You’ve just arrived at the ski resort. Unless you’re one of the first there, you probably have a nice little walk to the lodge or lift, especially if there aren’t any shuttles. You’re looking at all of your ski gear and the hike ahead of you and you’re thinking, “How am I going to haul all of this without dropping my gear everywhere and feeling like a fool?” Or perhaps you're one of the many skiers getting into the backcountry and you’re trying to figure out how to get your skis onto your backpack neatly as you see in ski movies. No worries! We’ve all been there. With this definitive How to Carry Skis guide, we’ll help you get your ski-carrying skills dialed before you leave the house!

Carry Your Skis by Your Side

This method of carrying your skis is best used if you only have a short walk. Depending on your setup, skis can be quite heavy. Carrying them by your side over long distances can get tiring, even if you’ve been hitting the gym.

Step One

To start, hold your skis parallel to each other with the bases facing each other. Place the bases against one another. As you place your bases together, make sure that the brakes for your bindings interlock—this will help keep your skis together. Be sure to take note of which ski brakes are overlapped with the other. This ski will be your “outside” ski when you carry. It should look like the photo above, with th ite ski on the right in the photo being your “outside” ski.

Step Two

Next, hold your skis in your hand between the toe and heel piece of your binding, feeling for the balance point. Make sure that the outside ski’s brakes are overlapped with the brakes of the inside ski. This will prevent your inside ski from sliding back and causing issues. Be careful not to pinch your hand with the edges of your ski as you compress the camber!

Step Three

Strap ’em if you got ’em! Before you head out, if you have a ski strap, feel free to add one above the toe piece of your binding where your ski’s bases naturally come together to add stability. You could also put it between the bindings to compress the camber to avoid pinching yourself. If you put a strap in the cambered portion, don’t leave it there for an extended period of time (like pre-strapping the skis before you leave the house), as this can potentially mess with your skis’ camber over time. Check the photo to see a properly placed ski strap.

Step Four

Take your poles in your free hand and get walking! There’s snow to be skied!

Over the Shoulder

This one can seem tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, I’m sure you’ll agree that over-the-shoulder is the easiest way to carry your skis. It is great for weight distribution. After getting this method dialed, you’ll be ready to handle longer walks from the parking lot and hikes on the mountain - there's a reason this one is called The Local.

Step One

This carrying technique starts just like the previous one. Hold your skis vertically and place the bases against one another. Make sure to take note of which ski brake is underneath the other. The ski with the brake that is underneath will be your “top” ski when you put them up on your shoulder. It should look like the earlier photo, with the ski on the right being your top ski. This will prevent the top ski from sliding forward while you’re carrying them.

Step Two

Once you’ve taken note of which ski is your top ski, hold the skis together and lift them by the portion of the skis that are in front of the toe piece and between the bindings. Then place them on your shoulder with the binding toe piece behind your shoulder.

It’s best to hold the skis with the toe behind your shoulder because there is more ski in front of your bindings than behind them, so the weight of the skis will feel balanced. Also, the toe piece of your binding will be much more friendly to your shoulder than the heel!

Now, if you’ve done everything the correct way, you can brace your skis with the same arm that your skis are on and apply light pressure on your top ski against your bottom ski, which will help keep them both secure and balanced. This frees up your other arm to carry your poles, ski boots, or other gear.

Step Three

Straps, straps, straps. If you have a ski strap, before you sling those sticks over your shoulder, slap a ski strap on near the tips of your skis where the ski bases naturally make contact with each other. If there’s anything you should take away from this guide, it’s that you can never have enough ski straps. If you don’t have any, I highly recommend you buy some. They are super versatile tools that can help with far more than holding some skis together (although they’re great at doing that too!).

Carry Your Skis With Your Poles

Also known as "the suitcase," this one requires a ski strap (I told you to buy some) and is a clever, intuitive way to carry both your skis and poles together in one hand. It will have your friends looking at you with jealousy for not thinking of it first! If you ever find yourself heli-skiing, this is the way you attach your skis and poles together to easily add and remove them from the heli basket.

Step One

Just like the previous methods, place your skis together base-to-base with the brakes interlocking.

Step Two

Next, take the wrist straps of your poles and feed the tips of your skis through the loops. This can be a little tricky with some wider, more rockered skis like the ones I use here, but as you’ll see from the photos, it can be done. Slide the loops down the skis at least a foot or two, depending on where your bindings are mounted. Keep in mind you’ll be strapping the tips of your ski poles above the baskets to your skis and holding them near the middle of your poles. Because of this, you’ll want to make sure the tips of your poles go past the middle balance point of your skis.

Skis and poles ready for ski strap:

Step Three

Strap the tips of both of your poles to both of your skis using your ski strap. Make sure to tie them down pretty tight so they don’t slip. Done correctly, it should look like the photo above.

Step Four

Grab your poles, feel for the balance point, and get your butt up to the hill to shred that powder!

Backpack Carry Methods

The next two ski carry options I’m going to describe utilize a backpack, in case you need to gain vertical up steep slopes that you wouldn't be able to skin up. These methods can be used by ski mountaineers and split boarders alike. Lightweight ski-specific packs with attachment points are perfect for taking extra gloves, avalanche rescue gear, and a first aid kit for those long days in the backcountry. Most even have a goggle pocket or sleeve for a lens swap with easy access. If you're a backcountry skier, it goes without saying that you should already have avalanche safety gear - a beacon, shovel, and probe - along with any ice tools you may need (such as an ice axe). An additional piece of avalanche gear that is designed to carry skis, as well as your shovel and probe, is the avalanche airbag. If you’re traveling in backcountry terrain, I strongly recommend you look into getting one. Avy packs usually have a removable airbag. I will describe in detail how to carry skis using both a standard touring pack and an avalanche airbag (avy pack).

The A-Frame

If you’ve ever watched a movie that features a ski mountaineer bootpacking a couloir or ridgeline in the backcountry, you’ve probably seen the A-Frame in action. This is a fairly straightforward way to get your skis on your back using almost any backpack that has cinch straps on its sides. Ideally, you’ll want two sets of cinch straps on the upper and lower portions of the pack to help distribute heavy loads.

The only downside to this carrying method is if you have skis that are more forward-mounted (like mine), you carry the risk of potentially bonking yourself in the head with your skis if your setup is loose or improper.

Step One

Make sure your cinch straps are unbuckled. Place the upper cinch strap underneath the toe piece of your binding and the lower cinch strap behind the heel piece of your binding. Buckle the cinch straps and tighten ’em up. This will prevent the skis from slipping out from your pack while you’re carrying them.

Step Two

If you have a ski strap, now is a great time to attach the tips of your skis together to create the iconic A-Frame. If you forgot your ski strap, you can still carry your skis like this in an unattached fashion, but I’ve found you’ll end up hitting the back of your legs quite frequently. Not fun. Don’t forget your ski straps/voile straps!

Step Three

Put on your pack as you normally would, but be mindful of not hitting the back of your head with your skis. Next, adjust the backpack's shoulder straps and/or compression straps to help achieve maximum comfort whilst spreading the load of the pack. Secure your hip belt and chest straps and you’re ready to go! Make sure to close up any back panels or zippers, lest you lose your puffy jacket or extra layer somewhere along the way. Gloves can be tucked in the main compartment, while safety equipment should be kept within a pack's quick-access pocket.

How to Carry Skis Diagonally

Many smaller packs and avy packs (mine included) feature a diagonal carry style and will specify not to carry your skis using the A-Frame. It’s important to heed this warning because the A-Frame method will prevent the airbag feature from functioning as designed. The diagonal carry works great and is my preferred method of carrying skis on my back, but unless you have an avy pack, the "best method" comes down to personal preference.

Step One

Put your skis together base-to-base, like you would if you were carrying them by hand. Slap a ski strap on top to add some stability.

Step Two

Remove the upper carrying strap from its stowaway in the pack and unbuckle it. Seat this strap underneath the toe piece of your bindings. Buckle the strap and tighten it down. Wrap the bottom cinch strap that is diagonal from the upper loop around your skis just behind the heel piece of your bindings, buckle, and tighten down. It should look like the photo above.

Step Three

Once you’ve strapped your skis, put on your backpack as you normally would with your hip belt and chest strap secure. The skis should feel balanced and comfortable and not interfere with walking.

Now you know all the secrets to carrying your gear properly! If you have any other questions or want to perfect your setup, reach out to a Ski Expert here on Curated. As Shane McConkey once said, get out on something tall, “ski down there and jump off somethin’ for cryin’ out loud!”