed to really like the snow.