Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[apex dave]

Just a heads up on the AC. They take quite a bit of power. Without a shore power hookup and power on the site, it would be a portable generator or a solar system and battery bank that is worth the price of your truck. Maybe you already have a little Honda genset and are good. I felt compelled to speak up because I have seen several people think AC off batteries is easy only to find out you need 800 ah of lifepo4 batteries and a solar array bigger than your van roof.


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You can use a remote start system to turn on the vehicle's engine and AC. The new versions operate via your cell phone so as long as you have coverage you can restart at a distance. Also very handy to keep your critters warm while skiing. It isn't the most environmentally friendly but will work.

[caulfield]

So my lease is up end of January and I'm WFH thru June. I'm thinking about just buying a Class C RV and posting up in ski lots around the country. WWTGRD?

aha, I was betting you were an amazon transplant

Seems kinda sick but I'm not sure it's a great year to be rolling into towns with out of state plates. Nonzero risk of going back to the spring locals-only vibe. Maybe reduce your exposure by keeping the lease (or moving further out of town) and still driving around but staying in airbnbs when and where that's legit.

[toast2266]

aha, I was betting you were an amazon transplant

Seems kinda sick but I'm not sure it's a great year to be rolling into towns with out of state plates. Nonzero risk of going back to the spring locals-only vibe. Maybe reduce your exposure by keeping the lease (or moving further out of town) and still driving around but staying in airbnbs when and where that's legit.

To add to that, I'm fully expecting the lift lines at our local ski hill to be completely insane. Lots of recent transplants to the mountains = record season pass sales this year. And Covid precautions means no singles line and lots of not full chairs, which will almost surely mean loooong lift lines. Not sure how it'll be in other locations, but I'd expect it'll be similar.

In other words, rolling in an RV and powder chasing sounds super fun, but again, maybe not the best year for it. If you've got a partner, might be a great year to go RV powder chasing to touring destinations.

[altasnob]

Do it:

https://faroutride.com/winter-vanlife/

[simple]

Lift lines aren't there during the week.

Do it. Capitalism owns your ass so take a break from it.

[toast2266]

Lift lines aren't there during the week.

I hope you're right. But I'm skeptical.

[Bobcat Sig]

Just a heads up on the AC. They take quite a bit of power. Without a shore power hookup and power on the site, it would be a portable generator or a solar system and battery bank that is worth the price of your truck. Maybe you already have a little Honda genset and are good. I felt compelled to speak up because I have seen several people think AC off batteries is easy only to find out you need 800 ah of lifepo4 batteries and a solar array bigger than your van roof.


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Yup, beat me to it.

So my lease is up end of January and I'm WFH thru June. I'm thinking about just buying a Class C RV and posting up in ski lots around the country. WWTGRD?

Hell yes, do it! I'm considering something similar on a smaller scalle as I can tether from my phone... provided there's coverage.

aha, I was betting you were an amazon transplant

Seems kinda sick but I'm not sure it's a great year to be rolling into towns with out of state plates. Nonzero risk of going back to the spring locals-only vibe. Maybe reduce your exposure by keeping the lease (or moving further out of town) and still driving around but staying in airbnbs when and where that's legit.

And that's if those AirBnBs will allow out-of-region renters or said counties aren't showdown.

[jacob_dbu]

I think for me what it comes down to is trying to figure out what to do when my lease is up. I pay a ridiculous amount for rent and 4 months in a Class C would be way cheaper factoring in equity.

I could also just move somewhere cheaper temporarily- but where? I was thinking Bellingham could be fun for Mt. Baker. I actually don’t mind shacking up somewhere and I do want to do about 50/50 touring / resort (or even more touring if I got good partners).

Other options seem like Mammoth or Big Sky. It would be sweet to spin on the lifts for an hour or two per day, do some early morning tours, and then have weekends to do what I want.

I’m sort of ruling out Tahoe (packed from SF), JH (can’t get a season pass), SLC (packed also), and CO (packed on front range and dangerous winter conditions).

Maybe I’m missing something?


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[simple]

Your ruling out spots are smart. Small ski areas are the best experience. The ones that don't depend on tourism and real estate are the best.

[Full Trucker]

Thoughts from the collective requested. This thread is massive and deep and I don't feel like searching. The lady and I are starting to think about getting something for camping, and have limited it to van(sprinter or small class B) or truck camper. Here's the full scenario.
She has a 16 forester with 60k, still making payments, what we travel to and from the desert with, it gets super full with my bad ass car camping kitchen, the dog, coolers, bike stuff, etc.
I have a 03 taco TRD, 130k on it, this is my around town truck/hunting rig, owned outright. She can't drive stick hence why we don't bring this to the desert currently.
Realistically we'd use it 10 trips a year, give or take, mostly S.UT for biking, looking for an cool location to let the dog hang while we go ride.
My first thought is why have a third vehicle we're paying insurance and registration on for that few trips/year. Truck camper makes more sense this way, I get a new truck (F150/Silverado) and we get a Fourwheel Campers or Palomino, I pay the truck payment, and we split the camper payment. Can get 10k locally for my taco and find a used truck (however, upgrading rear suspension for the truck camper would add some costs here).
Downside: Shitty driveway situation in SLC. steep hill at beginning, then max of 100 inches wide. I also have a duck boat taking up 25 feet of driveway, where camper could fit, however garage door access would be blocked and would be very tough to get bikes in-out of driveway for local riding.
Van presents the same issue, however they are a fair bit narrower than truck campers.

Anyways, help?

Several years ago my GF and I were in a similar conundrum: truck camper or van conversion? She really wanted a van, we didn't have the money for it. I was gifted a few thou and had a Tundra, so we pulled the trigger on a slide-in pop-up truck camper. What we learned is a few things: no matter what you get, it's a compromise in some way. So you gotta figure out what the things are that you can be flex on, how you're gonna use the thing, and go from there. For us it turned out to be taking the camper on and off the truck (my daily driver) and setting it up / breaking it down when camping. We camp a fair amount, biking all summer long essentially. Even 10 trips a year is 10 times your taking the thing on and off the truck, and honestly it can be tedious. Having a dedicated vehicle started to make more sense to us, and combine that with she wanted to be able to load up and go solo with the dogs mid-week when she was off her nursing job, again a dedicated thing not tied to one of our daily drivers started making more sense. Last thing for us was how we camp: we get to an area like Crested Butte, set up camp, camp... and then the next day we button everything up so we can drive to a TH to go for a ride. Then drive back to campsite, re-deploy everything, rinse, repeat. Our TC was old and manual lift of the pop-top, something that was a PITA for me at 6'2" and impossible for her. Again, for us, signs were pointing to van conversion.

The TC was an awesome proof of concept for us, and there are things I miss and love about it. Ceiling height, for instance. But in so many ways, for us, the van we bought a couple months ago has been better in every way. I am not posting this to sway you towards #vanlife but rather to point out that there's several ways to skin this cat, and they all have plusses and minuses. We were hopeful the TC would be good enough, and for several years it was great. But once we got into a better financial sitch and started really evaluating it, we went self-contained van. Easier to setup/breakdown camp, not tied to a daily driver, possible for her to manage solo, etc. Bonus: we don't just go camping it. Going for a day trip an hour away to ride bikes? Fuck it... chuck some cold ones in the 12v fridge that runs on solar and have frosty beverages waiting after the ride. Makes changing in and out of the chammy easy AF. Fun to drive. Etc.

YMMV.

...we want something that will have ac so we can leave the dog for a few hours and go for a ride...

Came here to say what frorider said, quoted below. +1 for good insulation and a roof vent fan.

I’m not sure people realize how cool a well designed van conversion stays. With adequate insulation and roof ventilation, and no noob mistakes like buying a van with a lot of windows, the interior temp stays below the outdoor temps most of the morning and then in early afternoon it reaches but doesn’t exceed outdoor temps. On mtn bike road trips I’m intentionally choosing locations and riding time periods that avoid temps above 85 F.

QFT.

BTW one of the reasons to buy a boring white van is they remain significantly cooler.

Our van is red, and still stays really pretty darn cool in the summertime. We sometimes do try and park in the shade, but minimal windows + reflectix in the front windws + decent insulation + MaxxFan exhausting the air it'll stay cool enough for our dogs up into the mid 80s for sure.

[Bobcat Sig]

Your ruling out spots are smart. Small ski areas are the best experience. The ones that don't depend on tourism and real estate are the best.

And likely allow for overnight RV parking in their lots. Many of the big resorts mentioned here do not; Big Sky, Mammoth, and so on.

[caulfield]

And that's if those AirBnBs will allow out-of-region renters or said counties aren't showdown.

If we go there, he's not skiing those places in an RV either (or shouldn't be) and the airbnb/hotel strategy has a cheaper bailout option than the RV one. Also less of an emotional letdown. The world doesn't need more covid behavior discussions, I'm just saying it's a good year to remain agile.

[jacob_dbu]

And likely allow for overnight RV parking in their lots. Many of the big resorts mentioned here do not; Big Sky, Mammoth, and so on.

Yep exactly. Mammoth would definitely be more of a rent-a-place and the spring skiing is primo there. I don’t know much about Big Sky, but Bozeman could be a good place to shack up. I imagine Big Sky would be less packed than Mammoth but housing in Bozeman is farther from the mountain.

Somewhere in Idaho could be really fun too. I think they have a lot of huts there too that I could potentially tap for weekend overnights.

If the border opens having a Class C RV would be epic, if not then it doesn’t make as much sense to me vs. a short term lease. It seems there’s not really many west coast local resorts outside the interior PNW area.


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[Huskier]

Just a heads up on the AC. They take quite a bit of power. Without a shore power hookup and power on the site, it would be a portable generator or a solar system and battery bank that is worth the price of your truck. Maybe you already have a little Honda genset and are good. I felt compelled to speak up because I have seen several people think AC off batteries is easy only to find out you need 800 ah of lifepo4 batteries and a solar array bigger than your van roof.


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Yeah there's a guy on the YouTubes that has an AC setup in a a sprinter. His build start to finish cost 100 grand (healthy degree of skepticism.warranted). Approx 30% of it went into electrical to support the AC...

[nickbokhoven]

Yup. I mean it’s cool that relatively efficient 12V AC units are available now but the overall system investment is huge.

I’m not sure people realize how cool a well designed van conversion stays. With adequate insulation and roof ventilation, and no noob mistakes like buying a van with a lot of windows, the interior temp stays below the outdoor temps most of the morning and then in early afternoon it reaches but doesn’t exceed outdoor temps. On mtn bike road trips I’m intentionally choosing locations and riding time periods that avoid temps above 85 F.

BTW one of the reasons to buy a boring white van is they remain significantly cooler.

We have a gray van and it stays a lot cooler than I expected. Sounds like you have done your research. Our walls have RAAM mat, Thinsulate and 1/4” plywood walls. A good set of window covers and a Maxxair fan keep it really nice. In 85 degree temps, your dog should be fine in something similar.


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[Bobcat Sig]

Yep exactly. Mammoth would definitely be more of a rent-a-place and the spring skiing is primo there. I don’t know much about Big Sky, but Bozeman could be a good place to shack up. I imagine Big Sky would be less packed than Mammoth but housing in Bozeman is farther from the mountain.

Somewhere in Idaho could be really fun too. I think they have a lot of huts there too that I could potentially tap for weekend overnights.

If the border opens having a Class C RV would be epic, if not then it doesn’t make as much sense to me vs. a short term lease. It seems there’s not really many west coast local resorts outside the interior PNW area.


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Housing is in short supply in Bozeman. See the Real Estate Crash thread.

[Phall]

Thanks all, thinking the van may be the best situation, now we're just trying to figure out if we can really swing the payments on something built, or if we're going to try to DIY it with help from someone who's done it before.

[concretejungle]

White Promaster owner here and I've never had an issue with the van getting too hot for a dog. Adequate insulation, running the fan and parking in the shade should do the trick. I'm not sure of the exact temperatures but our dog was way too old to join us so she stayed in the van during the day.

[Kootenai]

White Promaster owner here and I've never had an issue with the van getting too hot for a dog. Adequate insulation, running the fan and parking in the shade should do the trick. I'm not sure of the exact temperatures but our dog was way too old to join us so she stayed in the van during the day.

Slight thread drift.... Wondering if you have any regrets with the FWD on the promaster. I know there's been some comments about a full build with FWD being troublesome in the snow. What is your experience?

[singlecross]

This looks like a pretty good value for the money invested.

[babybear]

Thanks all, thinking the van may be the best situation, now we're just trying to figure out if we can really swing the payments on something built, or if we're going to try to DIY it with help from someone who's done it before.

it was a fun project for andrew, but it did take him almost 2 summers to get it fully dialed- mostly bc with the tall van it doesn't fit in the garage so it was mostly a summer project - sounds like it will be a sim situation for you
but agree with CJ- we leave our dog in the van and it's fine. the insulation and fan are pretty amazing. The fan has a temp gauge on it and we were in sedona last w/e when it was high 80's to low 90's and we started riding early-ish everyday but would get back around 11am and it was like 72 inside.

[concretejungle]

Slight thread drift.... Wondering if you have any regrets with the FWD on the promaster. I know there's been some comments about a full build with FWD being troublesome in the snow. What is your experience?

We don't have snow tires on it and it's not my daily driver but I think you should be fine. I've done a couple drives that I would consider sketchy in my Outback with Blizzak's and it was a little scary but fine. It's a little squirrelly and not the most confidence inspiring vehicle but all in all I'm fine with driving it in the snow/ice.

[Huskier]

To add to that, I'm fully expecting the lift lines at our local ski hill to be completely insane. Lots of recent transplants to the mountains = record season pass sales this year. And Covid precautions means no singles line and lots of not full chairs, which will almost surely mean loooong lift lines. Not sure how it'll be in other locations, but I'd expect it'll be similar.

In other words, rolling in an RV and powder chasing sounds super fun, but again, maybe not the best year for it. If you've got a partner, might be a great year to go RV powder chasing to touring destinations.

Bullshit. If anything this is THE year: The year to defer IKON, pick up an Indypass or just shell out, and slink around off-the-beaten-path. The only caution I would offer is on the unknown class-C. Unless you're familiar with RV life, and specifically YOUR rig's winter vulnerabilities, jumping in feet-first on an unknown entity and then depending on it for shelter in harsh winter environs is...not the greatest idea. Are your pipes insulated? Be a shitty way to find out they're not when your shitter backs up and you can't wash dishes because they froze/burst...

[spanghew]

You can use a remote start system to turn on the vehicle's engine and AC. The new versions operate via your cell phone so as long as you have coverage you can restart at a distance. Also very handy to keep your critters warm while skiing. It isn't the most environmentally friendly but will work.

You can also buy a 12v swamp cooler that uses minimal electricity and water, easily supported by solar and the occasional 5 gallons of water to ensure the evapo unit doesn’t go dry. In the high deserts where ai used this system, it was far more pleasant than ac


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[apex dave]

Bullshit. If anything this is THE year: The year to defer IKON, pick up an Indypass or just shell out, and slink around off-the-beaten-path. The only caution I would offer is on the unknown class-C. Unless you're familiar with RV life, and specifically YOUR rig's winter vulnerabilities, jumping in feet-first on an unknown entity and then depending on it for shelter in harsh winter environs is...not the greatest idea. Are your pipes insulated? Be a shitty way to find out they're not when your shitter backs up and you can't wash dishes because they froze/burst...

Very true. I've seen it too many times.