Camper Van

Anyone lived in a camper van or motor home while skiing?

A couple of friends and I bought a very old, very big American motor home last year, with the intention of spending a season on the slops.

Now I am on plan B and looking at something like a transit for next year.

Most of those large American motor homes (as they call them) get about 10 MPG or less. Which was great in the US when petrol was 50p a gallon, but you don't see very many these days.

A colleague at work has a VW van, not fully converted but she has seats, bed, heater, cooker that she puts in for skiing. It is fully boarded out. She sleeps in it and pays to shower at various hotels. She is pretty hard core tho!! Alternatively a neighbour regularly skied in their camper, very successfully. They need to be winterised as without this water tanks can freeze etc. The main difficulty is space to hang, dry and store kit and equipment so depends on the size of the van. We have a 5 berth coach built van that we use for motocross March to November and storage is a bit tight. Haven't taken it skiing yet but may do next year when there is just me and OH.

Never done it, know a couple of people who have.

Wonder if one of the keys is careful selection of a site.

For example - down in the valley rather than up high. Bourg St Maurice for Les Arcs, Brides Les Baines for 3V ......

Sure there are many other pitches like this.
But not - Tignes Les Brevieres (pleasant campsite, but high up and cold).

For me this is about taking sensible steps to choose a more favourable site and increasing comfort.

there are loads of people who use camper vans ..but most have central heating..I have seen dedicated parking site (with service terminals) in Les Gets La Plagne and Meribel..never saw a dedicated site in Brides though
I have been told that the insulation is extremely good and they are very cosy..

they are not all like this though
http://www.millenniumluxurycoaches.com/

I worked with a couple in Chamonix who lived in their camper all winter without any heating! As much as I love camping I'm not sure I'd combine it with skiing, although in something modern and toasty would be fine.

NellyPS wrote:I worked with a couple in Chamonix who lived in their camper all winter without any heating! As much as I love camping I'm not sure I'd combine it with skiing, although in something modern and toasty would be fine.

I call that a four or five star hotel :mrgreen:

Trencher wrote:Most of those large American motor homes (as they call them) get about 10 MPG or less. Which was great in the US when petrol was 50p a gallon, but you don't see very many these days.

Yes, that is why I am on plan B now. We had plans to convert ours to LPG or diesel, but found it would cost a lot. However it had an air conditioning system that ran on diesel. Also we found most sites would not allow such a large vehicle or if they did they wanted double or treble fees and AA did not want to help when it broke down (which it did every time we brought it out).

daved wrote:

they are not all like this though
http://www.millenniumluxurycoaches.com/

I guess it would be cheaper to buy an apartment in a ski resort.