BEGINNERS INFO

Having recently upgraded my own caravan system, I took the opportunity to make this step by step guide to installing an onboard water system in your caravan for less than £100.

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 […]

For many people, simply getting across the channel can be one of the biggest expenses of driving to a ski resort from the UK but there is a frequent traveller programme for the channel tunnel that can save you hundreds of pounds, even if you only travel a few times a year because you can share it with another person. Can I Share A Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller Account? One of the many benefits of the Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller programme is the ability to share the account with a ‘Nominated Person’. This means that two parties can share the ten ticket minimum purchase – they do not need to be related or travelling at the same time.  In this article we’ll talk you through the different types of Frequent Traveller Wallet available, plus the extra costs you will incur for on peak and high season travel; any ferrets that are accompanying you; and the charges for motorhomes, campervans, caravans and trailers. We’ll also show you how to share this cost with someone else and if you’re looking for a EFT Buddy, how to get in touch with us so we can put you in contact with a fellow infrequent traveller so […]

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 […]

When we were first looking at taking a season out to road trip around the Alps, we considered options besides motorhome skiing – and that included towing a caravan. Without sufficient towing experience we decided against this but on meeting hardy caravan skiers on our mountain journeys, we realised this was possible, even for the less experienced caravaner. So can I take my caravan skiing? It is popular in Europe to take a caravan skiing and there are a large number of accessible campsites across the Alps, Dolomites and Central European Mountain ranges where you can park your caravan and take to the slopes. Knowing as we do, that everyone has a different experience of touring in the mountains, we decided to reach out to someone with years of winter caravan touring triumphs, mishaps and disasters to get the low down on just how you take your caravan skiing. In this first article on caravan skiing, guest writer John Wilson shows you where to start when considering a caravan skiing holiday. If you’re intrigued by the idea and want to find out more, please sign up to the newsletter below where you’ll get regular updates from the Winterised Project. Taking […]

Choosing how you intend to insulate your winterised motorhome or campervan is probably the most important element of any van build or motorhome refurbishment.

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.

Having spent years watching the #vanlife movement explode in all sorts of directions, we decided that if we were to get the van we wanted, we were going to have to build it ourselves.

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.

This is a topic that caused us a lot of confusion when we were looking for a suitable campervan for our motorhome skiing trips. We invested a lot of time in researching this and found some interesting and valuable information.

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.

Having quit our jobs, when we were first planning our motorhome ski season we were committed to keeping the costs down as low as possible and we quickly realised the best way to do this was by keeping our camping costs to a minimum.

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.

So you’re thinking of how you’re going to do a ski season but you don’t fancy slogging 16 hour days? Here’s how you can join the legion of seasonnaires, Winterized style.

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 […]

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

Ever thought of Snowshoeing? Do what?  But I’m at a ski area, why would I want to do anything different to skiing or boarding ALL DAY EVERY DAY??

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.

Skiing or snowboarding isn’t for everyone but there are loads of other ways to enjoy the mountains in winter.

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.

Not all vans are created equal.

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

Can you take your motorhome skiing in Chamonix? Yes is the answer and there are lots of options open to you from campsites with facilities to aires with none.

This is the long awaited ‘how much cash did you splash?’ blog. An average of €45/each/day… so how did we do that when a week in Les Arcs will cost you €1000?

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

We spent hours researching snow shovels before making what was not an insignificant purchase in the lead up to our motorhome ski adventure in the Alps – and you might be surprised to learn, it wasn’t a snow shovel because… you don’t need a snow shovel.

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 […]

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.

There are alternative ski-life options to ‘ski-in-ski-out’ and they come with a host of perks. From going home leaner and fitter to benefitting from cheap ski accommodation and finding secret resorts… this is why we think ski-in-ski-out is so last season.

…and other first world problems. If you love skiing and hate boots or simply need to do a lot of walking, read on.

Why you should travel by ferry

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 […]

A) Don’t try British sarcasm on the Gendarme; B) don’t try to dry your hair, roast a chicken and charge a drill all at the same time on a three day drained leisure battery; and the classic, C) never eat yellow snow.

We’ll be frank, we weren’t 100% sure that you do need winter tyres or that they were necessary for this trip.

There’s tonnes of information on the internet about getting fit for a skiing holiday. There is absolutely nothing on getting in shape for a motorhome skiing holiday.

Feeling disgruntled about the snow-lotto you play when booking your precious week in the mountains? Fancy spending some time touring the alps? Perfectly happy with negotiating a few switch-backs and stomach-lurching cliff edge roads for guaranteed snow?

Honestly, we genuinely thought we’d come across a secret way to travel which was only known to a very small handful of nomads and hippies. We thought we invented winter motorhoming (evidence here).

Winter tyres are essential for motorhome skiing trips regardless of the law.

Declaration: We do solemnly promise, that from this day forward (unless something truly hilarious happens (which will undoubtedly only be funny for one of us) there will no further potty chat… winterized #vanlife vows.

Here are the top 5 road trip planning resources we got our paws on before we started to put together our winter 2017/18 road trip to the Alps. In no particular order…