An Oath

I do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Ullr, with lal, Bob Lee,
and bw as my witnesses, that I will NEVER EVER again check my ski
boots as baggage - abandoning them to the whims of indifferent
non-skiing baggage handlers - but will instead dutifully shepherd
them through the hazards and vagaries of airline travel as carry-on,
never allowing them to be separated from myself, lest I endure the
humiliation, pain, and ****-poor control of the inferior boots of
the rental counter.

I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion; so help me Ullr. In acknowledgment whereof I
have hereunto affixed my signature.

- Walter P. Askier


--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

Walt wrote:
I do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Ullr, with lal, Bob Lee,
and bw as my witnesses, that I will NEVER EVER again check my ski
boots as baggage - abandoning them to the whims of indifferent
non-skiing baggage handlers - but will instead dutifully shepherd
them through the hazards and vagaries of airline travel as
carry-on, never allowing them to be separated from myself, lest I
endure the humiliation, pain, and ****-poor control of the
inferior boots of the rental counter.

Geez, I thought that was SOP. Check everything but yer prized footwear.

Schmoe wrote:
Geez, I thought that was SOP. Check everything but yer prized footwear.

I do think it is funny though when I see people carrying on boots that
are a decade old and the quality of rental dumpster.

Mike... 8J

--
See my ski photography and Breckenridge photoblog at:
http://PowderDay.us
Carpe powder-diem

Sven Golly wrote:
"Schmoe" wrote

Geez, I thought that was SOP. Check everything but yer prized footwear.

Yes, and you should change the battery in your smoke detector once a
year too. Unfortunately, some of us need to be staring at a burned-down
house before the concept really sinks in.

Unless you're on a direct flight?

Well, not necessarily.

I was booked on Northwest out of Detroit, changing planes in
Minneapolis. Both are NW hubs, and the baggage handling *should* have
been fairly routine, almost as good as a direct flight. Until I got
bumped and rerouted via Dallas. Changing planes. And airlines. So,
you never know what may happen once you check your luggage.

I'm not taking that risk again. Rental boots suck. I have newfound
respect for all those newbies flailing around - I can't ski on the
rental crap either.

--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

Sven Golly wrote:
"Schmoe" wrote:
Geez, I thought that was SOP. Check everything but yer
prized footwear.

Unless you're on a direct flight?

I've had luggage lost on direct flights, too. Never underestimate the
power of airlines to screw up. My favorite lost luggage story was on a
return flight from Jackson to Houston (direct, as I recall). The plane
was overweight so they shipped our luggage on a different airline. Our
luggage made it to Houston, but not to our terminal. We had 42 people
with absolutely no luggage. Good thing it was at the end of the trip.

I can fit my boots, helmet, goggles, gloves, shell pants, thermals,
socks, turtleneck, etc in my carry-on. That's enough to ski the first
day. My wife refused to do that on a trip to Steamboat one year. She
was mighty ****ed after spending the better part of the first day
trying to track down her missing luggage which had her boots, etc. The
airline had promised they'd get the missing bags to us by 9:00AM.
Naturally, since this was a powder day, it didn't show up until after
the lifts closed. I, on the other hand, was more than happy to use the
airline's voucher for a free set of rental skis. Came in handy when I
got that core shot at the end of the day when I hit a rock in the
not-quite-bottomless powder. Only plus side to my wife's experience
was when we rented her skis that evening (instead of the night before)
the shop rat accidentally comped her skis for the week instead of
giving us the discount rate for our group (Texas Ski Council). And no,
I have not figured out how to replicate that trick...

On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 12:18:56 -0500, Walt
wrote:


I do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Ullr, with lal, Bob Lee,
and bw as my witnesses, that I will NEVER EVER again check my ski
boots as baggage - abandoning them to the whims of indifferent
non-skiing baggage handlers - but will instead dutifully shepherd
them through the hazards and vagaries of airline travel as carry-on,
never allowing them to be separated from myself, lest I endure the
humiliation, pain, and ****-poor control of the inferior boots of
the rental counter.

I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion; so help me Ullr. In acknowledgment whereof I
have hereunto affixed my signature.

- Walter P. Askier
And the airlines are getting worse. A friend of mine lost
her luggage on a United flight out of Atlanta Xmas day and
just got it back yesterday


"I am Homer of Borg. You will be assim...ooooohhh, donut"!

Schmoe wrote:
Walt wrote:

I do hereby solemnly swear in the name of Ullr, with lal, Bob Lee,
and bw as my witnesses, that I will NEVER EVER again check my ski
boots as baggage - abandoning them to the whims of indifferent
non-skiing baggage handlers - but will instead dutifully shepherd
them through the hazards and vagaries of airline travel as
carry-on, never allowing them to be separated from myself, lest I
endure the humiliation, pain, and ****-poor control of the
inferior boots of the rental counter.


Geez, I thought that was SOP. Check everything but yer prized footwear.

I carry on my boots, plus 1 pair ski socks, and base layers top and
bottom stuffed inside the boots. I also put bib pants and gloves in the
bag. That way, even if they screw up, I'm good to go for one day.

Dave

I've never had luggage lost, either...but I'm considering taking my
boots in carryon next time. Problem is that my Isosceles bag, which I
love, is pretty damn big. I guess the best idea is to leave the middle
compartment mostly empty (helmet can go in checked baggage) and make
sure I'm not on a tiny plane.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.

On 21 Feb 2005 23:40:18 GMT, Sven Golly
wrote:

"TexasSkiNut" wrote in
roups.com:

I've had luggage lost on direct flights, too. Never underestimate the
power of airlines to screw up.

Note to self. Pack boots in carry-on for flight to SLC.

Funny thing is I've never lost anything on an airline except delayed
luggage on a flight home from Europe. Now I DO have a horror story from
Swiss Rail using their FlyRail baggage service. In a word. DON'T.

I thought the Air France baggage handling at DeGaulle was pretty
abysmal, but it took Swiss Rail to truly plumb the depths....

bw

Let Mikey Ski It! wrote:
Schmoe wrote:

Geez, I thought that was SOP. Check everything but yer prized footwear.


I do think it is funny though when I see people carrying on boots that
are a decade old and the quality of rental dumpster.

Nuts, Mikey - that's nearly new. Mine are more en 30 years out. At least
some parts. I've got 3-4 pairs of shells/liners for parts under the
cabin, but dam, real Flexons are getting scarce in dumpsters these days.
Don't know what I'll do if I can't get parts in 30 more years - might
just have to hang it up prematurely.