Hello All,We are seriously considering switching from our travel trailer to a MH. We are most interested in a class A but a C is not out of the question. regardless of that, one of the things we would like to do in the winter is jump in the MH on a Friday night, head up to the mountains (Pocono Mountains here in PA), spend the night wherever we can find a place (state park, walmart, whatever) close to the ski resort, eat breakfast and hit the slopes. Do any of you do this? If so, do you typically just park where the tour and school busses park? any issues with that?Also important is our 4 legged family members. As I understand it, most MH's have 2 batteries is that correct? So I could run the heat using the battery for the blower while we are skiing to keep the dogs warm? Right now we would go for the day and the dogs would be home alone until dinner time anyway, so I figure as long as I can heat the coach they should be fine to come along and stay in the RV. Oe of us could run down to check on them and let them out a few times. I don't think the resorts would want a running generator all day in their parking lot which is why I am curious if the battery is enough to power the fan for the day.Thanks all!

This is one of those questions that is tough because of all the variable between different coaches. I personally haven't seen any class A MH with only two house batteries but I'm sure some of the cheaper ones may. Most have either 4 or 6.I would assume for the pets you only need to have the inside temps around 65 or so which makes the heat demand fairly low. Heaters do take a fair amount of power to run so it's kind of a crapshoot.If that is you lifestyle installing a genny auto start might be ideal so if the batteries do get low the genny starts and I believe they can be set to run for a predetermined period of time an that shuts off.

We use to do that all the time in Colorado. In breckenridge some people would just stay in the ski resort parking lot. They just said if it starts snowing you will have to move for the snow plows. You should talk to management and see if they would let you do that. We had a rv resort right down the street so we stayed there. Heating you should be no problem at all. We did this with a Class C. Seems to me if you show up after there closed why would they care if you were going skiing in the morning. But who knows maybe they have signs posted.

Make sure you have tire chains and, if the slide outs are out, a ladder to get up high enough to clean off the new snow off the slide topper so you can retract the slide. A good set of charged batteries and a low heat setting should keep the inside of the RV comfortable for your animals.

I have a Cheap Class A Southwind. It only has two batteries. :) Running the furnace all night will run them down. Manage your power consumption and you will be okay.Also, see if it's okay to run your generator where you will be staying.

I have six batteries and I would not run the furnace all day without starting the generator every so often. Two batteries will be dead by the time you get back. Then you would not be able to even bring in the slides if so equipped. It happened to me on a gasoline motorhome I used to have. Went to Zion in the winter, run the furnace most of the night, run the batteries dead. Could not bring in the slides, so I had to crank them in. Traded the coach that same day with only five thousand miles on it. LOL!

Driving the MH to go Skiing | Good Sam Community

Two_Jayhawks
Explorer
Dec 11, 2015
We used to do a lot of winter camping and I say I won't do it again as it is hard on the equipment. That said we camped last weekend and we did have a not so thin layer of ice to deal with on the coach one morning. Everything you are talking about doing is completely doable with practically any rig. Do choose a model/mfg that is known to insulate well or you'll burn a lot of fuel keeping it warm. Depending on how much you want to spend you may end up with things like auto start genny and aqua hot that will make winter camping even less taxing. We also travel with two dogs.
RayChez
Explorer
Dec 11, 2015
I have six batteries and I would not run the furnace all day without starting the generator every so often. Two batteries will be dead by the time you get back. Then you would not be able to even bring in the slides if so equipped. It happened to me on a gasoline motorhome I used to have. Went to Zion in the winter, run the furnace most of the night, run the batteries dead. Could not bring in the slides, so I had to crank them in. Traded the coach that same day with only five thousand miles on it. LOL!
gbopp
Explorer
Dec 11, 2015
I have a Cheap Class A Southwind. It only has two batteries. :)
Running the furnace all night will run them down. Manage your power consumption and you will be okay.
Also, see if it's okay to run your generator where you will be staying.
J-Rooster
Explorer
Dec 11, 2015
Make sure you have tire chains and, if the slide outs are out, a ladder to get up high enough to clean off the new snow off the slide topper so you can retract the slide. A good set of charged batteries and a low heat setting should keep the inside of the RV comfortable for your animals.
dave17352
Explorer
Dec 11, 2015
We use to do that all the time in Colorado. In breckenridge some people would just stay in the ski resort parking lot. They just said if it starts snowing you will have to move for the snow plows. You should talk to management and see if they would let you do that. We had a rv resort right down the street so we stayed there. Heating you should be no problem at all. We did this with a Class C. Seems to me if you show up after there closed why would they care if you were going skiing in the morning. But who knows maybe they have signs posted.
bluwtr49
Explorer II
Dec 11, 2015
This is one of those questions that is tough because of all the variable between different coaches. I personally haven't seen any class A MH with only two house batteries but I'm sure some of the cheaper ones may. Most have either 4 or 6.

I would assume for the pets you only need to have the inside temps around 65 or so which makes the heat demand fairly low. Heaters do take a fair amount of power to run so it's kind of a crapshoot.

If that is you lifestyle installing a genny auto start might be ideal so if the batteries do get low the genny starts and I believe they can be set to run for a predetermined period of time an that shuts off.

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