Hi All,
As the title suggests, I'm considering a USA / CAN Trip without booking anything (other than flights). Dates are likely to be around the end of January, and that's about as far as I've got.
There's been multiple times over the years where we have been locked into accommodation when the snow cover is poor, but an hour away is dumpsville.
Has anybody done this? I understand that accommodation can become slim pickings during peak season and solid conditions, but something about it really appeals to me.
Neslot, been in the situation described too many times and what you are proposing is how we roll these days. We do it as Budgiesmuggler described:
We currently have return flights in and out of LA booked on FF points. Nothing else. A week out from leaving Oz we will make a call on the LAX to next point flight (Denver, SLC, Albuquerqe or Calgary) based on the current snow conditions and what might be coming up weatherwise in the near future + our biases on where we would prefer to go.
Some tips -
1. After finding out that the car I had booked at Budget in SLC didn't let me drive into Canada, I basically walked around to about 3 counters getting their offers and finding out the exact model I would get (can't do it online) which took all of 15 minutes. Book a car in advance but realise you don't actually have to take it and you can shop around.
2. I don't think a 4x4 is worth it. I'm not bothering with one year as I have in the past. Hideously expensive and the tyres provided are so crap that I still did a 180 spin at 10km/hr at the last intersection before Revelstoke with numerous other bits of "excitement" on the 15 minute drive on a powder morning. I can fit chains in less than 5 minutes. Of course, chains are not practical for a long drive when snowing but I would be doing the longer transition days when it isn't snowing.
3. Powder chasing trips are tiring. Taking all your gear into and out of motels most nights and mornings is much harder work than staying in one place. Have a bag dedicated to taking in and out of motels, leave the rest of the stuff in the car. Cover it with a blanket.
To this end, I'm buying a boot heating bag to heat (dry) the boots on the drive off the hill and the drive up in the morning - that way they can stay in the car and we can actually get them on in the car park in the morning.
Also conventional ski bags in cars take up a lot of room. Get a Douchebag (Carveman sells them) so you can it leave rolled up and out of the way once you are on your road trip.