Or there’s the roof box: a storage container that mounts to your roof bars and encloses your skis and whatever other gear you pack inside. There's a variety of ski racks out there, with the most popular style being one that mounts to your car’s roof bars and clamps your skis up high. By putting your skis or snowboards on your roof, in a roof box, or on your trailer hitch, you’re able to get the bulkiest, toughest pieces of gear out of the way, freeing up space in your vehicle, keeping the rest of your gear dry and warm, and simplifying the packing process dramatically.īut it’s not quite that simple.

It’s a lot to try and jam into the trunk of your car, especially when much of that gear is soggy, wet, or frozen. Skis, boots, bindings, poles, fancy heated mittens, special socks, helmets, and on and on. We’ll be the first to admit it: Skiing requires a lot of stuff.