WildSnow Weekend – Loft Ladders

Lou works on a blog post under HQ’s new ladder.

WildSnow HQ Port-a-Hut is nearly perfect and we enjoy little projects that enhance our backcountry tiny house. The latest: upgrades to the ladder stairs that access the upstairs sleeping loft.

Design constraints of the loft “library type” ladder: mainly, it needs to be fire proof due to it storing close to our stove pipe, and movable to accommodate activities in the small space.

We used a section from an aluminum extension ladder. The stock ladder feet are cut shorter and bolted at a fixed angle. Length cut was unnecessary but could easily be done. Large holes drilled in the rails with a step bit to accept bushings Lou made with PVC plumbing part. A 6-foot length of steel plumbing pipe is mounted in two screw-eyes attached to the loft header, and capped with threaded pipe caps. The ladder slides sideways on the plumbing pipe. When not in use, the ladder swings upward and is stored horizontally on a hook suspended from an overhead beam.

For a do-over we’d use 1-inch pipe instead of 3/4 as the thinner pipe flexes a bit too much.

In a tiny house, having everything movable and adjustable allows one to modify the limited space, making things feel larger than they actually are.

Week in review: November 21-25, 2016:

Snow — a WildSnow Ski Touring Slideshow

Radio Scanner Review – Uniden DC355N for Backcountry (road) Travel

Ski Touring News Roundup — November End 2016

Ski Touring Gift List Number 467

7 Responses to “WildSnow Weekend – Loft Ladders”

1. Jodi November 27th, 2016 11:52 am

   Lou, or anyone else that may be able to help, I am trying to decide between buying DPS wailer 112 tour 1 or the 106 tour 1. I have read your reviews, but am still not sure which to buy. I skied the wailer 112 tour 1’s briefly this morning after hiking up the CB ski area, which is not very far right now. They were good in the powder at the wood edge and did fine on the corduroy as well. I am not a ski area skier anymore, except when skiing down after hiking up in am. I ski backcountry only, I would love to only ski powder, but that is not always possible, there is always the chance of some crud or breakable crust that I will encounter, or the rare trip to Canada that I have booked way in advance and it rains, and I want to be able to feel safe there too. If you have any advice, please advise, thanks so much, Jodi

2. Joe John November 27th, 2016 9:18 pm

   Just what I need in the garage!

3. Bob Perlmutter November 27th, 2016 10:24 pm

   Hi Jodi, I have experience with both DPS models you are considering for your new ski. My take on the Tour 1 106cm is it offers 90% of the soft snow performance of the 112 but more versatility when it comes to corduroy and spring corn. More of a one ski quiver. While the 112 is certainly adequate in those realms, it is more purely soft snow oriented. Hope this helps.

4. Lou Dawson 2 November 28th, 2016 5:21 am

   Thanks Bob, good take. We’ve still got both models here and concur. Especially in view of the trend to a bit narrower skis for 100% touring use. I’d add that here in Colorado, due to our often unbridged snowpack, any diehard backcountry skier really needs to run a quiver, not just one ski, and have something wide in the bag ready to deploy. Experienced that yesterday. Lou

5. Scott Nelson November 28th, 2016 12:44 pm

   Cool. Another great idea at Wildsnow field HQ!

6. Bob Perlmutter November 28th, 2016 9:16 pm

   So Lou, does this mean the DPS Powderworks Tour1 124 I bought weren’t just a frivolous purchase but actually serve a useful purpose and function?

7. Lou Dawson 2 November 29th, 2016 8:05 am

   Bob, what works in Colorado, stays in Colorado?