Air Travel w Skis as baggage (was best ski bag?)

Previous rec.skiing.backcountry topic on best ski bag turned to a
discussion on air travel ski baggage hassles.

Here is what Delta's offical policy is with regard to ski equipment:

One item of ski or snowboard equipment is accepted as part of your
free checked baggage allowance.
One item of ski or snowboard equipment is defined as: One ski/pole
bag or one snowboard bag, and one boot bag.
These combined items must meet the standard free baggage allowances
for weight and number of pieces or normal excess baggage charges will
apply.

http://www.delta.com/traveling_check...oods/index.jsp

Other airlines have similar rules. For us Nordic skiers, a big problem
is the term "one". Depending on my ski holiday, I may "need" two or
three pairs of skis, boots and poles. E.g. mountain touring skis,
track or light touring classic skis and skating skis. In multi-ski
trips, it becomes "don't ask, don't tell". The number of ski issue is
even more of a problem for those traveling to multiple event races
where one may want to be bringing a couple of pairs of classic skis and
a couple of pairs of skating skis.

I suspect that the best strategy in traveling with multiple skis is to
keep the weight of the bag as low as you can so that the agent doesn't
feel obligated to look inside, and not pack it with too many clothes so
that it looks like a stuffed sausage.

The other downside of multiple skis is that would become more
problematic if you need to claim damage. Of course, the other downside
is that on international travel the breakage compensation is based on
weight. What is the airline liabilty on braking your 2 kg Atomic RS11
+ bindings skating skis ?

Edgar