Outside the warm chalet the wind howls and the temperature drops below freezing. Braving the elements, my face is stung by horizontally driving sleet. Snow is inches deep, slippery and slushy in places.
It's the sort of night when motoring organisations warn drivers not to make a journey unless absolutely necessary. But, despite the conditions, I eagerly clamber into a Renault Clio parked outside and allow myself to be strapped tightly into the passenger seat alongside a driver I don't know and who speaks no English.
Engine roaring we set off into the night, immediately sliding left across the snow to negotiate a hidden right hand bend. We tear along a narrow lane at speeds of up to 90 kph, slipping, sliding and occasionally colliding with the high snowbanks lining the route.
No, my driver isn't completely insane. Nor is he an out-and-out hooligan. My life is in the hands of ace French rally driver Jean Ragnotti and our charge is a Renault Clio Super 1600 rally car.
Ragnotti started his motorsport career in 1967 at the wheel of a Renault 8 Gordini. Over the years he has won the Monte Carlo and Tour de Corse rallies and notched up the French Super Production and Group N Championship titles. And, to prove his versatility as an all-round driver, he won the French Rallycross Championship in 1977, came fourth in the 1978 Le Mans 24 Hours at the wheel of a long-tailed A442 Alpine Renault, and has competed in the famous Trophée Andros ice racing series.
Our car won last year's Junior World Rally Championship as well as many individual rallies across Europe. Powered by a 220 bhp 1.6 litre 16v engine with maximum torque of 200Nm at 7,750 rpm, it's driven through a six-speed sequential gearbox and features disc brakes all round.
No doubt it clings to both gravel and asphalt rally stages like glue, but without studded tyres it spends most of its time sliding sideways on this treacherous snow.
We are driving along the Route de Sarenne, one of the stages of the September-run Rallye du Mont Blanc. Just as well it's run then, well away from the skiing season - the longest black ski run in Europe, all 11 vertical miles of it, ends on the stage.
Rallying by moonlight is always magical but add snow and it's even more so. Gone is the sound of pebbles bombarding the car's underside. Instead there's an eerie silence, apart from the burbling, high-revving engine. Even the thump when hitting the snow bank is almost imperceptible. And the light from the headlights looks even brighter when bounced off the snow.
I could never have driven that car at those speeds along that stage, but for Ragnotti it's no problem.
I might have done it, slowly, in the Megane Coupé Cabriolet with its Brake Assist, Electronic Stability Programme and Understeer Control. Well, Robbie Head, Scottish rally driver and presenter of Channel 4's World Rally Championship programme, and former Formula One driver Patrick Tambay, both made it look easy.
Robbie followed our rally car down the route and, with the aid of the ESP, gave it a run for its money without any of the drama. Mind you, I think he could have done as well without this system.
Electronic stability programmes work with anti-lock brakes and traction control to help keep the car on the straight and narrow, especially where there's little grip or it's necessary to swerve violently.
Sensors detect when we're going in the wrong direction and, through action on the engine torque output and by braking one of several wheels, return the car to the right direction.
It's my turn the following day on the Trophée Andros circuit at Alpe D'Huez. Unfortunately heavy rain has turned part of the kilometre-long curvaceous route into a river with sheet ice underfoot. Slow, smooth driving is the order of the day but it's good to hear the system cut in as it struggles to find grip.
It's another story in the Clio Renaultsport V6 255. Without the security of ESP and, like the Meganes, without the benefit of studded tyres, it's all too easy to spin - I do it twice at the same place. I challenge my instructor, Robbie, to see if he can do any better. Of course, his rally driving skills take him through the corner with ease.
The exercise serves to highlight an important point. Without rally or race skills, we lesser mortals can enjoy safer driving in atrocious conditions thanks to modern technology. It may add a bit to the cost of a car, but can you put a price on safety?