Best Travel Hack I've Learned As A Ski/Snowboard Parent: A ShipSkis Review
Disclosure: This article includes affiliate links. I only recommend brands I know, love and trust. My goal is to help you find quality services that get you and your family out on the ski hill
When your child is a ski or snowboard competitor, travel becomes part of the sport. This winter, my teen son qualified for a freeride competition at Alyeska Ski Resort in Alaska. I bought the tickets, I booked the condo, I meditated to calm my nerves as solo-parenting this last minute trip, was bound to be an adventure for both of us.
If you’ve ever flown with ski gear, you know the routine. Ski bags the size of small kayaks. Boots slung over your shoulder. The awkward shuffle through airport check-in lines. And then the lingering anxiety that the one bag you absolutely need, might not make the same journey you do.
“We treat your skis like our own”
The Why
For a teen athlete preparing for competition… peace of mind matters. Ski equipment is personal. It’s tuned a certain way, familiar underfoot, and part of the confidence athletes carry into an event. When your child has trained all season for their event, potentially a single run lasting only a couple of minutes, the last thing you need is a baggage carousel surprise.
So… in my attempt to keep this adventure on the rails and ease my sons lost baggage anxiety, I decided to try something different.
Instead of hauling our skis, poles, helmets, gloves and all our bulky layers through the airport, I packed it all up in our double-ski bag and shipped it ahead using ShipSkis.
My teen was one happy camper when he received notice, his gear had arrived in Anchorage before he even left for the airport.
Anxiety calmed. Mood shifted. Trip elevated from the beginning.
The process
Was surprisingly simple. ShipSkis personalized concierge service took all the guess work out of the process and made last minute changes to our arrangement quick and easy.
We simply attached the shipping label mailed to us in our welcome package and left our ski bag out for FedEx pickup, a few days before our departure.
ShipSkis kept me consistently updated as to where our gear was in transit and when it arrived at our destination.
Not to mention the complimentary insurance, on-time guarantee and top notch customer service.
Note: If you are not comfortable leaving your ski bag out for pick up, you can drop your labeled bags off at your local FedEx office.
The happy side effect
Fully loaded, our double ski bag stands 86” tall and weighs 65 lbs. Letting someone else haul it to and from Alaska, literally lifted the weight off my shoulders!
No hassle jumping out of the vehicle at the airport drop-off.
No juggling gear and checking luggage before heading through security.
When we boarded our flight, we carried one small suitcase and two backpacks.
We arrived in Alaska lighter, calmer, and honestly a little less exhausted. Instead of worrying about whether the skis made the flight, we knew they were already waiting for us.
It sounds like a small difference, but it completely changed our travel experience. This peace of mind gave my son the mental space to relax and focus on preparing for his competition.
From my perspective, the biggest benefit was reducing friction from our travel days.
Solo-parenting this trip meant juggling moods, flight details, changing gates, carry-on luggage, jet-lag, food intake, hydration and a rental car that may or may not have been snow worthy. Removing all our bulky ski gear from the equation made our travel days run so much smoother.
Is shipping skis necessary for every ski trip? Probably not.
But for longer travel, solo-parenting trips, or competition events where gear matters and timing is tight, it’s a genuinely helpful option.
For us, it meant we could focus less on logistics and more on the experience of traveling together to Alaska for an unforgettable competition.
Positive core memory unlocked!
Be sure to take full advantage of the partnership I created with ShipSkis Mama!