Travel 1,000 Miles Across Oregon in a DIY 1953 Firetruck Camper

Author
  • Field Mag
Photographer
  • The Snowboarder's Journal

Join pro Snowboarder Austin Smith and his firetruck tiny home—and sauna trailer—on a road trip to Oregon's best mom & pop ski hills


Published: 07-23-2020

About the author

Field Mag Editors
Field Mag Editors
Insight and inspiration from the Field Mag editorial team, sharing decades of hard-earned experience and knowhow.

A few years back Bend, Oregon-based professional snowboarder Austin Smith purchased a decommissioned 1953 GMC firetruck and went about converting it to a mobile tiny house. Though the initial iteration sure was fun to look at, it weighed a few thousand pounds more than was reasonable. Fast forward to winter 2019-2020 and Smith is now rolling in the world's first softshell truck camper—constructed with the same material as The North Face's iconic Basecamp duffle bag.

In this new short film by Liam Gallagher and our friends at The Snowboarder's Journal, Smith and crew take the newly finished rig on a 1,000 mile "shakedown run" across Oregon, hitting some of the state's best mom & pop ski hills in the process.

Watch to the end to see Smith's DIY sauna trailer made from an old U-haul. Look closely and you might even spot our good pal Luisa Jeffery aka @youdidnotsleepthere.

Austin-Smith-DIY-Firetruck-Tiny-Home

For more tiny living inspiration check out these 6 A-Frame Cabin Kits you can buy right now. And for more adventure snowboard content, see our winter 2020 trip to Montana's legendary backcountry.