Snow Business: The Boot Bag ... Don't Leave Home Without It

We see this every time we go to a mountain.

And a recent trip to Wachusett was a prime example.

We pull up and get the far-inside spot in Row 7, which, considering it was 8 a.m., was not bad the day after New Year's.

While getting the kids to zip up, put the hats on and get everything else together, we saw the guy about three cars down. He exited his car and tried to balance skis, boots, the water bottle and who knows what else. About 30 minutes into the short walk to the lodge ... splat ... the parking lot yard sale.

Stuff was everywhere. The helmet even fell off his head when he bent over to pick it all up.

Meanwhile, we get out of the van. The 11-year-old gets her boot bag, slings it on her shoulders and grabs her skis.

I sling on my boot bag and grab my skis plus the 7-year-olds' (notice where the apostrophe is) skis and we are off.

The four of us pass Mr. Yard Sale and get to the lodge with minimal effort.

And the boot bags were the key. They take the bulky stuff and tuck it all away in a comfortable backpack.

I have always been partial to Transpack. The bags feature roomy boot compartments on either side that can also accommodate extra pairs of socks if need-be. There is plenty of room for the helmet, goggles and gloves and even a bag lunch in the center. There are compartments on the top flap for the helmet liners, face mask and a beanie and side compartments for accessories like a boot tool duct tape and sunscreen and lotion.

The straps are padded and no matter how much stuff is in there, the wight is distributed well.

I took a ride to New England Ski and Scuba in Vernon to check out other bags and became partial to one put out by Nordica. It does not have as many bells and whistles as the Transpack and the material is a little lighter, but is has more room in the center with adequate side pockets for the boots.

The Nordica bag sells for about $70, about half of what the Transpack pro model costs. Transpack has a slightly cheaper and smaller model (the pro model would hold extra clothes as well) and even an economy model with no side extra side pockets next to the boot compartments.

These two happen to be my favorites and there are plenty of other options.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

Chris Dehnel is an editor for Patch and the current executive secretary and past-president of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association East Division. His Snow Business column runs regularly during the season.