Snow Camping

In my teenage years, one of my Boy scout troops' annual trips was to Lake Tahoe for some snow camping and Nordic Skiing. As long as you had a mummy bag with a proper rating and plenty of clothes, the cold didn't get to you (we kept a huge fire burning as well). Does anyone camp  near the Alpine resort that you ride at? I remember one year someone pitched a tent at the base of Belleayre. If temps are above the 20's I could see doing this again! My wife would never let the kids do it, not sure if they'd want to anyway.

http://www.snowtrekkertents.com/

Expensive but combines fire with shelter in an almost civilized manner.

I've done some winter camping (before child) and loved it. The most awesome experience I ever had was a solo trip. Incredible.

Winter camping is a lot of work and IMO the skiing is somewhat secondary.

For me it's about the excitement of being out there, not turning around mid-afternoon. I can't imagine doing it in or near a ski area.

One Saturday in March right after the lifts closed, our friend, Tracy, another passholder, skinned up Plattekill with 2 of her kids who were on snowshoes. They brought a tent, some snacks (they ate dinner in the lodge before they left). They spent the night at the top near some trees.  They enjoyed it and I believe may give it another go this winter as well!

I have done a lot of Winter camping.  It's definitely not for everyone.  This is a good resource if you are looking for some tips: NOLS Winter Camping

Marcski wrote

One Saturday in March right after the lifts closed, our friend, Tracy, another passholder, skinned up Plattekill with 2 of her kids who were on snowshoes. They brought a tent, some snacks (they ate dinner in the lodge before they left). They spent the night at the top near some trees.  They enjoyed it and I believe may give it another go this winter as well!

OK MAYBE I'd do it at Plattekill.  

Still it seems like the motivation to do it at a ski area (vs the BC) would be to rip first tracks. At a place like Stowe or somewhere that could be cool, but at Plattekill fresh tracks are easy to come by.

When in college I did a ton of winter camping, I loved it. What got me going on this was a class I took, Outdoor living skills, prolly my most favorite class I took. Part of that class was was a backpacking trip where we broke into groups of 4, and we were out in the woods for a week. During that week we had to carry a live chicken which we were to eat as our meal on our last night. What a hoot THAT was!!! I was lucky in that one of my group was raised on a game farm, as well as I was an avid hunter, so killing this chicken and eating it wasn't a big deal. For some groups this was a real issue. Apparently thew grew fond of their feathered buddy and couldn't kill it with their bare hands. My comment was they obviously weren't hungry enough.  

Spring camping at Plattekill sounds like a blast!

Thinking back, the boy scout trips were great fun with a huge group of kids and adults. I can't recall the month, but there was always plenty of loose snow on the ground when we went. They took us out for a pizza dinner to warm up so that helped. Boy scouts are obsessive about preparation, their motto is "Be Prepared!", for god's sake, and that exclamation point is official. To that end we all knew way too much about hypothermia, how to read the signs of it, and what the hell to do about it. We also were layered to death and knew the heat retention properties of every fabric (wool was preferred, cotton the worst, and it was the dawn of synthetics still). We had gloves scarves, long johns, hats, and there was a friendly competition to see whose sleeping bag had the coldest rating.  
 
I was young so I could sleep anywhere. Waking up was the worst part but the older boys would have a fire raging and hot cocoa ready. Soon after breakfast we would put on the REI rental nordic skis and head into the woods. We would start shedding the layers as we warmed up from the XC riding. By noon we would be skiing in t-shirts with our jackets tied around our waists!

Nice report! I hadn't read that before. It is funny how fast a nature expedition can turn into a roller coaster ride.

Harvey wrote

I've done some winter camping (before child) and loved it. The most awesome experience I ever had was a solo trip. Incredible.

Winter camping is a lot of work and IMO the skiing is somewhat secondary.

For me it's about the excitement of being out there, not turning around mid-afternoon. I can't imagine doing it in or near a ski area.

True that winter (with snow) camping is harder than regular.  However in my view, winter is 10x better.  I love the snow, the visuals around your site, the hiking (especially peaks) is more visual because the leaves are down. Streams have frozen waterfalls.  You get closer to the fire, as opposed to farther back; for me a fire is required for all camping, so colder is better.     Best part---NO BUGS.    


When I was in HS, we often hiked the AP trail system.   The trail leantos and provided wood made life easy.    

My brother has invited me to camp on Mt Washington with him in winter.   I have turned this down yearly as they simply hike up, set up a tent and strive to keep warm for 12 hours before descending.    Not my cup of tea.    

I've also done the winter camping with the Boy Scouts thing; the giant fire makes it pretty easIre then when I've gone by myself. I've also spent some nights van camping near of at ski resorts in order to get an early start. That works good too. Incidentally, if you don't have a good winter sleeping bag, putting one summer bag inside a second one works just as well.

Did my share of winter camping pre-child, but usually on backpacking trips. A couple times my friends and I camped out in the high school parking lot in Pulaski NY the night before the Tug Hill Tourathon.  The appealing thing about winter camping, you're thinking about where you're gonna make camp, what you're gonna eat, and keeping warm.

Brownski wrote

If you don't have a good winter sleeping bag, putting one summer bag inside a second one works just as well.

This was the Boy Scouts, where gear one up-manship had its own merit Badge! If your mummy bag wasn't rated to the negative numbers, you might die in shame before the cold ever got to you.

^^LOL

My two cents... if you want to use a mummy get one with an extra large foot area.  You got a lot of stuff to keep warm, and you need room for it.