A good ski day involves more than just sliding down the mountain. It also takes a lot of planning and organization. You have to get your gear together, you have to haul it where it needs to go, and you want to make sure you’re warm and comfortable on the hill.
So when I asked the members of TheSkiDiva community if they had any hacks for making the day go smoother, I got a lot of terrific ideas. Here are a few:
• Carry a ziplock bag in your boot bag. If you’re injured, you can fill it with ice from the kitchen in the lodge to make an ice pack to reduce swelling.
• Don’t want to carry a bulky tube of sunscreen? Put some in a contact lens case for touch-ups on the hill. The contact lens case is small, lightweight, and watertight. This also works for Vaseline (used as a lip protector), hand lotion, and even toothpaste.
• Keep a couple mini-carabiners attached to your jacket pocket zips, then hang your mittens, goggles, or helmet on them as soon as you take them off. This keeps your hands free and leaves you with fewer things to drop.
• Use one of those big blue Ikea bags to carry your ski boots to the mountain. It easily fits two pairs and it doesn’t matter if they are wet or dirty when you head home. The bags are easy to clean, too.
• Have multiple jackets and/or pants? Forget to swap your season pass to the one you’re wearing? Remove your pass from your jacket or pants when you take them off and clip it to your helmet. If you only have one helmet, you’re guaranteed to remember your pass.
• Warm baselayers in the dryer before putting them on in the morning.
• Tie a bright bandana or wide bright ribbon on your black Transpack handle so you can identify yours in the large pile of black Transpacks.
• If you tend to lose things in the black hole of your boot bag’s interior, try storing them in packing cubes. Use a brightly colored cube for your gloves, neck gaiter, headband, and so on. And use another for electronics, such as your Hotronics batteries and charger, boot dryer, and phone backup battery charger.
• Stash a bottle opener in your boot bag, for obvious reasons. Some duct tape, too. Duct tape can help fix a multitude of problems, from broken ski poles and zippers to torn ski pants.
• Attach adhesive toe warmers to the outside of your undies — one on each cheek. The result is a totally toasty rear end.
• Forget your ski boots in the car over night? Open up one (or two, if it’s really cold) disposable hand warmers and drop them in your boots all the way to the toes. For added warmth, place your boots by a heater and wait a few minutes.
• Smelly ski boots? Drop in a dryer sheet overnight. That should take care of the problem.