Transporting skis and gear by car, how do you do it?

[TiffAlt]

We've been transporting our three skis in our little Hyundai Kona N. Now that we're going to be embarking upon a 7 hour road trip to Mt Bachelor, I wanted to get everyone's take on how they transport skis and gear. There is no wrong or right, just wanted to get various takes on it.

Currently:
We considered getting a roofbox, but we've actually seen a couple of failures where the boxes fly open and stuff spills out on to the road My husband doesn't want to chance it, so we store our skis in padded bags in the car. We have to put one side of the backseat down and the skis rest in the middle of the car up to center armrest upfront. We each have different colored ski bags where we store our boots, helmets, balaclavas etc. We also bring along a small soft-sided cooler with snacks and drinks and our winter mountain gear - shovel, snow brush. Our car is AWD and we are still riding on snow tires. We also bring blankets and pillows, mostly for me and my son. Despite how cramped it is, we manage to sleep, lol. My husband, who is the safest driver, brings a ton of caffeine, lol.

What about you?

 

[marzNC]

For my own car, although I have roof rails I never got a roof top box. So ski gear and luggage all goes inside. One reason is that I'm petite. Dealing with getting skis in/out of a box is not of interest. Plus I rarely drive with more than one passenger for ski trips. It's a RAV4 so can fit two passengers with a bit of luggage, skis, and boot bags but would only do that to go to my home hill. That's a 4-hour drive 1-way and we always stay at least 2-3 nights.

There have been times when I've used my Sportube for my skis in order to make it easier to pile stuff on top.

Fair to say that I pack and load the car differently for a driving trip where going 1-way is 200 miles or 800 miles (NC to New England) or 2000 miles (NC to CO).

For most trips out west, I meet up with my travel/ski buddy (schoolmate, old bachelor) who has a Range Rover Sport with two Thule ski boxes. He's willing to drive anywhere out west from Albuquerque for a well planned ski trip. He carries a folding stepladder in order to get skis in/out of a box. He's had Thule boxes for over a decade on more than one ski car and has never had a problem with one.

I've taken some ski trips when I've rented an SUV. Putting ski bags/hardcases and luggage inside has never been an issue. Of course, if there are more passengers then we rent a big enough SUV to make it easier to fit everyone and all the stuff.

The NM Range Rover Sport with two ski boxes on the far left, at Grand Targhee in early March 2023

 

[NewEnglandSkier]

I just put the back seat down and put the skis directly in the car. Boot bag goes in my passenger seat up front with me, just because I travel alone and boot up at the car when I arrive so it's easier if the bag is up front so I can just grab what I want out of it once I arrive.

 

[leia1979]

I got a Yakima Fat Cat Evo 6 rack. It’s been nice for trying to demo skis, as we end up with three pairs. We have done trips where we just put everything in the car and folded the seat down, but for a longer trip when I’m also packing a bunch of food, it’s nice to have the extra space.

 

[TiffAlt]

The NM Range Rover Sport with two ski boxes on the far left, at Grand Targhee in early March 2023

I have never seen two!! That's hardcore, nice setup!

 

[TiffAlt]

I got a Yakima Fat Cat Evo 6 rack. It’s been nice for trying to demo skis, as we end up with three pairs. We have done trips where we just put everything in the car and folded the seat down, but for a longer trip when I’m also packing a bunch of food, it’s nice to have the extra space.

Yea, that's what's on my mind. What we do works fine for 1 or 2 hour trips tp Snoqualmie or Crstal Mountain, but I'm a bit concerned about the 7 hour drive to Bend/Mt Bachelor.

Do you like your rack?

 

[Iwannaski]

We have a family of 4 and sometimes have an extra kid or two with us. I have a Thule Force XT on top of a Honda Pilot. To climb up, I put a seat down flat and use it as a step. I’m about 5’7” and am the primary box loader/unloader. My husband and kids grab the skis or hand them to me …

Regarding your husband’s concern, the way the Force locks, unless ALL THREE latches on either side can engage, the key will not turn. And you cannot take the key out without the box closed. It’s a pretty nice design.

ETA: my friend has the Thule equivalent to the ski rack mentioned above. She really likes it. I think it’s easier to load/unload, but a unitasker

 

[marzNC]

I have never seen two!! That's hardcore, nice setup!

When he first started doing trips with me, he had a different car with one box. As our "crew" grew, we added friends who fly with a Sportube and two pairs of skis, so there wasn't enough ski storage space.

He has the means to have more than one car, so the RR Sport is mainly for ski trips. He's been averaging over 60 days a season in recent years, mostly driving 3+ hours from Albuquerque if not 2+ days to start with. I'm totally spoiled.

 

[leia1979]

@TiffAlt yes, we’ve only used the rack twice so far but like it. Once you do the initial setup to get the straps tensioned correctly, it’s easy to get on and off. I was able to remove it by myself with no issue and could probably put it on, too, but it’s easier with two people.
The road noise is pretty minimal, too. Much better than the old Thule rack I used to have.

 

[Amie H]

Though I didn't have a need for it this year, I bought something from Sportube that attaches on to my roof rack. It sort of turns the sportube into a roof box. The two brackets cost more than the Sportube, itself! I bought in case of traveling to ski in Wisconsin with another person- so we'd have room for luggage, cooler, etc. Normally, I put part of my backseat down to fit my skis in. The alpines fit great; the Nordic barely make it, and only on a sharp diagonal. I drive a Buick Encore (small SUV) for reference.

 

[echo_VT]

We have roof racks for the cars and have used it during Covid when we didn’t have locker access. Now that we have lockers we leave equipment at the hill and all gear is inside the car (really only the kid’s gear)… for races it’s not an issue as she can sit up front now as she’s big enough to and all gear goes in trunk and back seat (not super well planned we mainly just chuck it back there) as the back seats fold down — all or in part.

we do own a sky box but use it when we go camping. Need a lot more gear for that including huge chests for food storage.

 

[tinymoose]

For local, day trips where it's just the two of us we'll just fold the seats down and put them in the car. For any trips where we think we might want the space for people to ride with us if they want, we'll take the skybox to preserve the back seat space. Prior to our skybox we had a Thule rack.

 

[marzNC]

Prior to our skybox we had a Thule rack.

Did you protect the skis or the bindings when using the ski rack?

 

[santacruz skier]

Did you protect the skis or the bindings when using the ski rack?

I was wondering the same thing. I always had ski racks on my cars (Volvo, Acura, Honda, etc) and we always had "binding covers." Wondering if folks still use them or if they are even available .

 

[tinymoose]

Did you protect the skis or the bindings when using the ski rack?

We didn't, which is why we got rid of it in favor of a box. Got too concerned about them getting damaged.

 

[marzNC]

I was wondering the same thing. I always had ski racks on my cars (Volvo, Acura, Honda, etc) and we always had "binding covers." Wondering if folks still use them or if they are even available .

Here's a current product for protecting skis that isn't a traditional ski bag. Can be used inside a ski bag or in a roof rack. I remember reading about binding covers and Transpack used to have one. What I found is made by a company in Indiana that also makes covers for golf bags and other stuff too. The material is washable.

Ski Buddy® (Alpine)

Introducing Ski Buddy®, A light elastic case for protecting your skis.

www.buddycovers.com

"The Ski Buddy® (Alpine) is a unique, patented form-fitting sock constructed of washable, water repellent Spandex fabric which slides smoothly and easily over any length skis and both cushions and protects them from damage. When not in use, this product rolls into a compact, lightweight cylinder for easy storage.

The Ski Buddy® is affordable! It can protect your valuable ski equipment from costly damage, which can and often does occur during transit. If you could eliminate just one nick in the edge of your skis, the Ski Buddy® would more than pay for itself.

There are many styles of ski bags currently available, but this is the first product designed to fit INSIDE your ski bag. The Ski Buddy® can also protect your skis when transporting them in a ski rack/carrier on a vehicle or bus."

 

[santacruz skier]

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Exactly what I used to use to protect my bindings. Both Rossignol and Salomon had them. Problem was they zipped around the bindings and you had to make sure they were zipped all the way or would fly off your car....

 

[SallyCat]

Padded ski bags are a very good idea for safety in case of an accident. Seriously.
A cam strap around a cargo box might be extra security while driving? Twist the strap to keep it from making wind-noise, though, otherwise it'll sound like a Blackhawk helicopter is following you just above your roof.
After years of storing winter stuff in my car, I'm over the moisture of it all. I don't have a garage and frequently have ice on the inside of my windshield on winter mornings. And after years of storing wet-ish stuff in the car it just ... doesn't smell great.

 

[TiffAlt]

Padded ski bags are a very good idea for safety in case of an accident. Seriously.
A cam strap around a cargo box might be extra security while driving? Twist the strap to keep it from making wind-noise, though, otherwise it'll sound like a Blackhawk helicopter is following you just above your roof.
After years of storing winter stuff in my car, I'm over the moisture of it all. I don't have a garage and frequently have ice on the inside of my windshield on winter mornings. And after years of storing wet-ish stuff in the car it just ... doesn't smell great.

This is exactly why we used the padded bags - to keep the snow contained in them! Same with the boots - we have bags for them. When we started out, we were jsut leaving them out and besides jostling everywhere, the snow got everywhere and melted. We realized we need bags ASAP

 

[mustski]

I was wondering the same thing. I always had ski racks on my cars (Volvo, Acura, Honda, etc) and we always had "binding covers." Wondering if folks still use them or if they are even available .

New binding systems are “sealed” so dirt can’t get in. I had binding issues in Taos and thought it might be from 3 days in the roof rack. Le Ski Mastery assured me that it could not be a dirt issue since the systems are fully sealed. As for a cover… unless it’s water proof, it might cause more trouble in a snowstorm by holding moisture in and rusting your edges. I learned to just take the skis off the rack at night and bring them inside. I store them in the shower until they dry.
I will put skis inside the vehicle if dry and no snow, but I learned the hard way that snow melt leads to mildew which destroys the interior of the vehicle. My skis ride home in the roof.