When we first learned about aires we were excited about the prospect of being able to park in ski resorts for such a small amount of money. As touring seasonnaires, the biggest cost we thought we would have to account for was parking or staying in campsites, but aires offered a very cheap alternative. We will readily admit, we knew very little about how aires worked and nothing about the customs and etiquette involved – something we have learned is quite different in winter. What do you need to know about staying on aires in winter? There are some fundamental things that it is useful to know if you’re planning to stay on aires in winter – particularly if you intend to use them as your base for a skiing or snowboarding holiday: Electric hook up Access to fresh water Disposing of waste Toilets and showers Access and parking up The costs of staying on a motorhome aire The rules and etiquette Finding winter aires for skiing The concept of a ‘camping car aire’ might be entirely new to you, or you may only have used them when touring in summer – if so, we suggest you read this article […]

Words: Winterised Caravan Skiing Guru John Wilson Preparing for your first trip to the mountains with caravan in tow might be a little daunting – the lure of chalet holidays past might still be strong, with afternoon cakes and warm accommodation enticing. However, all these comforts can still be yours, as long as you are happy to do a little bit of DIY before you set off, and when you get there – being the driver, the provider of the cakes. How do I get my caravan ready to go skiing? To begin the process of getting your caravan ready to go skiing we recommend spending time surveying your caravan and take a ‘bottom up’ approach to preparing for the adventure. Here’s what we’ll cover here to get your caravan ready to go skiing: • Getting the Right Tyres • Awning Skirts • Waste Pipes • Gas Locker • Inside the caravan • On the Roof Getting the Right Tyres Unlike your car (or a motorhome – check here for up to date information on winter tyre regulations for motorhomes) there is no requirement for your caravan to have winter tyres with the snowflake symbol (3pms) as it is classed […]

One afternoon in May, a few years ago, James and I decided we’d get a motorhome and take it skiing for a season. We went online to work out some of the logistics of actually undertaking this venture, and due to the sheer lack of information about, we concluded that we’d pretty much invented the whole concept. Wrong. Despite being late to the motorhome skiing party by about 40 years, we did establish one thing. There’s not a lot of information out there to help first timers and so here we’re going to share some of the things we learned early on in our motorhome skiing adventures. In this Beginners Guide to Motorhomes Skiing we’re going to cover the following: Planning your trip Preparing for departure The journey What you should do on your first How to go with the flow What to do if it all goes wrong What not to do under any circumstances How to do it better next time If you haven’t got a van yet, you can check out detailed information on Choosing a Motorhome for a Ski Trip, and Three ways to go Motorhome Skiing – this guide is about the trip itself. Planning […]

If you’ve read our No BS Essential Motorhome Skiing Items list then you’ll know that we’re pretty opinionated when it comes to some of the stuff that people will tell you is vital for survival when it comes to high altitude winter camping! We’ve also always been on a fairly tight budget when it comes to travelling – we put work on hold for extended periods of time and that means we’re usually watching the pennies more than many who are either working a season, living the good life in well-earned retirement or cramming their skiing into a few short weeks. We’re known for spending smart – investing in high quality gear that will hopefully last a long time and leaving out stuff that we think we can do without. This list is specifically about electrical gear and it’s stuff we’ve found invaluable or it’s made life a load easier one way or another. Motorhome Wifi iBoost (All year round) Heavy Duty Insulated Cable for EHU (All year round) Fishing Rod Stands (Winter use) Rubber Cable Cover (all year round) Power Spliter (All year round) Motorhome Wifi iBoost (All year round) In 51/2 months, we used a grand total of […]

Anyone who’s spent any time touring Europe in a motorhome will know that if you are planning to stay on a campsite, it is best to book in advance. Campsites that open in and around resorts for the ski season are limited – far fewer than are open in summer which means that if you are travelling during any of the holiday periods, they can get very busy – not only that, not all welcome caravans in winter. For this reason, we consulted with Winterised Caravan Skiing Guru John Wilson. All the campsites listed here are also open to motorhomes. If you’re considering taking your caravan skiing, also check out John’s article ‘Can I Take My Caravan Skiing’. So let’s answer the question, where can I take my caravan skiing? Here are ten excellent winter campsites that welcome caravans during the ski season:  Austria Panorama Camping, Tirol Camping Arlberg, Tirol Tirol Camp, Fieberbrunn Aktiv Camping Prutz, Tirol Camping Solden, Solden Camping Hofer, Tirol France Camping Huttopia, Bourg St Maurice Camping Caravaneige Le Giffre, Samoëns Camping Chantalouette, Praz sur Arly Germany Camping Oberstdorf, Oberstdorf As you can see from this list, there are plenty of options for taking your caravan camping […]

We’re very pleased to offer a discount on purchases made on the official GasIt LPG web shop. You’re going to find this useful whether you’re maintaining your existing LPG system, looking to upgrade or fit one from scratch. The Winterised discount code is variable – what that means is you’re not going to know exactly what value discount you will receive until you apply the code at checkout. Why is the code variable? Actually it’s pretty smart. GasIt are a British company based in North Wales in a competitive sector. They also have to import a lot of components and products to complete their excellent LPG systems. The world is a topsy-turvey place right now and so rather than applying a blanket discount, they cut their cloth according to their own margins, the exchange rate and the variable duties they are required to pay. Bravo to them for being sensible. Example: We input our complete system requirements this morning and the averaged discount was 5% on the total order. Very happy with that on an already like for like price. Please do not share this across any social media or GasIt will have the right to remove it and that […]

We departed for our first ever motorhome skiing trip without any plan further than Dunkirk, and even that didn’t pan out as we were re-routed to Calais in bad weather.

For our first season in the mountains and to our surprise, our motorhome didn’t come equipped with any solar panels so with only a few weeks to go before departure, and a lot going on in preparation for leaving, we hastily investigated whether we’d need a generator for our motorhome skiing trip.

When we began planning our first motorhome ski adventure, every forum we came across mentioned Montgenèvre. We put it on the to-do list and when we arrive, weren’t disappointed to discover a fantastic aire and everything we needed close by.

When we were planning our route around Europe we wanted to cover as many ski areas as possible and obviously, Switzerland was high on the priority list. When we started to do some research we found that there are a lot of things you need to consider before you go.

If you’re going on a motorhome ski trip, there are a lot of reasons you should consider avoiding the French school holidays if you can.

For an unfathomable bunch of reasons, snow sports are about as minor as niche activities get. Couple that with choosing to travel and tour in a motorhome whilst participating in snow sports and you’ll find that there are more people globally building tiny pirate ships in miniature rum bottles than there are people in your tribe. That tribe is our tribe. Winterized. Motor racing is also pretty niche. With the Lewis Hamilton’s and the Ken Block’s of the world filling front, back and home pages, you’d be forgiven for believing that motor racing is a big deal. It’s not. The reason I know this is because after over 15 years working in the sport, I can confirm that pretty much everyone knows everyone or has a mate/colleague who does, and unknown to many, the entire global business that is motorsport is run from a mid-terrace in Paris. What’s this got to do with snow sports? Everything. A few years ago whilst slurping a tepid brew under a leaky tent in a field in Northamptonshire, waiting for a break in the monsoon, I was introduced to the crazy concept of the Andros Trophy. Nattering about crappy weather and racing, an OG […]

As advocates of the old-fashioned road trip, we feel like we’re pretty experienced at in-car-entertainment but it’s changed dramatically since we were kids – podcasts and audible are the new i-spy.

If you’re genuinely looking for some winter van build inspiration, search ‘winter van build’ on YouTube or Google and you’re probably going to be a bit disappointed. It felt like summer 2017 all over again when we discovered that Google had a black spot in the motorhome skiing department. There’s a generous amount of ‘living in a van in winter’ stuff and the odd credible winter van conversion video but certainly nothing that James or I found particularly helpful or inspiring. The aim of this Winterized Winter Van Build series is to walk you through your own winter van build, warts and all, showing you where you can scrimp, save and splash, dependent on your budget, skills and time. We’ve researched our conversion to death, and James has even donated his beloved VW T5 plumber’s-mate as the test-bed for things that have the potential to go horribly wrong. This is us, as complete newbies, screwing things up, just for you. We’re good like that! If you’re up for building your own snow-mobile and you fancy the freedom of mountain hopping, you can find the blog sign up at the bottom of this page and more details about how to follow […]

In preparation for the 2019/20 season, we’re starting early with a bunch of upgrades to the Winterized website that are going to make it more usable.

GAS IT Discount: Many of you in the motorhome, campervan and #VanLife community may qualify for the Defence Discount Services or Blue Light Discount schemes

These are the top of the range Wed’ze ski socks and unless you have very poor circulation, are as much as you need to keep your tootsies.

THE SEXIEST PRIZE GIVEAWAY YOU WILL EVER FIND ON THE INTERNET! (Thetford competition for bog and cassette stuff!)

Can British household name ‘Nikwax‘ restore relegated but beloved garments and catapult them back into the premier league of ski gear?

Turns out, you do need a plan. For the first bit at the very least. The bit where you get a van, and then fill it with all sorts of stuff that seems critical for survival.

Guest article for Fall-Line Skiing: SNOWCHASERS Part 1 of 5

2018/19 has not been the greatest of seasons. It makes you realise just how lucky we are to be mobile and just how much longer the motorhome ski season is.

Madder about cows than Milton Keynes, the fabulous commune of Le Grand Bornand is an excellent place to take a motorhome skiing trip.

Things that give me the willies about winter motorhoming and how I overcome them – from getting stuck on a chair lift to flying off a cliff edge in our van.

What, where, when, why and how to rent a motorhome for your ski trip

The answer to the question ‘do I need winter tyres?’ is yes, you do need winter tyres and if you opt out then you’re a bit of a wally.

Autoglym embarrass the competition.

Back in the day, we used to call it off-piste now it’s called backcountry.

We’re a bit niche and nobody in the motorhome industry really knows anything about our needs.

We have nothing bad to say about the Honda EU20i generator – primarily because had we not had it, we would have been taking a very early bath on our first motorhome ski adventure.

Whether it’s shovelling powder and making paths or hacking your wheels out of ice puddles, a plastic snow shovel isn’t going to cut it. You need an agricultural grain shovel.

Our review of the Karcher Window Vac. Motorhome skiing essential.

Winter camping in France – our not-review reviews of aires and campsites across the Alps.

Two seasons for the price of one. Fall-Line subscription offer for the Winterized Tribe.

If you’re hoofing it to the Alps in your motorhome, you should consider LPG refillables – here’s why.

The idea of summer motorhoming fills both James and I with horror. Here’s why.

It appears that some of you crazies are looking into embarking on your own Winterised Project – which is good because that’s why we started blogging in the first place – to collect information and illustrate how to, and more importantly, how not to undertake a motorhome ski trip.

Aires of campsites? Which is for you? Here are a few things about both to help you decide.

We’ve got a policy. Nobody ever says “one last run then?”. Never, ever, ever. It’s probably fatal, we’ve never risked it to find out.

We covered basic motorhome ski essential kit in our blog titled ‘Our Zero BS Motorhome Ski Check List’ (now renamed 15 Essential Items You Need for Your Motorhome Skiing Trip) which caused consternation with some in the motorhome community. Why? Because we think there are a number of things that people call ‘essential kit’ that’s total nonsense. Our feelings haven’t changed on the topic of glue guns and inflatable mattresses and if you want to read about some of the other daft things people think you should take, check it out here. As a follow up from that blog, and inspired by someone more organised than we are (Wandering Bird – follow her), there are a few things that we have on our motorhome ski road trip that might not immediately spring to mind and you may find useful. Some of them we came across purely by accident, some of them were strategic purchases – all of them are invaluable to us – here they are and we’ve included a few options that were in our short list. Here are our 5 Useful Things You Didn’t Know You Needed For Your Motorhome Ski Adventure: Draining Mat Jet Boil Assorted Bungee Chords A Sledge […]

You barely even think about your heating systems at home until they stop working (unless you’re a plumber!).

Lots of people have asked us what we’ve taken on our motorhome ski adventure – our natural instinct for over planning meant that we researched this extensively before we left, tried to get the best deals on everything we needed, and this is what we lived with on a daily basis. So what are the 15 essential items you need for your motorhome skiing trip? It’s worth noting, there is a finite amount of space in a motorhome or campervan… which means you need to choose every item wisely. This list is based on the fact that we did not have an external garage and we didn’t want to carry a single thing that we didn’t consider essential – life in a motorhome is cosy enough without too many ‘in case of emergency’ items. Some of the lists we’ve read seem bonkers – unless you’re travelling in a 7.5t RV, we have no idea where you keep all this stuff, let alone why you need it. Add to that the monumental expense and suddenly your adventure becomes comparable in cost to a 10 day all-in catered chalet experience for 20! We thought we might regret some of the things we […]

We’re not daft enough to think we can live a road vehicle, be it for a weekend or indefinitely, and not understand there are going to be some trade-offs to make.

Whilst I’ve been blogging, James has been putting up YouTube videos of our motorhome ski adventure for the last few months so welcome to the vlog! If you fancy a giggle, watch the back catalogue – particularly ‘the one where: James learns to snowboard’ but in the meantime, here’s a look at Châtel part deux. Vlogging is not easy and whilst I’ve spent the vast majority of time running out of shot (I’m better at it now than I was in the beginning), James has really taken to it. As someone who had never picked up a vlogging camera until the day we went to collect our motorhome from Elddis, he’s doing really well and getting a lot out of it… rage, frustration, Tourettes and arm ache mostly. If you enjoy them, please like, subscribe and press the notification bell in YouTube – it helps his ego and makes the pain of editing slightly less torturous! There’s loads more to come so stay tuned!

We can’t work out if it feels like a long time since we left the UK or just yesterday. Whichever it is, we now have an entirely new normal.

I can’t remember being this excited about anything since the first Dyson handheld thingy that completely revolutionised dog and stair ownership. The Karcher window vac is awesome. We accidentally brought a Karcher window vac with us – it was very much on the ‘nice to have’ list but got bumped when we panic bought the whole of PC World in the last days before we left on our Winterised adventure. More concerned about out tech needs whilst on our radical sabbatical and my ability to ‘digital nomad’, than the practicalities of living in a motorhome as sub-zero temperatures, getting hold of this domestic gadget somewhat appeased us and convinced us we were fully prepared for life on the road. The less said about that, the better. Gadget Envy Forget the brand spanking new motorhome we’re cruising about in. Our Karcher has been the envy of all our fellow winter travellers. We’ve got a pimp screen cover (kindly lent to us by Van Comfort who saved us from buying the wrong tool for the job when we initially approached them for advice) which keeps the screen clear and heat in – but the habitation area is a different matter altogether. It doesn’t matter how […]

It’s actually pretty tricky to write an explanation to that from perhaps the most idyllic bar/ restaurant in all the Alps (Le Hors Piste, Chatel)! We’re dry, have mains power, speedy wifi and people bringing us amazing food and drink.

Day 6 and we’re having a cheat week in an amazing AirBnB near Geneva for Christmas… pre-planned so family could come out to join us but it’s the first time we’ve come up for air since we left home in Oxfordshire last Sunday.

As soon as YouTube celebrities starting showing up on the red carpet at film premiers ‘Vlogging’ became a real word. It’s an actually thing and you can be one. All you need is your face and a video camera. But how do you start? Here’s our beginners guide to vlogging kit.