Adventure Travel Tip: Avoid Winter Weight Limit Woes

"Staying under the 50lb weight limit per bag is always difficult when going on a week-long ski trip. Since your ski boots typically weigh 10 to 15 pounds, getting them out of your suitcase will help. Therefore, I recommend carrying your boots on the plane to eliminate this extra weight from your suitcase—they'll also be safe and sound in the unfortunate case of your airline losing your bag (which has happened to the best of us). Another trick is to get an oversized ski bag and pack your boots in there. Since skis and boots combined are less than 50 pounds, you can put other items in there, as well. My experience is that they almost never weigh your ski bag anyway. Lastly—most people don't realize that airlines only count your ski bag and boot bag as one item...use that to beat the system!"

—Steve Kopitz is the Founder and Ski-E-O of Skis.com, The Ultimate Online Ski Shop. With 49 years of skiing and adventure under his belt, he has traveled to over 40 ski resorts in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Chile. Once upon a time, Steve told his wife he wouldn't marry her unless she learned to ski (she is a great skier now). His son was officially on skis at 22 months and daughter at 3 years old (she was a late bloomer). Skiing is Steve's profession and passion.