First, congratulations on surviving your ordeal. Sounds like a hairy ride.

My experience has been that the tires make all the difference. I have lived
in Lake Tahoe and been up and down a 12% grade(Talmont hill,with sharp
turns, in my van during some heavy snow storms. I actually passed people on
the way up who had chains on. I run studded Nokia Hakkapeliitta 10C's. They
come in the proper 185R14 size and are D rated. I think they are the best
tire out there if you live in snow country. They are not the cheapest tire,
but are well worth the price when the difference can be a wrecked van.

There was one night during a storm when an acquaintance, also with a Westy
tried to make it up this same hill with some Dunlop all terrain tires. He
didn't make it 50 feet before he gingerly backed down and parked the van
for the night.

Check out http://www.nokiantires.com/indexen.html

Click on "Product Line", then "Light Truck/SUV", then "Commercial". There
you will find the 10C. The site also has a dealer locator.

BTW, the Michelin is definitely not the only tire out there for the van. I
have run Bridgestone RD-603's for fair weather for over 50k now and have
been very happy with them. They are also 185R14, 8-ply, D rated. I
purchased them from Tire Rack. Yokohama also makes a tire for the van in 14
(check the archives).

Right now I have my local tire shop trying to locate some Kumho Commercial
A/S 852's. They come in the 185's, but I am going to go with the 195R14. I
figure my new Tiico has the horses to push a slightly larger tire and the
larger diameter will save me some $$$ at the gas pump.

Tim
85 Westy Tiico
83 GTI 16V