SCHLEPPING SERIES

I'm talking 'bout BAGS

Hello everyone!! Kellyn here. I’m writing to you from back home in Colorado.

Before I get to today’s letter, can we all give Hadley a big round of applause for what a phenomenal job she’s doing announcing the Freeride World Tour?! What a daunting task that she is making look easy. The TOGS fam is so proud of you!

We know her!

---

After schlepping a ski bag, backpack, surprisingly sturdy duty-free souvenir bag, and suitcase all over Japan for the last two weeks, I thought it was only fitting to write about BAGS.

This has to be a part one of a longer series because the world of bags is colossal and if you’re anything like me (I know you are, TOGS fam) you need the right bag for every circumstance. A classy rolling carry on for city trips, a tastefully rugged weekender for ski trips, an airport specific crossbody for your passport, a backcountry ski pack for day trips, a backcountry ski pack for hut trips, a kind of outdoorsy kind of city-ish purse for mountain towns, an actually pursey purse for cities, 600 tote bags, yadda yadda I could go on.

So here is part one of the SCHLEPPING SERIES. All my favorite bags for all sorts of occasions and circumstances. And boy do I love bags.

The Yak Works catalog via @outdoorarchive

and that logo !

I’ll start with this letter on bags for ski trips, as it is relevant for many of us this time of year.

Much like the apologue of a frog in a pot of slowly boiling water, unable to perceive danger until it is cooked alive, global warming slowly simmers the sweet mountain town outside my window in the same manner. People rejoice about wearing shorts in February and all file one by one to Japan to chance skiing actual snow, when we already live at the base of a ski resort. Sigh. Sorry no* doom and gloom in this letter, we get enough of that from every angle as it is.

*more

The point I was trying to make was that most of us are going to have to travel to ski, if we don’t have to already. And we are certainly the privileged ones.

But the thing about packing for something with as many moving parts and items of gear as skiing, is that it’s not simple. So I’m going to break it down. Here’s what I do.

Carry On—

Two methods I use here.

1. Wear your ski backpack as a carry on and hold your ski boots as your personal item. (They count as a personal item, I promise)

2. Wear a bigger boot bag as your carry on (with ski boots inside) so you can bring more things, and flatten your ski backpack and put it inside your checked ski bag.

Cody demonstrating the boots draped over the carry on backpack by their connected straps, and suitcases voile’d together in Paris

I went with option two for this Japan trip because I was testing out a new boot bag from Away- it was on the larger size for me, but I was able to fit so much more, including that large green fireman clasp coat for the city which I would have otherwise had to wear on the plane in order to bring it. And it held my helmet, which was convenient.

The case for bringing your ski boots with you in a carry on or as a personal item is that if your checked luggage gets lost with your ski boots inside, you are shite outta luck. Rental skis are better than rental boots. Same argument if your luggage is damaged and your boots take a hit.

The first airplane required ski trip I went on, I checked my ski boots not knowing what the norms were and was gently* berated by my friends. I learned my lesson but hoping to pass it along without the beration.

*could have been more gentle

What I put in my carry on bag changes with each trip, but usually I include my puffy jacket layer for an airplane pillow, sunglasses, camera(s), laptop, transceiver, and helmet. Your transceiver and helmet could get damaged in your checked bag, and it’s best not to risk it with those ones.

Ski Backpack—