Traveling with skis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. We traveled Delta to Utah over Christmas and our ski bag was the same amount as a regular bag. I also got a really nice skycap that told me to put one of our smaller checked bags into our carseat bag to save $35. I told him that many airlines check that only a carseat is in the bag and he looked at me and said,"Nah, nobody cares." I tipped him well.

We shoved crap into car seat bags for a decade. Nobody ever cared. It was sad when the kids aged out. He wasn’t sharing a big secret.

[Anonymous]

If flying, we just bring our boots and rent demo skis at the destination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - thanks all! We have free checked bags with our airline status and credit cards so I’m not worried about the cost of checked bags. More the logistics of how to pack things and transport them there (though I did reserve a car with a “ski package”). I will look into the bags and see what I can find. My kids are 10-15 and their skis are pretty much the same size as mine. Theirs are rentals but dh and I own ours and he especially would prefer to use his own boots. You’ve all made it seem more doable than I expected. If anyone has specific bag recommendations please share!

We have a couple of Patagonia duffels for ski boots and clothes. We can fit boots, helmets, and all the layers, socks, mittens etc for 2 people in each duffel. For bigger families, I don’t think boot bags make as much sense - it’s easier to wrangle one larger bag than 2-3 smaller ones.

We usually demo skis, but if we bring our own, we have one db and one dakine roller ski bag. I would avoid ski tubes because sometimes they are opened by tsa and they can’t close them, and just leave them open. The big db bag can fit 3 pairs of skis and a whole lot more besides. I think it’s the 127 L model.

I would check to see what is included with your ski package rental car. Even a standard suv will be tight with 5 people and ski gear. It’s mostly the Tetris of how to arrange long ski bags. Minivans are often better than suvs because you can lay the skis down the center, but they are usually not awd. A ski rack helps, but set aside some time and frustration tolerance for extracting your carefully wrapped skis in a cold rental lot. Consider if you need snow tires, awd, 4wd, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op - thanks all! We have free checked bags with our airline status and credit cards so I’m not worried about the cost of checked bags. More the logistics of how to pack things and transport them there (though I did reserve a car with a “ski package”). I will look into the bags and see what I can find. My kids are 10-15 and their skis are pretty much the same size as mine. Theirs are rentals but dh and I own ours and he especially would prefer to use his own boots. You’ve all made it seem more doable than I expected. If anyone has specific bag recommendations please share!

We have a couple of Patagonia duffels for ski boots and clothes. We can fit boots, helmets, and all the layers, socks, mittens etc for 2 people in each duffel. For bigger families, I don’t think boot bags make as much sense - it’s easier to wrangle one larger bag than 2-3 smaller ones.

We usually demo skis, but if we bring our own, we have one db and one dakine roller ski bag. I would avoid ski tubes because sometimes they are opened by tsa and they can’t close them, and just leave them open. The big db bag can fit 3 pairs of skis and a whole lot more besides. I think it’s the 127 L model.

I would check to see what is included with your ski package rental car. Even a standard suv will be tight with 5 people and ski gear. It’s mostly the Tetris of how to arrange long ski bags. Minivans are often better than suvs because you can lay the skis down the center, but they are usually not awd. A ski rack helps, but set aside some time and frustration tolerance for extracting your carefully wrapped skis in a cold rental lot. Consider if you need snow tires, awd, 4wd, etc.

Agree with this. We have 5 and in SLC had to send one person by shuttle since we couldn't all fit in the car with all the luggage, and another time had to upgrade to a 3 row mega SUV to fit everyone in with the stuff.

[Anonymous]

We pack 2 pair skiis in each ski bag. Then we pad them using our ski clothing- you can stuff coats warm ups etc around the skis. We each do carryon bags with boots. We do 2 people per full sized suitcase - inside are helmets stuffed with toiletries bag , regular clothing and under layers all in packing cubes. We don’t bring a ton of regular clothing- just a couple of dinner outfits- jeans and sweaters. Don’t forget swimsuits- most places have a hot tub. Wear snow boots onto plane which you’ll want for going around town.

[Anonymous]

Make sure your skis are securely attached to their mates and/or put clothes you don't care about next to them. Freshly sharpened edges could potentially cause damage.

[Anonymous]

Can folks who travel with skiis please link to the ski bags they have? Would be great to get direct recs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For our family of four of skiers/snowboarders, we have one ski bag, one snowboard bag and a boot bag and manage to fit everything in those, including coats/snowpants (sometimes a spare boot ends up in a suitcase). I have on one occasion had airport officials make me take extra stuff out of the ski bag so you might want to check the policy on that (only happened once).

When we get to the airport, one of the adults typically goes and gets the car while the other and the kids waits for all the gear to come out and meets the car at the curb. (We use Turo so we don't need to wait in rental car lines and can just fetch it from a parking lot). We've been able to pull this system off since kids were young tweens. Not sure about the size of your rental or what their ski package entails, but we've found it easiest to get something that's big enough to fit the ski's inside (it's often tight!) as getting skis out and on a roof rack is the last thing we want to deal with at the airport after a long flight.

+1. We get SUV and put skis inside. Don’t want to deal with ski racks. It’s really easy for us because we are 3 total - 2 ski bags,2 boot bags, and 2-3 carryons. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

Skiing is so complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skiing is so complicated.

So true!!

OP, if you are getting a rental because

- your drive to/from airport is long or if you will use your car daily to transport skiers and skis, get a big one - Yukon/tahoe/escalade/minivan

- your drive from the airport is short and once you get there, you will only use your car for errands or going out to dinner, get a smaller suv and send some luggage in a 2nd uber

- your drive involves snow and driving on steep grades, ask for awd or 4wd and snow tires (they won’t have them, but may have all weather tires).

- your drive only involves getting to and from the airport, consider uber/private car service instead


https://us.dbjourney.com/products/snow-roller-pro-black-out

We also have a dakine, but it’s not manufactured anymore. The db bag is pricy, but it packs up small and can fit 3 pairs of skis. Ideal for a big family.

[Anonymous]

Level 9 out of SLC makes a great dual bag.

[Anonymous]

We use ShipGo.com (I think it’s the same as ShipSkis.com someone posted above). It’s soooo much easier. For $200 total round trip, I ship our skis and boots in a double bag, plus include some of the cold weather gear. You get up to 55 pounds. I drop it off at FedEx Office by my house, and they get hauled across the country for me. We’ve done Park City twice. One time we took them to the PC FedEx Office and one time we let the concierge handle it. Then, they show up at my house. To not have to deal with it when traveling, renting the car etc., just makes it so much easier. I also throw in an AirTag to track their progress. They quote a week, but both times, both ways, it’s been 4-5 days. ShipGo has awesome customer service, too. I won’t do it any other way.

[Anonymous]

We are flying to Denver and driving to Breckenridge so we need a car and I’ve reserved a large 4wd suv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are flying to Denver and driving to Breckenridge so we need a car and I’ve reserved a large 4wd suv.

When you get your rental, look at the tires and make sure you see “M+S” indicating they are all season. If not, go back and raise a fuss. “M+S” next to a snowflake is even better, as that indicates snow tires, but rental companies never put snow tires on their cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ski bags - you can get a soft-side bag for about $60 and a padded bag for about $160 (or more).
Each will easily hold 2 sets of skis and poles - you may be able to get 3 pair in.
We use the soft side bag and use our ski pants for padding.
You can check and additional bag that holds boots and helmets with each ski bag at no extra cost (although many people carry these on).

Speaking of cost - if your ski bag is "oversized" (over 160 cm) - you may be charged an oversized luggage fee which can be much more than a regular checked bag fee. For example, on United regular bags cost $40/ea but oversized is $200 ea.

By using a soft side bag, we were able to keep our ski bag under the 160 cm limit and didn't have to pay the extra $$.

We fly United with skis all the time and it’s $40 for the bag that holds 3 sets of skis and one boot bag is included. It’s a deal.