Welcome to my world on the road. I’ve been a snow travel journalist for over 20 years and yet I pack like a rookie. I still panic when I get on the ground that I don’t have enough, despite taking 40kgs of clothes I swear I’ll wear, knowing I’ll wear the same thing daily anyway.
I was so terrified of doing myself an injury ascending and descending the snow laden hill to the FIS Freestyle World Cup at Deer Valley, by not having enough traction under my current snow boots, that I bought not one but two pairs on sale at Nordstrom Rack upon arrival stateside. Then I discovered I had snow mobile access to the site, traction not needed and then had to schlep said boots across three states.
Speaking of boots, one good thing I did do is pack just my ski boots and rent skis at each location, it made carrying my gear around a hell of a lot easier. Truth is, I’ve always been a last minute packer, but that comes with it’s own issues, especially when you pull your gear out and find half of it missing, broken or unwashed from the last time you went skiing.
For the past five weeks I’ve been stepping in and out of my circa 2015 Helly Hansen ski jacket because the zip is broken. If I undo the zip completely (which I can’t) the jacket will never do up again, so I resorted to just stepping in and out of the jacket with the zip pulled half way down to get it on and off and prayed no-one was filming me for Jerry of the Day each time I removed it at the mid-mountain lodge for lunch.
It’s just one of those items I have not beared to part with, I love it so much (though I may or may not have finally left it behind in a hotel this very morning).
Like my SkBoot Bag. I honestly can’t remember when I first discovered this amazing invention from Australian, Caroline Graham. The SKBoot bag is made for ski boots and is super sturdy with side zip pockets, a front zip pocket and an interior that has room for everything.
I store my boots, base layers, ski pants and jacket all rolled up and then put my gloves and goggles in the shearling lined interior zip compartment and can even fit my helmet. There’s a pull up handle and the bag is then transported on wheels. Genius, especially for when you choose to take your boots but rent skis on the road.
Only they don’t make the SKBoot anymore and I can’t live without it, so much so that when I hauled it out of my storage shed the day I was leaving, I realised one of the zippers was jammed, no matter how much WD40 I put on it. So I just chose to use it with one side compartment open and empty flapping in the wind and went about my ski business smelling like a diesel truck.
Of course, being a last minute packer I also had a conniption when I realised I didn’t have a helmet. As we all know, if you do hit your head while wearing a helmet then you have to get a new helmet as it has now been compromised.
I hit my head over a year ago while skiing, got a mild concussion, rather than the TBI (or death) I would have got without a helmet. Typical me should have known to get another helmet then and there but I didn’t ski again until now and of course, left it to the last minute.
I’ve been obsessed with the Smith Vantage helmet since I borrowed one from a mate for a last minute backcountry day I did in New Zealand. Super comfortable and fits my giant cranium with ease plus it has the MIPS technology so if I conk my giant head I’m less likely to get a traumatic brain injury.
But you try finding a helmet in a large size online during January in Australia. Thankfully the guys at Snowscene in Brisbane had recently opened a SMITH Bar that serves up goggles and helmets in real life so I figured they’d have stock on hand.
Even then I was ordering late, soooo late, hours before leaving late. So I had to get it sent to my hotel I was staying at in Sydney the night before my o/s flight (which they did with ease and the hotel held it for me until I arrived). Problem solved.
Did I mention I left my credit card in the same Sydney hotel and only realised once I was mid flight to Japan? Or that my glasses (I’m blind as a bat) lost an arm two weeks into the trip and I only had enough contact lenses for ski days?
I left my makeup brushes in my bathroom at home and took to applying eyeshadow on the road with a lip gloss brush – it didn’t end well, in fact it ended with co-agulated chunks on my lids.
Or that I bought one of those hand vacuum pump compressing bags to pack my long puffer in, then told the internet to go buy it because I was so impressed with myself. Only to then have it rip apart on me? Oh, I never wore the puffer either. Never. Like my gym gear. God knows why I put my gym gear in my suitcase, downward dog was never in my itinerary.
If I can give one word of advice, it’s take hand warmers, the stick on kind, and place them on the back of your phone while you’re skiing and snowboarding. It will save your phone battery and make it last longer.
You’re welcome.
