Yes, we know it's supposed to be Shoesday Tuesday; however, in planning our posts for 2018, we realized 2 things: (1) that we were quickly running out of substantive Shoesday Tuesday posts (and we want our Shoesday Tuesday posts to have some substance); and (2) we have a fair number of travel related posts that we wanted to feature. As a result, we're going to start splitting our Tuesday posts between shoes and travel. We hope you enjoy!
To be fair, we initially were going to introduce Travel Tuesday w/ a Shoesday Tuesday crossover discussing our favorite shoes for travel. The flu determined that post wasn't going to happen so here we are introducing Travel Tuesday with advice on how to pack for a ski vacation. #lifehappens
Given that we've recently discussed how to survive winter workouts and Katie 1 is going to Lake Tahoe in late February or early March (dates are still being discussed) we felt like now is a good time to discuss what she's planning on packing and why. We also felt like this post was timely because there are some other fashun bloggers that have posted pretty crap what to pack for a ski vacation posts (and then only featured #ad Instagram photos of themselves frolicking in the snow but no actual pictures of them on the slopes, but we digress). Based upon all of the bad advice out there, we wanted to provide you with a nice practical guide on how we plan and pack for ski vacations.
Let's start with the obvious, planning/packing for a ski vacation can take a little more work given the relatively short time-frame in which you can take said vacation (typically winter only folks!) and the additional stuff you have to pack (ski clothing is bulky AF so don't plan on carrying on). Because planning happens way before the packing, let's discuss that first.
Planning:
We live in the Midwest and while there are small ski resorts within about an hour of Chicago, if we want anything resembling a challenge, we have to travel somewhere else. Thus, we usually start planning our ski vacations in November. At least for Katie 1, this is also when she and her husband begin discussing all travel plans for the upcoming year. Planning a ski trip in the greater context of annual travel is particularly helpful because it gives a barometer of how many vacation days we can allocate to said trip. Knowing how many vacation days we can allocate to a ski trip is a great jumping off point for planning because it dictates the location. Our rule of thumb:
More vacation days = more exotic ski destination.
Less vacation days = looks like we're staying in North America.
Why have we found this to be a good rule of thumb? It's simple - price, jet lag and (in Katie 1's case) travel partners (aka husbands) that don't ski or don't love it as much. If we're spending the money to go to Europe and dealing with the time change it simply doesn't make sense to make it a weekend trip. In order to get the full value of that vacation dollar spend, we think you need to spend at least a week, if not 10 days in Europe in order to get the most bang for your buck. A longer trip will also allow you to see more than just the slopes because you can alternate your time between skiing and sightseeing. Conversely, given flight times and doable time changes, if you've got a long weekend, pretty much anywhere in North America is fair game (also - if we have any European readers, flip this logic when planning your trip).
Once you've nailed down how many days you can allocate to your trip, what other things do you consider? Below is the list of factors that we consider when choosing our destination:
- Overall budget
- Cost of flights
- Length of flights
- Cost of accommodations
- Cost of lift tickets, rentals, etc.
- Proximity of resort to non-ski specific things to do
- Variety of runs
- Things to do apres ski
How does this work in practice? Let's discuss Katie 1's 2017 and 2018 ski trips as examples. In 2017, she knew she had longer vacations planned due to back to back weddings so her vacation day allowance meant that her ski trip needed to be over a long weekend. She ultimately decided on Presidents' Day weekend to further stretch our vacation time.
Once she nailed down the vacation time she could dedicate to the trip, she started looking at destinations. Given that Katie 1's 2017 ski trip was her first after an almost 7 year break from skiing she knew she wanted a destination that had a larger variety of beginner/intermediate slopes. She also wanted a destination that either had stuff or was close to stuff that wasn't skiing to make it a vacation for both her and her husband. She also wanted a total trip cost of less than $2,000. Due to it's reputation as a family friendly destination and it's proximity to Montreal, she ultimately decided on Mont Tremblant, Quebec. Mont Tremblant ended up being perfect because she got to enjoy 2.5 days in Montreal and had 2 full days of skiing in Mont Tremblant. Price-wise Mont Tremblant worked as well because, although it's very close to the U.S. border, Presidents' Day wasn't such a thing in terms of increased prices. Added bonus - the U.S. dollar was (and remains) very strong against the Canadian dollar so her money went further in Canada than it would have in the U.S. (for example, the total cost of her 2 day lift ticket was around $90, this is less than a single day lift ticket at a similarly situated resort in the U.S.)
She's following that same logic and reasoning for 2018, although she's staying in the U.S. Given their schedules, the cost of flights and hotel, and the potential to vacation with friends, she and her husband have decided on a March trip to Lake Tahoe. Why? See below:
- Flights to Reno/Tahoe are extremely expensive. Katie 1's in-laws live in the SF Bay area so they're going to fly into SFO. This saves a substantial amount of money and gives her husband a chance to see his parents.
- Lake Tahoe is more than just a ski town and gambling is legal. Katie 1's husband likes to gamble and Katie 1 likes to ski. Rooms at the resort/casinos in the area are significantly cheaper than other accommodations and are conveniently located near ski areas. Thus, Katie 1 and her husband have plenty of stuff to do and their room is going to be less than $200/night.
- Lake Tahoe area resorts Heavenly and Northstar are owned by Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts owns Wilmot Mountain which is about an hour from Chicago. Vail Resorts allows you to deduct the cost of your Wilmot lift ticket from the cost of your lift ticket at other Vail Resorts (including Heavenly and Northstar). As a result, Katie 1's Saturday ski trips to Wilmot (which are trips she would take anyway) end up being free.
- Katie 1 and her husband have friends in the Bay Area that ski and (provided schedules work out), this trip may also double as a vacation with friends.
So once she's picked a destination, how does Katie 1 stay on budget? In order to keep her on budget, she keeps a vacation spreadsheet which contains flight and hotel costs. It also includes the cost of her lift tickets and any equipment rentals (see packing section for more on that) and other known costs. Using this information, she tries to purchase as many things up front as she can so that she can have a better idea of her available discretionary funds once she's arrived at her destination.
Packing:
Truth: Unless you're renting literally all of your ski gear (including clothing), you're going to have to check a bag. Just accept it. In order to mitigate this cost, Katie 1 will often try to fly Southwest or Delta (she had a Delta Amex which gives her 2 free checked bags). She knows she will have to check at least 1 big suitcase to accommodate all of her clothing. She also knows that if she brings her own gear (i.e. skis, boots, poles, and helmet) she's going to have to check at least 3 bags. While bringing her own ski clothing is a non-negotiable, Katie 1 recommends doing a little comparison prior to deciding whether or not to bring her own gear.
For example, last year when she went to Mont Tremblant, she and her husband checked 4 bags total. For whatever reason, it was cheaper for her to check 2 bags and for her husband to check 2 bags. This ended up being a total of $100 each way on Air Canada. $50 of that amount was a sunk cost because she and her husband would have each had to check a bag regardless of whether or not she brought her own skis. Thus, she compared the cost of the additional checked bags ($50 each way) to the cost of rental gear. Rental gear was $67 CAD (about $55) per day. Thus, it ended up being cheaper for Katie 1 to bring her own stuff (yes she only saved $10 but she's also more comfortable in her own gear and it's hard to quantify that).
This year it looks like she's going to fly Southwest or Delta both ways so her checked bag fee will likely be $0. Ski rental prices at Heavenly are around $65/day. Katie 1 will be bringing her own gear.
Now that we've established that Kate 1 is bringing her own gear, what does her packing list look like? Glad you asked. Her packing list for a 4 day trip to San Francisco and Lake Tahoe is below:
- Non-Ski Clothing
- 2 pairs of jeans
- 2 pairs of leggings
- 2 long sleeve tshirts
- 2 cashmere sweaters
- 2-3 tshirts or tank tops to layer
- Pajamas
- Socks
- Underwear
- Mid-weight coat (if necessary)
- Swimsuit
- Ski Clothing
- 2 sets of Sweaty Betty ski base layers
- 1 set of thin long underwear (weather dependent)
- 2 pairs of ski socks
- 2 sports bras
- Ski pants
- Ski jacket (will do double duty as heavy coat)
- Toiletries
- Including plenty of lip balm and moisturizer
- Make-up
- Glasses & Contact solution
- Brushes/flat iron
- Shoes
- UGGs (will double as travel shoes and snow boots)
- Ballet Flats
- Non-athletic sneaker or booties
- Ski Gear
- Skis
- Boots
- Poles
- Helmet
- Goggles
- Accessories
- Beanie for skiing (if necessary)
- Ski Gloves
- Balaclava
- Regular Gloves
- Cute beanie
- Jewelry
All of these items will be allocated among her checked size hard sided suitcase, her ski boot bag (which is large enough to accommodate her goggles, helmet, ski pants, and if necessary jacket), and her ski bag.
Katie 1 realizes this post is super long but she wanted it to be content driven rather than a bunch of links to wildly impractical "ski clothing." Hopefully it's helpful!
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