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Carry Your Skis / Poles Easily and Safely Without Skewering Someone
By Mike Beaudet

As simple as it might appear to the inexperienced, injuries due to the way we carry snow skis and poles, to and from ski resorts, can be avoided, here is how an American Ski Instructor in France teaches it in ski lessons.

The first thing to know is that travelling with skis, boots and poles is not an easy thing to accomplish even for the best of skiers. That in mind, we will keep safety and ease of transport as our goal along with trying to look like the real “ski pro” that you are!

Preparation phase:

• Place your skis with the ski tips up and the bottoms, the “base” that is, facing each other. You can obtain inexpensive “Velcro ski strips”, (you will need 2) from your ski hire shop, and you will place them on the top and on the bottom of both skis to strap them together, ski bindings to the outside. Take your ski poles at the straps (“loops” that go around your wrists) and place the loop on each respective ski then tie them together with a short piece of cord around the “waist” or middle of the ski. The following is very important for travel by car or plane. You will need to purchase a “ski bag” of good quality to protect the integrity of the binding mechanism. You want to avoid road dirt or salt entering and affecting the safety features of your bindings. It is always a good idea to have the ski shop adjust and verify your bindings before starting to ski on the first day of your ski holidays. Ski bags, along with protecting your equipment, will also be a place that you can put extra socks, hats, gloves and other unbreakable items as there is always room to do so. Last word of advice put your socks, gloves and hat in a plastic bag so they do not get wet, on the way to the ski area!
• Boots go into a boot bag along with other essentials, tooth paste, shaving cream, and ski goggles (so they don’t get squashed)…because you will always want to take your boot bag with you on the plane. If your ski bag and luggage are lost, you can always hire skis, but your own boots are difficult to replace.
• Your clothes and kit will go into a “back pack” the size and shape is a personal thing but you need a good one with dorsal support and pockets on the side. This leaves your hands free and you will need them.
• Make sure that all bags and pack have the same identifying mark (like a flag or patch or even a badge of your old school) and all your contact info sewn in the material and in plain view around the handles or pick up straps!

At the Airport:

• Best bet is to get a caddy and wheel your stuff over to the ticket counter, take a “stretch tie-down strap with hooks on both ends” this will help keep things in place on the caddy and comes in handy for a lot of other things on a ski trip!

At the ski area:

• After you have taken all your ski gear out of the ski bag have it checked at the local ski shop and arrange to pick it up in the morning if work needs to be done on the skis. Don’t forget to take your boots as the ski technicians can’t adjust your bindings without them!
• The fun part is carrying your skis over your shoulder in a way that your girlfriend thinks you’re a real “ski pro”….and your friends get intimidated by your prowess.

Carrying skis:

• Place your skis standing ski tips straight up, (Velcro straps still on) and after looking behind you swing the tails of your skis behind you. Bring your skis to a somewhat horizontal position with the “toe piece” front part of your binding behind your shoulder. Let the skis rest on the shoulder with the tails at an angle that allows them to be over your head with the tips pointed down in front of you! You will carry your ski poles together in the other hand. Make sure that every time you turn around; be sure there is no one behind that could be hurt.

Now that you know how to do it, be very careful around others that may not.

Mike Beaudet also known as “Megeve Mike” and is the founder of Ski Pros Megeve. Megeve is located in French Alps, at the foot of Mt. Blanc, just a 1 hour drive from Geneva International Airport. Day ski tours, private and small group ski lessons for skiing enthusiasts of all levels and ages in the French Alps, Italian Alps and Europe.

Mike has an extensive background in skiing, teaching group and private ski lessons. Mikes credentials include Full Certification in Professional Ski Instructors of America-RM, the prestigious French Government “Ecole National de Ski et d’Alpinisme” in Chamonix as a Moniteur de Ski Diplome and also a member of the first PSIA National Academy, Mt. Hood, Timberline, Oregon. With 30 years of ski teaching and coaching experience in the US and France he has taught major ski areas in France and America. Visit his Websites, http://www.SkiProsMegeve.com Contact Mike personally at: http://www.geocities.com/MikeSkiFrance/