In 2018, my family and I took our first winter RVing trip to Whistler. It was a short trip nonetheless, but it was an experience of a lifetime. To prepare for our trip, I did a lot of research on how to winter camp and made sure we knew what to do to stay safe and comfortable especially because we were traveling with our children. From towing through snow and how to keep your pipes from freezing, I started with a sweet friend of mine's blog, Monica, from Just 5 More Minutes. Monica’s travels in her beautiful airstream and lovely photography has been such an inspiration to me. I recalled reading about one of her travels to Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Idaho and I thought, hey, I was just there! When I found that she traveled there in her travel trailer during winter, I was truly amazed and just had to reach out to her, especially because I also saw that she, too, was from Hawaii. We connected and I learned so much about RVing from her. Later I moved to the Pacific Northwest and my husband and I bought ourselves a travel trailer. Since then, we have winter camped three times and feel pretty confident in doing so.
Our first experience went rather smoothly, from towing through snowy mountain passes to camping efficiently in winter conditions. The only issue we experienced was towing up a steep 10% grade to the campground without chains. We made it. But we did feel the trailer fish-tailing a little from behind. “Put on the four-wheel drive, go into low gear and go slow and steady,” I reminded my husband from the passenger seat. “This is crazy,” he said. After reaching the top we both released a sigh of relief. I guess we didn't realize we were holding our breath. “I'm putting the chains on when the time comes to check out and head down,” he exclaimed. I nodded in agreement.
After checking into Whistler RV Park & Campground, we pulled through the campground and were just amazed at how many other people were out camping and enjoying themselves. It was such a beautiful sight to see so many other fellow campers. That winter we skied at Blackcomb for a day and snowmobiled the next. Our trip was cut short by a day because a winter wind storm was headed in and we either had to ride it out and wait until it passes later in the afternoon the following day or leave before it hits the mountain pass. “Let’s hitch up and hit the road and I’ll make dinner when we get near the border,” I suggested. “Sounds good to me,” replied my husband. We hitched up, chained up and headed down the hill to the Sea-To-Sky Highway. We towed down that steep hill so easily and smoothly it was amazing how much difference it made towing with chains on! “We’re never towing up or down a steep snowy hill again without chains again,” my husband proclaimed. “Definitely,” I said in agreement.
