Storing all this STUFF!

[Kano]

Suddenly, after what appears to have been the social event of the season (ski swap), we are now the proud owners of two more pair of skis. That gives DH and I each three pair. We're also storing DD's skis, poles and boots, as she has no room for them at her small space.

Our "pairs number one" are pretty much just aging in the garage -- ski school rentals that we bought at the end of our first season to have something to ski on while we got the hang of it and shopped for "real" skis. They lean against the wall in a corner of the garage, four skis in a bit of a tangle usually and are generally inaccessible, not that we really care. In fact, I'm open to any suggestions for disposal? (not trash, mind you!)

"Pairs number two" have been hanging on the wall, in some ski storage gizmos that work by friction. They're in a corner too, and while not inaccessible, it's a tough spot to get to because bikes are in the way. Haven't been able to talk DH into the work of putting the bikes up on the ceiling in winter so far, which would help immensely!

Enter "pairs number three" -- and we need to address storage! I'd like both "two" and "three" to be easily accessible, so we can pick and choose on any given day which ones we want to use.

So, those of you who have lots of skis to choose from, what do you do? How do you keep them all untangled and easily accessible for use on any given day? We've got a two-car-three-bike-seven-pairs-of-skis garage, with all the other junk that lives in garages thrown in too, and need suggestions that don't cost as much as that third stall remodel, so we can still afford to buy skis and other toys AND use them!

Karen in Boise

 

[volklgirl]

I just had to laugh when I saw this! We live in a 2 bedroom single-wide with a 10 x 12 shed. In that shed are 3 big tool boxes, our ski tuning area, our bike repair stand, our ladders, 9 bikes, 4 snowboards, 3 pairs of blades, and 16 (?) pairs of skis. Oh wait.... 4 pairs of blades and 17 pairs of skis because we're also storing our youngest son's temporarily.

You should see the looks on people's faces when they see it for the first time! There's even enough room to work on the skis and bikes most of the time. To do this, we ended up hanging all the skis and boards horizontally on bike hooks (2 hooks per pair of skis). We'll be moving the boards from their current location to on the ceiling over the door, to allow us to put in 4-5 more pairs of hooks for the skis that are currently homeless. The only ones I have a hard time getting to are the ones directly over the bikes, on the ceiling - my arms just aren't quite long enough for that reach :D.

Here's a pic:

 

[G Hoodie]

LOL. That is awesome volklgirl!!

And Kano, that's a great problem to have! We have 6 pairs of skis, which we hang on 2 ski racks in the garage.

REI makes a great 3-ski hanging rack that also has pegs for poles.

We also have a dedicated gear closet for ski boots, backpacking and fishing equipment. I think we could use a whole extra room in the house just for gear actually. That or else one care in the garage needs to be sold!

 

[SnowHot]

More pics of VG's shed

Taken when I dropped off my Klein and Liquid for the SS project.

 

[volklgirl]

What a pig stye ! I sure can tell I have to share this space with DH . Bleh.

 

[abc]

LOL! That look more like a bike/ski shop and someone's home!

Not that I'm that far off. In my one bedroom apartment, I have 4 bikes, 5 pairs of skis! And I'm contemplating about a whitewater kayak! The sea kayak, unfortunately, doens't fit into the elevator. :( So had to be stored off-site.

Anyway, about ski storage. I used a gizmo that attaches to the wall. It held 2 pairs of skis virtically. Poles then simply hang from the tip of the skis. In theory, you can have several of those holders next to each other and hang 4 or 6 pairs like that side by side. So all of them are easily reachable. And if some of them aren't frequently used, you can start stacking stuff (bikes?) in front of them.

 

[Jilly]

We have all skis hanging upside down in the rafters of the garage. A hang over from the days when you were trying to keep the camber in your skis, you laid them bindings down. As of today we are short one pair (yeah swap!) so there are 2 pr- Salomon SC's, Rossi Z5's, Nordica Conquers, Head Cyclones and DH's old Tryrolia GS's (203's!!) and my XC's. Plus numerous poles! We just started taking things down this weekend to repair, tune and wax. During the season we store the skis while we're at the condo in the ski locker. If not in residence, then they get stored under the bed. Usually not all pairs are up there at the same time. But this year, it could happen. (except the Z5's, they are staying!home) We have a dedicated closet for ski stuff off season. This year - all the suits (5), 4 pairs of boots, other outdoor coats and in front, all the water things like wetsuits. Two weeks ago, I moved everything around. It's only a 5' closet!
But I really like some of the ideas I'm seeing. I could actually reach the skis, if we had VG's set up.

 

[Kiragirl]

A hang over from the days when you were trying to keep the camber in your skis, you laid them bindings down.

In general, do y'all store your parabolic skis "latched" together with the ski brakes or with velcro or something? or keep them separate?

 

[Swamp Dog]

kind of in the same boat here....but in the garage instead of a shed.

skis are hanging on the walls, bikes are stacked on a different wall, and 2 kayaks are hoisted to the ceiling. The door has to be down to get them down. Ideally you would be able to back a truck in and lower the kayaks right into it. Hasn't worked yet tho.

 

[Jilly]

swamp dog, I've seen that with the roof boxes!! Skis are separated, bases up.

 

[geargrrl]

I thought you were just supposed to get a house with a bigger garage?

I fess up to a double deep garage.

 

[akjen]

We don't have the "too many skis" problem yet, but this is how we store our skis. It doesn't take up too much horizontal space. The setup was already built in when we bought the place. We also have a ski condo, and that's how the previous owners stored their skis.

 

[akjen]

ok, here's another attempt at posting a pic

 

[cinnabon]

 

[Kano]

Volklgirl, I like the ski storage! It looks like some shifting will have to happen when it's more seriously winter, but it does look like a pretty nice solution.

Jilly -- I can see the storage on the ceiling thing working out well too, and along with it, the kayak into the truck idea -- though I'm not tall enough to handle getting my skis down from the ceiling to the top of my car by myself, I'm afraid, and that would definitely put a crimp in that storage method's efficiency!

I'm not calling our collection "too many" at this point, I think it's more a matter of having outgrown the current storage plan and needing to re-evaluate and rearrange! It's sort of a nice "problem" to have, isn't it?

Karen in Boise