After countless winters being tossed into my frozen roof rack, shoved into various overstuffed trunks, and flown to different countries for the sake of chasing snow, the old raggedy royal blue ski bag my dad passed down to me was shredded beyond the point of a duct tape repair job. I said goodbye to my well-loved beater bag (well kind of, it’s still in the basement for nostalgic reasons), and started searching for a new ski bag that my bindings wouldn’t tear wide open—or, gasp, one that would effortlessly roll through an airport terminal. Luckily, there are plenty of fully-loaded ski bags on the market that do all these things and so much more.
With climate change making winter weather problems impossible to rely on, a ski bag is an essential piece of gear for any powder chaser. A good one will protect your gear in transit, and the best ones simplify the schlepping of skis, boots, poles, and even outerwear, base layers, and other items into one organized piece of carry so you don’t have to worry about any of your precious (and pricey) ski gear showing up on the baggage carousel with dents and scratches.