How I Pack for a Ski Trip

Where do ski boots go? How do you pack the ski bag? What ski layers am I wearing?

Jan 23, 2026

∙ Paid

Before today’s letter, I want to give my deep condolences to the Jackson Hole and greater ski community who lost another wonderful human this week. Our hearts are with the friends and family of Max Martin, who was lost too soon.

On to todays letter..

Hello everyone, it’s Kellyn here. I’m packing for a ski trip.

Some of my favorite experiences have been on skis, outside, in amazing places. I’m so grateful to be able to take these magical vehicles for exploration to new and different mountains all around the world. I've also been wildly out of my comfort zone and cried a lot of some of the harder ski trips, just for a good dose of honesty here. If you’ve never skied fast while crying into the absorbent foam of your goggles, I do recommend it—it’s not the worst place to let it all out. But I digress. Here are some of the fun times on ski trips through the years:

And because it’s mid winter, maybe you too are packing for a ski trip. Or perhaps you’d like to go on a ski trip in the next few years and will file this information away for later.

You might be a well seasoned cast iron traveler, or this is all new and daunting to you—either way, I think reading about how someone else packs is so helpful and you might pick up a few tips or ideas for your own packing philosophy.

Now, I have become a bit of an over packer in recent years. But I wasn’t always this way. When I was younger, and had an overwhelming teachers-pet aura, I was insufferably proud at my ability to pack in one backpack for any trip. I picked tan REI zip-off pants that could go with everything, a reversible jacket to not need more than one, and chose pieces that could easily transition for day to night, just like Seventeen Magazine always lectured about. Mind you, “night” as a middle schooler meant virtually nothing. But when I got older and found my own style, I became an over-packer. In the grand scheme of things, there’s anything too wrong with it, as long as you’re under the weight limit and able to lift your own bag.

But there is something to be said for finding a happy balance of ultra minimal and maxing out your suitcase. Especially if you’re moving around on your trip, the feeling of drowning in stuff is miserable. I envy a intentional, minimalistic approach every time I’m asking myself why I thought I’d wear a bulky sweater I haven’t touched in years as I’m body slamming my duffle while someone—anyone— nearby plays tug of war with the zipper.

As you all know, I like nailing the role on vacation, and sometimes that means bringing something a little less practical for a little flair, a bit of drama, or to fullfill your vision for even just one specific photo op. Why not! But I’ve found a good 75% function to 25% flair ratio will get you there.

I recently went to Switzerland with my family for Christmas, and brought some extra festive, less functional pieces. The flair ratio tipped closer to 50% on this trip… but hey, it was the holidays!

I brought things like these fun (but less practical) Staud clogs, floofy faux-fur hat, TWO kilts (not necessary) and a few other fun and festive garments I never ended up wearing. This is because, at the end of a ski day—after the baselayers come off—most of the time you just want to go straight for pajamas. Or at least cozy clothes. So finding non-ski clothes that are soft and warm (that also aren’t sweats) is a really a good approach.

Today I’ll write about how I pick those clothes, what luggage I like, how I pack that luggage and what goes wear, what my current favorite base layers are, and what I’m wearing to the airport.

The Luggage

I usually do one ski bag, one checked bag, and a backpack.

I love my luggage from DB Journey— the ski bag is phenomenal and can link together with the suitcase for a handy centipedey system. My go-to ski backpack is this one from Raide.

I wrote more about various ski bags, suitcases, and backpacks below:

HERE

What Goes Where

Ski Bag

I start with my skis. I usually split them, tuck the breaks up, and lay them flat side-by -side next to the poles like so:

Then I put in the shovel blade, shovel handle, probe, and skins. I usually put my snow boots toward the bottom, as they’re a heavier item. Then I lay my ski jacket down, open with the outside of the jacket facing up, and lay my bibs outstretched (and another jacket if I’m bringing one) on top and roll it up so the inside of my shell jacket is now outside the little burrito roll of outerwear. My reasoning here is that if a little bit of grease or wax or muck from bindings or skis is pressed against my outerwear, it’ll just touch the inside of my jacket where I’m not worried about it marking. That’s just how I do it! I usually put a packing cube of base layers or mid layers, just to save room in my other bag. Here’s the full breakdown:

(More on my current favorite baselayers below)

Suitcase

In the checked bag is where I bring toiletries and other clothes, which is fairly minimal if the trip is all skiing. But usually there’s some city element, or part-two of the trip where I’ll want to bring along some fun non-ski clothes. This quickly takes up this bag.

Carry On

For my carry on and personal item, I bring my ski backpack and ski boots. If you’re wondering why you wouldn’t just put your ski boots in the ski bag, the thinking here is that if (when) your luggage gets lost, it’s easy to piece together/rent/borrow pretty much all other gear except for ski boots. Don’t even tempt the airline gods with putting them in the bag— they will smite you. I attach my velcro straps together and drape them over my backpack, taking them down in my hand when I walk through the aisle of the plane, as to not klonk the daylights out of the business class folks. Cody demonstrates the boot drape below, strolling through Paris: