Ski Tipi

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Ski House of the Day is this amazing Tipi in the White Mountains of New England:

Like the Native-American way of life, the tipi is both dramatic and simple at the same time.  The tipi is located in the woods near Littleton, New Hampshire, on a totally private 31 acre site with numerous hiking trails in a setting that allows a complete connection with nature.  As said on the rental site for the tipi:  "you are unlikely to encounter any other humans, but be prepared to meet...turkey...and even moose!"

The tipi has a circular opening in the side which serves as its front door...and has flaps at the top that can be moved as needed while the central firepit is in use.   The tipi is 22 ft in diameter, and 24 ft tall, with a central stone firepit.  Furniture consists of five log couches arranged in a circle around the firepit.  There's room for ten people to sit around the crackling fire, and room for six to sleep.    There's a simple grate which can go over the fire, and a kettle for heating water.  Simple, basic, grounding...and fun.  For a really unique experience, I think the tipi is simply perfect!

The Pilgrims celebrated the original Thanksgiving with the Native Americans of nearby Massachusetts who actually lived in bark-covered structures, with animal skins inside.  No matter the housing distinction, this tipi is an amazingly unique place!

Ski areas nearby include Cannon, Loon and Bretton Woods, but in the winter wonderland surrounding the tipi in winter, cross-country skiing right out the door (...flap) could be the thing to do here.

The tipi reminds me of the significance of the basics...simple shelter, warmth, and camaraderie / cooperation with others....reminiscent of that original Thanksgiving and that Native American way of life.  Even though Thanksgiving is a day for Americans to give thanks, it's also a celebration of our earliest success achieved through the cooperation of our diverse cultures.

Simplicity, nature, and cooperation among different people (and of course, unique ski houses)....these are among the things I'll celebrate and give thanks for this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Clear Lake Lookout

Today is National Get Outdoors Day, an annual event (started in 2008) designed to encourage healthy, active, outdoor fun...particularly in the many beautiful public lands in the United States.

And here's a house on public (US Forest Service) land that will certainly get you outdoors, but this isn't your average ski house.  The Ski House of the Day is the Clear Lake Lookout, a former fire-tower perched on the side of Oregon's Mt. Hood (near the NW corner of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation):

Amazingly, you can actually stay in this place...the US Forest Service rents it out (for $50/night according to their website).  But to get there you'll have to ski, snowshoe or snowmobile the 3.2 miles in from the road.  And you'll have to bring your own water with you.

The "house" is a 14 ft. X 14 ft. room surrounded by a narrow wooden catwalk atop a 40 ft high tower.  Inside you'll find a bed, table and chairs, wood-stove, a propane stove for cooking, and solar lighting:

Nearby there's a shed with firewood, and an outhouse, too.  But I think that the main feature is the four walls of continuous windows onto its incredible view:

Not only can you get outdoors, you can gaze out at that view in all four directions and feel like you're outdoors even with a roof over your head.

The Forest Service warns that you must be an experienced back-country mountaineer with survival skills to stay here, and that the height of the cabin poses serious risks, and that the ladder / steps and catwalk can become hazardous in the ice and snow, and that the tower will sway during high winds...but, wow, what a view:

Igloo on the Ski Mountain

With World Environment Day tomorrow, I thought it would be a good time for an environmentally-friendly ski house...and here's a totally unique one...The Ski House of the Day is Iglu-Dorf, a fascinating ski igloo!

According to their sustainability statement, Iglu-Dorf is completely CO2 neutral...with all of the electric used here coming from hydro and wind power.

Rather than an actual "house," I think I'd describe Iglu-Dorf as a cross between a frozen luxury hotel, a snow-cave and a tiny mountain-top village.  It's an interconnected series of igloos / rooms all built out of the snow and tucked into the ski mountain!

Inspired by his quest for first-tracks, and equipped with just snow and a saw, the inventor constructed his own tiny igloo to spend the night in...but he had so many people ask if they too could spend a night in his igloo, that he decided to make one to share and thus built his business out of the snow in 1995.

Inside Iglu-Dorf there are some incredible public areas...

...including a very cool, open-air snow-surround hot-tub:

 ...plus several private igloo "rooms"...including some standard igloos for families / groups:

...and some romantic igloos / rooms for couples:

.....some of which even include private hot-tubs!

There are actually seven locations of Iglu-Dorf in the Alps and Pyrenees (most in Switzerland) in places such as St. Moritz, Davos and Zermatt.  Incredibly, all of it melts away each spring and is re-built the next winter, with about 3,000 tons of snow each.  Initially they constructed them from blocks of snow piled like bricks...but because that was so time-consuming they now use a quicker method whereby they inflate giant balloons, cover them with snow, then deflate the balloon.  The annual work of rebuilding is also a massive annual work of art, with new designs each year...

...and impressive artwork snow-carvings throughout the igloos:

Part of Iglu-Dorf's energy efficiency is the result of the temperature -- the interior temp hovers at the freezing point (fluctuating only from about 0C to 5C).  They provide guests with sleeping bags and sheepskin rugs to place on top of the snow-beds:

(I know that you back-country skiers sleep on the snow regularly...ok, but for those of us who want a roof overhead, this place is the luxury version!).

 In the igloo's "ice bathrooms" (which do not have showers), you even wash with snow:

.....a unique experience, for sure!

Wait a minute...unique is an understatement.  Sleep on an elegant ice bed, in an candle-lit igloo, with a private hot tub, on top of the ski mountain...and get first tracks at sunrise...wow!

Not only unique and environmentally-friendly, but also in the words of one guest (in a TSR interview on their website) who spoke in French but made it clear that in any language...Iglu-Dorf is "super-cool."

The Ski Hut

The Ski House of the Day is a fun little log cabin called The Ski Hut.  It differs from the other Ski Houses of the Day because it is not merely built near a ski trail, but rather it came from a ski trail... it originates from and literally grew out of a ski trail!  The hut was built by Jalopy Cabins, a small and exceptionally eco-friendly builder (or in my opinion, a construction artist) in Colorado.  Jalopy Cabins' website describes them as:  "Makers of unique small cabins built with reclaimed materials."  And the The Ski Hut, is a perfect example of that:

The Ski Hut is a 10 ft X 16 ft one-room log cabin (plus a 6-ft front porch) built of logs that were reclaimed from trees that had grown along and fallen across the ski slopes of the Wolf Creek Ski Area in Pagosa, Colorado.  Jalopy Cabins hand-peeled the logs and you can see the rustic beauty that is the end result of those efforts.   And that welcoming, white-as-snow front door?  It was salvaged (formerly bright orange), painted, given a shiny new (working) door-knob, and thus given a cheerful new lease on life:

The nice-looking windows in The Ski Hut were someone else's "mistake" order, so they complemented the project very well;  and the rafters and roofing were salvaged from an old house/barn and are perfect above the logs in The Ski Hut.

A few new things (such as new insulation in the ceiling and floor, plus electrical wiring, nails and the chinking sealing the spaces between the logs) had to be used in the process.  But their focus is working with whatever materials they have, or what they can come up with, as opposed to buying/using/consuming new.  One of the owners of Jalopy Cabins pointed out in an interview, on Pagosaphotography, that the reason there are no models or options for specific cabins on their website is because each cabin is unique and is determined by the materials that are available at the time they are needed.  Check out the video tour of The Ski Hut.

I think The Ski Hut is adorable and has a very real feeling of environmental responsibility plus a connection with the past (isn't this the same way people of early American generations built their homes too?).  And by the way,  I think it's pretty cool to consider how many skiers might have gazed at, skied among, or jumped over these logs years before they became The Ski Hut.

According to Jalopy Cabins' Facebook page, The Ski Hut was recently sold (asking price was $18,000 including delivery / set-up on the buyers property), so I'm not sure where it is now.  But hopefully The Ski Hut is somewhere with skis out on that front porch and skiers inside!

If you know where this Ski Hut is now, I'd love to know!

Snow Pod in Switzerland

Here's a ski house that I consider to be part igloo, part tent, part luxury hotel room, and part ski house perched in the mountains of Cerniers, Switzerland.  The Ski House of the Day is Pod 13 where you can sleep practically on the snow and under the stars at the eco-friendly White Pod Resort.

The Pod is one of 15 similar pods situated right on a ski slope (part of a private ski area).  Accessible only by ski (or foot), the "houses" that comprise White Pod resemble a collection of giant snowballs perched on the mountainside.

The ski house is a one-room (plus bathroom) energy efficient geodesic dome, with a sitting area, luxury bedding, wood-stove, and an outdoor deck with seating:

According to 1kindesign, the pods have no electricity, but they are kept cozy with an efficient wood-stove.



The interior decor is different in each pod:







And to top it all off, the view from this snowy igloo-like pod is spectacular!

Tasmanian Ski Lodge

Some ski houses are just about the snow, and here's a unique example of that.  The Ski House of the Day (if you can find it) is the Zermatt Lodge in Tasmania:

The remote lodge is located at the highest residential elevation in Tasmania (an Australian island and state), and is inside the Ben Lomand National Park with its Ben Lomond Ski Fields.  The park contains the island's second highest peak at approximately 5,150 ft.

This remote little ski house has just the basics:  a fireplace, a generator, and one bedroom (a bunkroom for 6)...



...so it's not for everyone;  but it is unique, way out there, with a blanket of snow (at least at times), and views of the surrounding mountains:


And by the way, watch out for the Tasmanian Devil!   (According to the national park, the Tasmanian Devil is the world's largest surviving carnivorous marsupial, nocturnal and with a spine-tingling screech!).

Unique Tree House in the French Alps

Here's an entirely different kind of ski house, one that's actually up in a tree!  If you're a skier who searches out places to ski in the trees, here you can spend the night in the trees as well.  It's the charming Treehouse of Saint-Jean d'Aulps, a village in the Alpes in southeastern France.

It's a totally unique one-room Treehouse (about 10 ft. X 15 ft.), perched up in the trees.  If you're there for the backcountry skiing, you might be tempted to climb the tree to get in, but you'll find the snowy access ladder pretty convenient too.   Fortunately there's a ski-locker because, although inviting, space is pretty tight inside.  The one-room Treehouse contains a tiny but complete kitchenette in one corner, and a bedroom area (and tiny bathroom) alcove tucked into the opposite corner.

As you would expect, there's a (realtively) large treetop deck with a birds-eye view of the mountains, and a tree growing up through it.

Even though it's really compact, there is an unexpected measure of luxury (for a treehouse) too...it appears to have a heated towel rack (!), an espresso maker, a set of wine glasses, wifi, etc.  No bad for a treehouse!

Skiing in the village of Saint-Jean d'Aulps is at either La Grande Terche (uncrowded, with lots of off-piste skiing) or l'Espace Roc d'Enfer ("Hell Rock"!).  These ski areas are part of the Portes du Soleil (a group of 14 ski areas in France and Switzerland served by a single lift pass).  In addition to great skiing, this small village has some interesting places to see including an 11th century abbey;  and as for the locals, there is a higher than average percentage of English-speaking residents.
And since we're talking about a tree-house, if you're not skiing and you want to hop through the trees from branch to branch this village is the place to do it -  check out what they're doing at nearby Indiana Parc.

The Ski House of the Day is the unique, charming Treehouse in the trees of Saint-Jean d'Aulps.

Ski-On-the-Roof Cabin in Norway

This mountain cabin gives new meaning to the phrase "ski house"... because you can actually ski on the house!   In response to a client's desire to be able to ski on the roof of their new ski house, Fantastic Norway (an innovative and unique architectural studio/group) designed the home to allow just that!


The Mountain Hill Cabin is designed as a landscape element which leads wind around and over the building, and which also reduces snow strain.  The architect's website points out that the cabin's shape resembles an abstract mountainscape.  Indeed it does.  In fact, it's hard to tell where the house ends and the mountain hill begins.


According to DeZeen Magazine, the location of this triangular timber cabin is in the mountains of Al, Norway, where it will be a private retreat that can only be reached by skis. Construction is to be completed this summer.  Because it's designed to be a house that you can ski on, Fantastic Norway's Mountain Hill Cabin is the Ski House of the Day.  I think it's fantastic!

Tiny House

Many ski houses are spacious and well positioned on a mountain, just waiting for the powder to blanket them.  This tiny ski house is neither spacious nor well positioned on a mountain...but it just might see more powder than any other ski house because it's on wheels so it goes to where the powder is...wherever that may be!  The Ski House of the Day is the Tiny House.


This house is a project of Outdoor Research (OR) in which a group of skiers, living in the tiny ski house, are on the road following the best powder, and documenting the best skiers they encounter along the way.  (It seems that this interesting Seattle-based outdoor gear company relies heavily on user feedback, so the tiny ski house appears to have the combined goal of promoting their company while conducting market research for product ideas -- marketing genius!  On their website OR claims that they "do weird well"  and based on the tiny traveling ski house, I would have to agree!).

So, back to the ski house itself...according to the tiny house blog it is a compact 112 square feet, with a front porch, kitchen (but no bathroom), electricity, a battery, generator, propane stove for cooking, and an artistic stairway leading to a sleeping loft.  And as you can see, the bright interior wood finish and multiple windows make it very attractive!

It also features a tiny but pretty French wood stove which came from an old Colorado mining town.


The tiny house is absolutely one of the most unique ski houses imaginable!  And it's certainly not for everyone.  But, if you (or someone you love) is living or dreaming of the ski bum lifestyle...this one's for you.