| Snowball Express |
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It was hardly surprising that cars kept getting stuck – up in the heights of the French Alps near the resort of Orcieres-Merlette the snow lay deep enough to sink a car to its door handles. Early starters had managed to drive on through, because the snow had still been frozen solid and had managed to bear the weight of the heavily-kitted off-roaders. By the time we’d arrived on that particular scene the sun was out, the breeze was balmy and the snow rapidly turning into an impassable mass of marshmallowy slush.
We hauled out our shovels and ropes on several occasions to go to the assistance of a floundering vehicle - and yes, we did get stuck ourselves in one particularly deep section, mainly because we got a bit over-enthusiastic behind the wheel. We were eager to help partly because we knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere until whichever car that was stuck in the snow was mobile again, and partly because lending a helping hand in times of crisis is all part of the spirit of the great high-Alpine winter off-roading event known as the Croisiere Blanche. Continental off-road drivers do tend to let their enthusiasm get away with them, with a little too much in the way of low-gear, full-throttle driving which inevitably set their wheels a-spinning and sinking into the snow, but the fact that we were always on hand with shovels and winches didn’t elude them – later in the day a couple of grinning French lads came up and handed us an opened bottle of rather good red wine as a thank-you for our troubles. Lower down in the valleys the snow eventually gave way to rocky trails, so we were able to drive much of the 300 kilometres or so of the Croisiere’s mountain trails without having to fit snow chains. The rickety suspension bridge was open for traffic, as was the wickedly steep climb up the Girardet, one of the regular highlights of the event. Star of the show ought to have been the new Wrangler campaigned by a couple of rather snooty French lads; it was a big, silver-grey car which they’d unfortunately decorated with black blobs so that it resembled a large cow, immediately earning it the nickname Ermintrude. The Wrangler made heavy going of the steep climb in low range, second gear, in spite of wearing the most aggressive set of snow chains any of us had even seen. We, on the other hand, had the benefit of driving a couple of older Wranglers, the veteran Ruby II and Ruby III prepared by Chrysler themselves as demonstrator vehicles, both with much previous Croisiere experience under their BF Goodrich Mud Terrains. With their four-inch lifts, big wheels and locking differentials they made the climb with ease – third gear, part-throttle in Ruby II, high-range Drive in the case of the Teralow-equipped automatic Ruby III. Not that Ruby III’s climb up this ridiculously steep ascent was not without incident. As I eased her through the first set of ruts and aimed her round the first steepening bend, fighting all the time to keep the tyres gripping the loose surface, co-driver Nick suddenly shouted: “The back door’s open!” What he expected me to do about it at that moment, I’m not sure – but even though he assumed I hadn’t heard and shouted again, I drove on until I felt some firmer ground under the wheels before I stopped. Nick got out and tried to shut the door. It wouldn’t. With admirable presence of mind he looped a strop through the spare wheel, passed the ends through to me and, back in the passenger seat, proceeded to hold the door shut as we drove on up to the top. How the Continentals laughed…
The Croisiere is a big event, and when conditions get difficult – as they were this year, with the heavy high-level snow causing chaos on some of the routes – the organisers have their hands full trying to keep the event moving. Inevitably there were a few grumbles of dissatisfaction from some impatient entrants, but overall we found the event as exciting and enjoyable as ever – particularly as they’d reopened that tricky little section with the steep drop over some rugged boulders followed by a tight right-hander over a ridiculously narrow log bridge. The Croisiere is quite expensive ,particularly for British entrants who have to budget around £1500 to cover the entry fee, accommodation, ferry crossing, fuel and meals – but over its 31-year run it’s gained legendary status for offering an almost unique opportunity to drive on ice and snow in some of the most dramatic high-mountain scenery anywhere in Europe. The routes offer something for everybody – our group included a bog-standard ’87 Land Rover 90 that went everywhere that we went, and there were always helping hands around to pull less able cars through the difficult bits. Most importantly, the atmosphere, as ever, was extraordinarily friendly. It’s no wonder so many people just keep going back year after year.
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