We too live in the mountains (7,800 ft) where it snows...we winterize and don't take the trailer out in winter conditions - generally from late-October to early-May for a couple of reasons:
- Tires
- Tempurature
- Mag-Chloride
- Other Drivers
A couple of years ago, we
did go to Rocky Mountain National Park for New Years Eve (at the urging of friends)...we had an awesome NYE Party & a great time spent with friends, but it just confirmed why we won't do it again. Scratch that one off my bucket list, been there - done that.
Tires - It wasn't actively snowing and the roads were "clear" however there was black ice in shady areas and when we got to the campground the sites were not cleared as well as the roads. Getting into/out of the campsite was tricky on patchy ice. We were lucky, the weather held off until we got home - but in this area the weather can change in no time and go from sunny and pleasant to blizzard conditions with very little notice - it's so unpredictable I always comment that I wish I got paid for accuracy at my job what weathermen get paid for theirs!
Temperature - The temps were about 13-degrees at night - we had electric & propane heat, but no water and the campground's vault toilets were chilly to say the least. If I can't run water - we don't go.
MagChloride - The trailer skins got etched from the mag-chloride on the clear but wet roads - even though we washed it down when we got home. It took many, many hours of polishing in the spring to get rid of the etching on our polished trailer. Even if your Airstream has clear coat, the MagChloride gets in any breaches that may exist and causes the dreaded filla-form corrosion. That's even more difficult to stop/get rid of than "just" repolishing.
Other Drivers - The other drivers on the road - many apparently new to snow-driving were less than courteous with our cautious speeds on the mountain roads. Not worth the stress in questionable conditions.
Shari