• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

I almost destroyed my skis...

cdc28p

New member
Joined
Dec 18, 2005
Messages
19
Points
0
So I had 2 weeks off from school for Christmas, or "winter holidays" for the politically correct. This is the first year that I've owned skis. I went to REI and bought this cheap double ski bag. Went home, put my fiancee's and my skis in, put the poles in, zipped it up... and voila, a ski bag with the skis floating inside, unstrapped, banging on whatever the bag happened to hit. I then packed all my clothes--99.9% of which were for the slopes with only a decent pair of black slacks and a wool sweater for that big family gathering where I would have to look nice and talk politely to nauseously polite cousins whose names I would forget but would pretend to remember--around the skis in order to provide some cushion. With all my clothes in the ski bag now, the suitcase only carried the two pairs of boots. Ha, nice, I said to myself, very satifised.

Six hours of seven-dollar-for-a-miniscule-turkey-sandwich flight on the soon to be bankrupt Song airline later, I arrived at San Francisco, already dreaming of skidding my way--being a beginner, I wouldn't call that carving-- down the powder trails at Lake Tahoe. Half an hour later, the oversized-luggage door opened and my ski bag was cruelly thrown out on the hard, cold floor of the baggage return area. I couldn't recognize it at first because it no longer had that nice cylindrical shape that I said goodbye to at Logan. Instead, all the clothes had magically gathered around on end of the bag, swelling that end, while, at the other end, the ski tips are protruding out in various directions, unprotected. Luckily, I found out that the skis and bindings were still intact.

So I clearly didn't know how to pack two pairs of skis in a cheap, unpadded ski bag. Any tip from you guys besides purchasing a hard case? :(
 

GadgetRick

New member
Joined
Mar 1, 2004
Messages
201
Points
0
Location
Near NYC
Website
www.rickandedith.com
First tip is enjoy your trip to Tahoe. I love it out there! :)

Second, I usually will wrap a towel around the bindings in my bag (I do not have a hard case). I will also throw in my ski jacket as it's not usually cold enough for me to wear other than on the slopes. I also throw in some other things for padding like you did.

Make sure the bag you have has tie downs for your skis. This will help keep them from, "floating," around in the bag causing problems.

Other than that, I can't think of anything else.
 

JimG.

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
11,989
Points
113
Location
Hopewell Jct., NY
cdc28p said:
So I had 2 weeks off from school for Christmas, or "winter holidays" for the politically correct. This is the first year that I've owned skis. I went to REI and bought this cheap double ski bag. Went home, put my fiancee's and my skis in, put the poles in, zipped it up... and voila, a ski bag with the skis floating inside, unstrapped, banging on whatever the bag happened to hit. I then packed all my clothes--99.9% of which were for the slopes with only a decent pair of black slacks and a wool sweater for that big family gathering where I would have to look nice and talk politely to nauseously polite cousins whose names I would forget but would pretend to remember--around the skis in order to provide some cushion. With all my clothes in the ski bag now, the suitcase only carried the two pairs of boots. Ha, nice, I said to myself, very satifised.

Six hours of seven-dollar-for-a-miniscule-turkey-sandwich flight on the soon to be bankrupt Song airline later, I arrived at San Francisco, already dreaming of skidding my way--being a beginner, I wouldn't call that carving-- down the powder trails at Lake Tahoe. Half an hour later, the oversized-luggage door opened and my ski bag was cruelly thrown out on the hard, cold floor of the baggage return area. I couldn't recognize it at first because it no longer had that nice cylindrical shape that I said goodbye to at Logan. Instead, all the clothes had magically gathered around on end of the bag, swelling that end, while, at the other end, the ski tips are protruding out in various directions, unprotected. Luckily, I found out that the skis and bindings were still intact.

So I clearly didn't know how to pack two pairs of skis in a cheap, unpadded ski bag. Any tip from you guys besides purchasing a hard case? :(

And welcome to the AZ boards! This is a problem I sweat over every time my skis go on an airplane. I've seen some amazing things happen to skis on flights.

A padded bag might help, but a hard case is probably the best way to go if you plan on travelling alot.

Or, buy into Net Jets?
 

SkiDog

New member
Joined
May 25, 2005
Messages
1,620
Points
0
Location
Sandy UTAH
I currently have a hard case..snowtube that fits 2 pair of skis (albeit VERY snugly)..the onle cavaet to this hard case is that with current post 9/11 flight restrictions you cannot "lock" the bag with a lock. Now if they decide that they want to search your bag and its locked..they are cutting the lock. If you zip tie it..they cut that too. They attempt to re zip tie it however if you are not familiar with the snowtube its nearly impossible to make sure they get that zip tie through BOTH holes to hold the ends of the tube together. I've had it come out with nothing holding it together. The tube it 2 pieces that fit together with a "lock" before 9/11, but now..I think im going back to a padded 1 pair bag with wheels. this way they can zip and unzip til hearts content. I think even the bag checkers can handle zippers... If I find the right bag..I will post the tube for sale here somewhere...

M
 

bvibert

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 30, 2004
Messages
30,394
Points
38
Location
Torrington, CT
This is more of a ski gear topic so I moved it to the Gear & Equipment Forum...
 

cdc28p

New member
Joined
Dec 18, 2005
Messages
19
Points
0
It's not too bad for me to return my unpadded ski bag. Should I get a padded one, or would the unpadded one do fine with appropriate packing?

I don't travel that much, so a hard case is probably not necessary, given its high cost.
 

JimG.

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Oct 29, 2004
Messages
11,989
Points
113
Location
Hopewell Jct., NY
cdc28p said:
It's not too bad for me to return my unpadded ski bag. Should I get a padded one, or would the unpadded one do fine with appropriate packing?

I don't travel that much, so a hard case is probably not necessary, given its high cost.

Padded is the way to go...every bit helps.
 
Top