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As a mom of five kids, I’ve learned I need careful organization systems for all their gear. When it comes to downhill skiing, and trying to keep track of everyone’s helmets, skis, boots, poles, gloves, goggles, and more, my organization not only keeps the garage looking better but also ensures we arrive at the ski hill with all our gear. Nothing spoils a big ski day better than a forgotten pair of boots or goggles. Whether you’ve got a small family or a large one, here’s my tips for keeping track of all your ski gear.
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The Annual Review
At the start of every ski season, I pull out all the ski gear, including whatever gear I’ve had in storage. I have each kid try on their snow suits, boots, and helmets. If their gear fits, it gets put neatly away (see next section). Any gear that doesn’t fit at the end of this review either gets put into storage for next year (if a child is likely to grow into it) or donated / sold (if it’s something that my younger kids have outgrown). I try to keep only one large plastic tote with boots / coats no one is wearing this year.
For example, this year my younger 3 kids all moved up one size in gear. This leaves me with several sets of skis/boots/helmets to sell. I had gear for the younger two to grow into but we had to go buy new skis and boots for my 12-year-old and a new helmet for my 15-year-old. We were able to get the skis and boots secondhand and the helmet on sale. I’ve got a couple pairs of boots back in storage along with a winter coat, and still need to find another pair of winter snow pants for one child.
Label Everything
Once I know that a set of gear fits a certain child, I put their name label on ALL their gear. A label goes inside their helmets, on the bottom of their boots, under their boots on their skis, inside their coats and snow pants and mitts, and even (if possible) on their goggles. This not only ensures I know whose gear is whose, but also that the kids can keep track of their own gear, and makes it easier to find their skis in the pile of skis at the resort. I also have my own name labels and my gear is labelled too.
How to Pack the Ski Gear
Once the gear is sorted and labeled, it’s time to put it away. Each person has one large reusable bag for their boots, helmet and goggles. Each person’s name gets written on the bag too. This bag then goes on the shelf in the garage, where it’s easy to grab and throw into the Jeep to head out skiing.
I have one large duffel bag for our ski apparel. All our snow pants go into the bag, along with some coats. My kids tend to wear a hoodie in the vehicle to the ski hill and then put their coat on once we get there. After skiing, they can ditch their coat (which may be wet) and put their warm, dry hoodie on again. One pocket in the duffel bag has everyone’s gloves and another pocket has balaclavas and RFID cards.
All our skis and poles hang in the garage on a wall rack beside the shelf for the boots and helmets. We have Velcro ski straps around all the skis to help keep them together while they’re hanging in the garage, sitting in the roof bin, and getting carried to and from the hill. I’ve also thought about putting the kids’ names on their straps around their skis, but so far, we just mix and match the colour straps.
So when we’re not using the ski gear, it’s neatly organized on the garage shelves and hooks or in one duffel bag and one plastic tote. That’s it!
Hitting the Ski Hill
When we decide that we’re heading skiing for the day, I simply check the duffel bag to make sure that it has the snow pants / coats for whoever is coming skiing. Then I pop open the garage door, toss the duffel bag and boot bags into the back of the Jeep, load the skis and poles into my roof bin, and in less than 10 minutes, we’re ready to hit the road for the local ski hill.
I like to book our passes online. We have RFID cards for most of the local mountains, so it’s easy to go onto the website and reload the cards. As I mentioned, I keep these cards in the duffel bag with the ski gear. At the ski hill, I pass out RFID cards and each person puts their card in their left pocket. We often drop the back seat in the Jeep so that the kids can sit in the vehicle to get their gear on (especially if it’s raining).
At the end of the ski day, when we get back home with all the gear, the skis go back in the rack. I often bring the boots and helmets (in their bags) into the house for a day to let them dry out. Our garage is cool, so the boots don’t dry as well there. Once the boots are dry, they go back on the shelf. I check all the gear in the duffel bag and, if it’s wet, hang it up to dry, then repack it in the bag and put it away.
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