Well, its all happening. I have been looking for a camper all winter, but learning from my past mistakes I have been holding out to find the right one. As light as possible, not a pop-up because they don't work so well in real winter, and most important, WARM. I was driving home from a backpack manufacturing meeting when I saw it. It wasn't for sale, it wasn't pretty, but there it was. I went inside, and a few negotiations later I had my "new" camper, a 1973 Mitchell Fishing Hut for $175. This is a non cab-over really meant for 1 person but it will easily sleep two people and a few dogs. I spent two days cleaning it out, getting some dishes and pots/pans for it, and left on a wednesday morning for Vail.
Keep in mind that at this point it had been full on spring in Boulder, nearly 70 degrees every day for the past several weeks, and winter was fading quickly....
But when I arrived in Vail, full winter. They had already received over 20 inches of snow when I get there, and it didn't stop for the entire two days I was there. We are talking blower conditions. Wednesday was one of those days when the snow was so deep, so light, that I was literally choking trying to breathe, and the other two I was skiing with had to breathe through their avalungs just to get oxygen in and keep snow out. Thursday was more of the same, everything was skiable and even the big stuff was hittable, and we took full advantage. Skiers were out charging, and it was such a great day.
Meanwhile, back in the camper, I had no agenda except to ski. The camper turned out to be warm and just sipped the propane, the dogs and I were all comfortable, I cooked a little dinner and finished a book Id been meaning to finish for a long time. I was exhausted and slept like a rock.
Ahh, the glory of the ski bum life....