Flying (domestic) with skis

My wife and I will be flying from Boston out West to ski at Sun Valley this
winter. We've never flown with skis.

Buy hard shell cases? Use soft cases and wrap in something? Poles in some
form of container? Ship UPS ahead of time?

Other advice or words of wisdom?

Peter and Cindy

For what it's worth, I've used both a ski bag 'insulated' with clothes and a
hard shell to fly overseas - I would definitely recommend the latter between
the two (and even it had a nice dent in the side after the trip - but the
skis were fine).

Frankly, for a domestic trip (especially if this is an ocassional trip), I'd
look into the cost of shipping them ahead of time - anything to avoid the
hassle at the airport - especially given the more restrictive baggage
policies (e.g. limited number of bags, no locks, extra cost for oversized
baggage, etc.).

"pheski" wrote in message
...
My wife and I will be flying from Boston out West to ski at Sun Valley
this
winter. We've never flown with skis.

Buy hard shell cases? Use soft cases and wrap in something? Poles in some
form of container? Ship UPS ahead of time?

Other advice or words of wisdom?

Peter and Cindy

I've flown lots of times with skis and poles, using padded soft-pack ski
bags, and a reasonable approach to padding clothing around them -- and
mostly keeping the bindings facing inward.

Never had any damage to anything.

Ken

I was looking at Sun Valley also, but the flights to there seemed to be
rather convoluted. Which method or connections did you find to traveling
there?
gr
"pheski" wrote in message
...
My wife and I will be flying from Boston out West to ski at Sun Valley
this
winter. We've never flown with skis.

Buy hard shell cases? Use soft cases and wrap in something? Poles in some
form of container? Ship UPS ahead of time?

Other advice or words of wisdom?

Peter and Cindy

If you're renting a car anyway, one idea is to fly to Salt Lake City.

Ski a couple of hours around Salt Lake the day your flight arrives, then
drive up to Sun Valley and arrive late in the evening.

The evening before you fly out, drive to Salt Lake and stay over one night.

Then ski a couple of hours at Mountain Dell (think of Daehlie's and
Belmondo's first World Cup victories) early on your last morning. Put your
skis in your bag, drive half an hour to the airport, and fly home.

The more convenient hours of SLC flights could add one or two days of skiing
to your trip.

Ken
_________________________________
GR wrote
I was looking at Sun Valley also, but the flights
to there seemed to be rather convoluted. Which
method or connections did you find to traveling there?

One suggestion:
fly to a bigger city (Boise is probably the closest)
and then rent a car. You will need one to get around
Sun Valley (to get to Galena Lodge, for example), and
I'm sure that renting a car in Sun Valley is going to
be expensive, too.

The most inexpensive fares will probably be into Salt
Lake City. It's a relatively easy drive from there to
Sun Valley, though a bit long (4-5 hrs). And if you
scheduled it right, flying into SLC would allow you to
sample some of the Utah XC areas, too. Your golden
opportunity to ski the Olympic courses at Soldier
Hollow. By the way, they've been adding some easier
loops and cut-offs there that make the skiing somewhat
less kick-ass and more enjoyable for lower altitude
folks. Still the best grooming in the state, though!

Chris C.
SLC

--- GR wrote:
I was looking at Sun Valley also, but the flights to
there seemed to be
rather convoluted. Which method or connections did
you find to traveling
there?
gr
"pheski" wrote in message
...
My wife and I will be flying from Boston out West
to ski at Sun Valley
this
winter. We've never flown with skis.

Buy hard shell cases? Use soft cases and wrap in
something? Poles in some
form of container? Ship UPS ahead of time?

Other advice or words of wisdom?

Peter and Cindy











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"Ken Roberts" wrote in message ...
I've flown lots of times with skis and poles, using padded soft-pack ski
bags, and a reasonable approach to padding clothing around them -- and
mostly keeping the bindings facing inward.

Never had any damage to anything.

Ken

I have flown a few times with a full ski bag without it being refused
or being charged extra. The only piece of advice that I give in
addition to what has already has already been given is to keep loose
clothing away from the zipper as your bag will have a higher chance of
being searched and the security people's primary concern is not taking
care of your bag and will not mind catching material in the zipper and
damaging it.
--Matt

Cant help with advice on current practice and security checks.

I once flew from England to Salzburg Austria for a race at Altenmarkt.
Out one night and back the following night after the race.
I had a day pack holding race clothing and the boots in a plastic bag
came on the plane with me.
The local shop had new poles on order for me to pick up.
All that remained was to securely pack the skis for the hold.

I went to the baggage handlers office for advice on how to pack.
The skis were waxed with separators. They wrapped them for me with
my insulating foam split tubes, bound them with duct tape, put my plastic
wedges round the classic tips and taped that.
It went into an orange plastic sleeve which had covered a rolled carpet
and they taped that up.
They then put accident warning tape every 12 inches or so along the length
and finally their standard marker labels saying Keep On Top.
Then they smiled.

I checked in and watched them taken away by hand. Sitting on the plane
I watched the truck arrive just below me and my skis were on top.
They were gingerly handed over, first package into the hold.
Next time I saw them was at luggage collection.They handle skis all day
long.
I picked them up and they 'flopped'. 12 inch in from the front both skis
were
snapped. I left them there to pickup on my way home.

The ski shop worked wonders for me. The waxing tech loaned me his pair
to warmup and get used to the new poles. Literally on the start line he
rushed
up with a new pair of waxed skis compliments of the Atomic factory.
As usual I was last in my age group but I finished smiling, although I
stopped
when they took the skis away.

When I got home I claimed, and got new skis. A bargain from Dynastar which
later got stolen at Dobbiacco with my Swix Alu poles and they werent
insured.
At least the thief didnt get my solid Ski Tube.
Mike

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Mike wrote:

Then they smiled.

I checked in and watched them taken away by hand. Sitting on the plane
I watched the truck arrive just below me and my skis were on top.
They were gingerly handed over, first package into the hold.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
translation: everything else went in on top of your skis!


Next time I saw them was at luggage collection.They handle skis all day
long.
I picked them up and they 'flopped'. 12 inch in from the front both skis
were
snapped. I left them there to pickup on my way home.

-Mitch

Mitch Collinsworth wrote:
On Mon, 22 Sep 2003, Mike wrote:

Then they smiled.

I checked in and watched them taken away by hand. Sitting on the
plane I watched the truck arrive just below me and my skis were on
top.
They were gingerly handed over, first package into the hold.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
translation: everything else went in on top of your skis!

Yep, thats what I should have said. Thanks Mitch