All of this was then compounded by a very unusual meteorological phenomenon: icy rain. This prompted various accidents on the (relatively low altitude) dual carriageway between Albertville and Moutiers.
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| Sad times on the road to Moutiers, Sunday 28th December |
This article (in French) from Le Parisien gives a blow-by-blow account of what happened. Just 7,000 out of 36,000 vehicles on their way to the Tarentaise made it to their chosen resort. Some 8,000 spent the night in one of the emergency shelters. Others (including me) had to make do with a night in the car at a service station...
For an account of the immediate aftermath, see this account from David Chazan in the Telegraph. Peter Hardy (also in the Telegraph) picks up on the story and looks at what the British ski operators were doing this weekend to ensure that the post-New Year exodus from the mountain went smoothly.
The result: France 0, Switzerland 1. By and large, the Swiss avoided the shambles on the French side of the border.
A detailed post-mortem has duly ensued. A number of themes emerge:
1. Un-joined-up government. It was utterly unclear who was in charge. The Mayor of Moutiers ranted in the Dauphiné a day or two later about communications breakdowns, demanding answers. Val Thorens was ready to receive coaches, he gave the go-ahead for them to make the climb, but other authorities said non, so the coaches stayed put. He had space for 400 people, and ended up with 3,000. Etc.
2. Lack of real-time information. The authorities seemed reluctant to use social media, for example, with very little advice coming through on the night of 27th/28th Dec.
3. Well-meaning communications can be counter-productive: "Snow Chains Obligatory at Moutiers" signs on the motorways compounded the problems. Paradoxically, the bouchons were exacerbated by people putting chains on too soon, thereby blocking carriageways on the N90, slowing traffic and probably shredding many tyres.
4. The emergency plan generally seemed to work well in terms of liberating places for stranded people to sleep. Rather oddly, the service stations on the motorways do not seem to form part of these plans. At the Aire de Chignin, where we spent the night, the Arche Restaurant closed its doors at about 11, not to reopen until 7am.
5. It's rather a good idea to have snow chains and/or snow tyres. The whole episode has reignited a dreary debate about hapless holiday makers arriving in the mountains ill-equipped and without a clue. Haute-Alpes politician Joel Giraud questions why on earth France does not make having specialist equipment compulsory, just as it is in neighbouring Alpine countries, and comes up with the following quote:
France must return to the norms of civilised countries
where each person is responsible for their actions - including when it snows in winter
For British skiers, the main take-away is to be careful if you hire a car from French airports, including the French side at Geneva airport - in contrast to the scenario in Switzerland, your car is unlikely to have snow tyres as standard.
Next date for the diary is 21 Feb, when motorists from all 3 French holiday zones are likely to be on the move...
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