Skiing with a Travel Trailer

[pdfr]

hi all.

I would love to pursue the idea of traveling with my travel trailer for winter sports. I get the impression that I am not alone in this. But the bit that puzzles me is where do you guys park your rigs during the day?

State lands and private camps are closed in winter. The few that are open (primitive camps sites or private) are hours away from the mountain, obviously not a very practical solution. Places like Walmart or Home Depot allow parking on their premises through the night. This is a good start, but where do you leave the trailer for the day when you are out enjoying winter sports? Below are my ideas that come to mind. I would appreciate it if you guys could help out with your tips, perhaps someone who has done it.

1. Call ahead the principle of a school in a nearby town and ask permission to park the trailer Fri night into Sun night on school parking lots. I figure this is a public place virtually deserted during weekends, so why not try there.

2. Interstate truck rest stops - would they allow to leave my trailer unattended?

3. Tow the trailer to the mountain in the morning, then return to some Walmart parking lot for the night. Repeat for the remaining number of skiing days.

I am interested in Vermont or upstate NY in the US.

Cheers!

Peter.

[HangDiver]

I know what you're after as I've spent many nights camped on a mattres in the back of my truck (covered with a shell) to get first tracks in the am. Not sure what I'd do with a TT, maybe park in the outer parking lots away from where other enthusiasts will be.

[quicky06]

I am not a ski person but the one resort I’ve been to had a handful of campers parked in one of the parking it’s of the ski area. Is that not an option?

[Curt and Michele]

Would not recommend dropping at a truck stop, found this maybe it'll work for you. Not far from Jay Peak.

Barrewood Campground
2998 VT Rte 100
Westfield, VT 05874
(802) 744-6340

[babock]

In Lake Tahoe, there are some RV parks that are open for the winter but you have to pick your days going up and down the mountain carefully. You may be stuck up there for a month.

[jwfrede]

Call the ski resort and ask them if they have a place and if not do they have any recommendations.

Call the closest campground, even if closed in winter, they may know of some place nearby.

[Airborne]

We have done it. When we pull into the lot the attendants always send us to the farthest least busy lot. They even allowed us to stay overnight. This was at Winter Park in CO and during the week. They asked that I don't come on the weekends with the rig. Driving the passes was a little scary so I really watch the weather and only have done it on beautiful days where there was no snow on the roads or chance of snow on my return trip back to the Denver area only a 2 hour trip with the rig. We did not have any water in the lines of course. We brought our own water for drinking and using the bathroom. We did use the toilet but poured water down it and had antifreeze in it as well and have never had an issue we had to pay to dump at a local Flying J though. Whenever winter camping we have followed this procedure. Ski camping three times but hunting many times.

[DQskier]

I know you are asking about New York or Vermont, but here at Mt Bachelor in Bend Oregon we have over 20 RV sites some with 50amp power located in our main parking lot next to a building with showers and restrooms all within a short walk to the lifts. In the spring in April we have a special event designed for people to bring there RVs to the mountain some have hook-ups but others can boondock for a week of skiing and other activities. Check it out at https://www.mtbachelor.com/

[sfsgm]

Originally Posted by pdfr

hi all.

I would love to pursue the idea of traveling with my travel trailer for winter sports. I get the impression that I am not alone in this. But the bit that puzzles me is where do you guys park your rigs during the day?

State lands and private camps are closed in winter. The few that are open (primitive camps sites or private) are hours away from the mountain, obviously not a very practical solution. Places like Walmart or Home Depot allow parking on their premises through the night. This is a good start, but where do you leave the trailer for the day when you are out enjoying winter sports? Below are my ideas that come to mind. I would appreciate it if you guys could help out with your tips, perhaps someone who has done it.

1. Call ahead the principle of a school in a nearby town and ask permission to park the trailer Fri night into Sun night on school parking lots. I figure this is a public place virtually deserted during weekends, so why not try there.

2. Interstate truck rest stops - would they allow to leave my trailer unattended?

3. Tow the trailer to the mountain in the morning, then return to some Walmart parking lot for the night. Repeat for the remaining number of skiing days.

I am interested in Vermont or upstate NY in the US.

Cheers!

Peter.

You can try calling the principal but I doubt that you'll get permission. Among other issues, there are liability concerns.

As for being virtually deserted, not so fast. There are wrestling and basketball tournaments during the winter sports season.

[lswartz]

We did ski camping years ago at Windham, Mount Snow, Killington and Stowe. For Stowe we found a local campground and they cleared a path to the camp site. Windham, Mount Snow and Killington let us park in their parking lot well out from anyone else. We called and talked to the mountain manager first. We were able to stay overnight as well.

Now we like to stay longer and use a hot tub as well as shower. Old age I guess.

[IDguy]

Used to do it with pickup camper (4wd) and small (21 ft) Class C. No issues.

Don’t even think about taking a trailer to most ski areas. You’ll tick everyone off.

[upflying]

Originally Posted by IDguy

Used to do it with pickup camper (4wd) and small (21 ft) Class C. No issues.

Don’t even think about taking a trailer to most ski areas. You’ll tick everyone off.

Yep, travel trailers are not welcome in ski areas, parking lots are already tight due to piles of snow from snow removal, overnight parking is usually not allowed in ski resort lots, nearby campgrounds are closed for the winter, trailers will need to chain up and you might jackknife it or crash it on slippery roads.
Sierra roads close or jamb to a crawl when R2 is in effect. A normal 3 hour trip will double when it is snowing. I80 over Donner Pass was closed many times recently.
Wet ski gear was never meant to dry out inside a TT. You will ruin the inside of TT from the humidity..if your furnace battery doesn't die. .
Take a Subaru when skiing and stay in a motel/hotel/AirBNB.

California ski resorts are now closed anyway.