Flying with Skis and Skiboots

Posted by Barbara Rogers Feb 2, 2008

If you're planning a ski trip to Italy's Dolomites, Val d'Aosta or the 2006 Olympic mountains near Torino, you may wonder if you can take your own equipment. I just did, and didn't need to pay for extra or oversized baggage.

Airline policies vary, but most allow you to bring skis in a ski bag, boots in a bootbag, and a piece of luggage. My first question,of course, was "What else can I pack in the bags with the skis and boots?" The attendants I spoke with were not entirely clear, so I took a chance and packed a few other things with them.

Because I didn't want my skis chattering around in the bag and banging the bindings against the poles, I first wrapped the skis and poles together in plastic bubblewrap. Then I wrapped my ski pants around them and secured them with big elastics. This not only padded the skis and bindings to protect them, but it saved space in my suitcase. I also wrapped a bulky sweater around them before zipping the ski bag.

Along with packing my gloves and sox inside my skiboots, before putting them in the boot bag (a handy one with back-pack straps that made it easy to carry), I added my ski helmet with my goggles inside it. To pad these, I added scarves, wool hat and a few other accessories before zipping it.

When I checked in, no one questioned what was in the boot and ski bags.

Why carry my own equipment when I could have rented it? First, ski boots need to fit just right, which rental ones rarely do. Second, if you plan to ski in different places, the process of renting each day takes a lot of time that you could be spending on the mountain.