The Brave Ski Mom

Building a new generation of skiers and snowboarders.

Pack It Up! An Interactive Ski Packing List, Plus Two New Boot Bags from Kulkea (Giveaway)

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kulkea powder trekker ski boot bag
My favorite of Kulkea’s new ski boot bags: The Powder Trekker. Roomy enough to hold your helmet, extra layers and of course your ski boots. We’re giving this one away!

bravegradationhires1.jpgWhen someone offers to help you create a visual, interactive packing list, you don’t say no.

Instead, if you’re me, you send them a confusing list of links and notes.

And, then, if you’re the magic people at Blogger’s Lounge and VIP Ski, you take the mess I sent, remove the chaos and send it back in beautiful form.

Fun, eh?

And now that you’ve got an idea of what you want to pack, here’s an update on two new bags in which to pack some of it.

Two New Kulkea Boot Bags

 I reviewed Kulkea’s Boot Trekker pack last season. Well made, and super organized with dedicated pockets for everything you’ll need, the Boot Trekker is a “place for everything and everything in its place” kind of pack.

This season, Kulkea has two new designs. The Powder Trekker backpack is similar to the Boot Trekker, but about 1000 cubic inches smaller. Which is only an issue if your ski boots are larger than a Men’s size 10.5 or Women’s 11.5.

kulkea powder trekker ski boot bage
There is plenty of room, even after you pack the helmet.

The advantages of the smaller pack are many, especially if you’re a smaller person. As a woman, I like the smaller size, and the correspondingly lighter weight. Although the bag has an optional helmet sling, I didn’t need it. The central compartment was large enough for my helmet and everything else. The Powder Trekker’s 3200 cubic inches (52 L) volume is more than plenty, for moms, dads and, especially, kids.

Powder Trekker Features:

Kulkea calls it “intuitive packing,” but I call them pockets. And while the Powder Trekker has fewer dedicated pockets than the Boot Trekker (for example, there are no individual glove pockets), it still has plenty of features.

Side Boot Pockets: Complete with ventilation and full zippers, it’s easy to access your boots.

Large Center Compartment: Large enough to hold extra socks, mittens, a fleece and your helmet.

Retractable Helmet Sling: Need extra space in the central pocket? A front zipper releases an optional helmet sling. The sling won’t keep your helmet out of the elements, but it’s handy if space is at a premium. The only downside? Carrying your helmet with the sling pulls the pack further back and changes the center of gravity.

Wide Front Pocket: A medium size compartment, with a pocket on the flap, I’d use this space for smaller items like sunscreen, sunglasses, a water bottle, snacks and glove liners.

Goggle Compartment: Right on top, there’s a fleece lined pocket perfect for your goggles and face mask. Or maybe, your car keys!

Kulkea Speed Pack

Kulkea’s other new pack is the Speed Pack. A simple design, it’s all about maximizing volume while minimizing weight. At 3600 cubic inches (59 L), it will hold up to a men’s size 11.5 ski boot.

kulkea powder trekker and speed pack ski boot bags
The larger, and more simple, Speed Pack, next to the Powder Trekker.

Like the other Kulkea packs, the Speed Pack has contoured, full zip boot pockets on each side of a roomy central compartment. This center pocket is where you will put most everything, from helmet, to gloves, to an extra shell and more. There is one exterior zipper pocket which would be great for sunglasses or hand warmers, and one small interior zipper pocket where I’d stash my keys and a snack.

Giveaway

kulkea powder trekker ski boot bag
Win this bag: Just leave a comment sharing why you need it!

I am excited to give away my favorite bag in the Kulkea family, the Powder Trekker. I think it has the perfect combination of a large open compartment and smaller pockets to keep you organized.

Whether you win this for yourself, or your daughter or son, I know your ski days will never be the same. Getting organized, and staying organized, is a good thing!

honey stinger logoIn addition, we’ve got some other prizes, including a pack of my favorite ski and bike snacks from Honey Stinger, and 4 pom-pom beanies from SKEA – maker of beautiful ski clothes. There’s only one string attached: if you win a beanie, SKEA would like you to send them a selfie of you wearing it!

skea daria and reese jackets
Like mother, like daughter. Mom wears the DARIA Jacket, while daughter sports the REESE jacket. Photo courtesy Skea.

To enter, please leave a comment about why you need a new ski boot bag.

Winners will be chosen randomly on Monday, October 27th.

Good luck!

To facilitate this post, I received two boot bags from Kulkea for review. I am giving away the Powder Trekker via this giveaway. As always, all opinions are my own and are exactly what I would tell my family and friends.

Related Posts:

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Sarah!

© 2014 – 2017, braveskimom. All rights reserved. Any use or publication of content, including photos, requires express permission.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I’ve actually never owned a boot bag but they look like they would make life so much easier (and organized). Plus the Powder Trekker is really nice looking

  3. Ooh they look like they make packing for the hill so much faster than my old back pack.. I like how everything is together in one bag!! I could definitely put this one to good use☺️

  5. I would LOVE this boot bag, it would really free up my hands so they are ready when my kids hand me all of their loose bits (gear) 🙂

    • Exactly! Hands free is the best way to go…kids will hand you stuff, you’ll have to carry their skis, or maybe just hold their mittened hands!

  6. I have two toddlers that I ski with. Gear bags are essential to minimize trips from the car to the lodge. The Powder Trekker looks like it’s big enough to hold either my gear, or both of my girls’ gear. And I love the color!

  7. I vote for Sarah with the 2 toddlers. I was going to state my case of having an infant that will be going to on mountain daycare while my husband & I start teaching our 2 year old how to ski. But we have bags! We have been using 2 large duffle bags just for my husband & I, but I have an old backpack style boot bag that I am now inspired to get out and use this year…it may not have all the pockets, but the backpack design will be key for carrying a carseat and holding toddler hands!

    • You’re going to have a busy season! Carrying baby gear is overwhelming! And thanks for the shout out to Sarah! The winner will be chosen randomly by a drawing, but I appreciate you both sharing your stories!

  8. For those who haven’t ever had a boot bag they are in one word..essential. If you are parent who not only has kids with her but supervises a bus load full all winter they are…. priceless. OK that is two words. A place for everything and extras too. Spare mittens for the child who lost one. It is always one:) Hand warmers for those kids who never seem to feel the cold before they are ‘freezing’:). A spare granola bar for the kid who didn’t get enough packed at home for that cold day. They also leave your hands free for carrying gear or holding a hand across a busy lodge parking lot. I’d love to update mine so that the zippers that have been well loved (and sewn back together) and the liners that are past their prime could be retired.

  9. Love this bag! I need a new boot bag because I’m currently using my son’s hand-me-down that is just too big and bulky. I agree with your comment about preferring a smaller pack. This one would suit me to a “T”!!

  11. Three kids under 10-years-old skiing! All the great gear goes to them. Would be so fun to get organized myself, especially with such a cute bag!

  12. I have never utilized a ski bag for skiing. I usually just get ready at the car. But now I often ski with both my daughters and they like to bring stuff. Snacks, extra gloves, snacks so occasionally the random bag makes it into the lodge. This would be ideal for me to test out how they do with being responsible for their own stuff. The packs look awesome and ideal for them to try!

    • So true. It really does make sense to teach your kids to be responsible for their own stuff and to return each item to it’s proper place! Plus, with bags, you’re always packed and ready to go (if you repack them when you get home!).

  13. Our skiing family of 4 only has 3 boot bags! My 4 yr old daughter would love mine & since I am mom, could use a new one – these look awesome!

  14. Love the look of this bag! I’ve used my Swiss backpack for years and the poor thing is barely hanging on! This would be a fantastic (and really practical and organized) replacement!

  15. Boot bags are a MUST.. Especially now that I have a 2 1/2 year old tagging along to the mountain now.. Her stuff took over my bag last year and I am sure will be even more so this year, since she will be skiing more this year!!! So excited for my new skier..

  16. Oh, this aerodynamic boot bag number makes me swoon.

    As “weekend warriors” who someday dream of being a little closer to the mtns, I’m in charge of keeping the wheels on the bus so we can get up to the ski mountain in time for bed on Fridays and making sure we’re home in time to eek out the last of homework on Sunday nights…. And in between those loooooong drives, we enjoy two amazing ski days as a family, every weekend all winter. I’ve totally got make-ahead meals down pat. I’ve got a fabulous system for organizing the car on the way up and back. And laundry Sunday night? I’m your girl. But my boot bag is downright embarrassing. It’s this big, old boxy thing that everyone throws their extra stuff in. If I win, i’ll not only take the selfie in the pom-pom hat but I’ll proudly show off my new sack, and recycle my (very) oldie but goodie.

    Fingers crossed! And P.S. So thrilled to have found your blog via All Mountain Mamas. Fun to come across like-minded moms…. especially when they stuff figured out!

    • Eila! Thanks for the kind words. I LOVE All Mountain Mamas (and Ski Vermont!). Being a ski mom takes prodigious feats of organization and it sounds like you’re killing it! If only teachers didn’t assign homework over the weekend…don’t they know we’re skiing families?

      Have a fantastic season and good luck !

        • You know what my biggest complaint was? Big, involved projects over the winter school break. We just wanted to ski on those days off, but the teachers would load them up with projects to create a “mountain animal habitat” or a science fair poster. I don’t mind big projects, but not during school holidays!

          Oh well…if only I ruled the world!

  17. I’d love to have something new for myself, all my ski gear comes hand-me-down from my three ski racing sons, two of whom just got home from training in Switzerland, so needless to say everything is beaten up, smelly and never in style 🙂

  18. I need this bag as it will make packing for the slopes much easier. My boot bag now is rather bulky and even though the kids do carry all of their own gear 90% of the time, this mama ends up carrying something when someone is hurt or the young ones are extremely tired. Their bag combined with my bag is just too much. This bag looks like it will hold all of my gear plus provide easy access to the bag of M&Ms that I always pack to bring smiles to the kiddos after a long day.

  19. You had me at “a place for everything”! Nothing kills stress and creates happiness like good organization (to clear your head for other things, like answering kids questions about what you packed for snack). I haven’t used a boot bag in years, since my last one was an over-the-shoulder model that made the boots whack me in the hip with each step, so this would be a real treat. Thanks for the review.

  22. I have a Kulkea boot bag & I love it! It is big, however, on my 5.1″ frame, but I never have to cram stuff into it, or dig thru a bottomless pit looking for a neck gaiter or extra gloves. I know exactly where everything is. But I’m not the racer– my daughter needs one of these BIG TIME for her race gear.

  23. I think taking selfies with this awesome boot bag would make all my friends jealous 🙂 plus the color brings out my eyes, lol

  26. I need it, I need it, I need it!!!!!!!! I love it, I love it, I love it!!!!! Too many things, no place to put it! I just loss it. Please help me organize! This would “JUST DO IT!”

  27. I like to joke that my car is my toy box on wheels. When my boots and helmet are not being tripped over in my office (I work for a ski resort in Vermont) they’re rolling around in my mobile toy box. I really need this very posh boot bag for my trip to fabulous Quebec City in February, so I’ll at least give the impression that I’m stylish and organized.

  28. This would be perfect for making that bus ride from the parking log to the lodge just a bit smoother, especially when taking two boys and a toddler to the mountain by yourself.

  31. I need a new boot bag, because we have 4 kids, all skiers or boarders and all of our boots get stuck in a laundry basket when we head to the mountains. Way uncool!

  32. The funny thing is I don’t need a boot bag because I have one of these. It is the single coolest bag ever thought of. I have a very early production model that had one single strap overlooked, which they added later. It has lived through the worse care possible because I am a Dad with more kids than anyone. If you don’t win one, buy one. No I don’t work there, I run a kid’s ski area with 2000 kids.

    • A great testimonial from Bill! If you don’t believe him about working with 2000 kids, check out skytavern.com, just outside of Reno! Thanks Bill, so much!

  33. Oooh! Been looking at ski boot backpacks for my daughter! When she went to Freestyle camp this summer at Whistler she was really needing one for all the chairlift loading, bus ride and chairlift ride to the Glacier! Would be awesome!

  34. In the market for a boot bag as well. Nice to bea able to organize 2 kids worth of stuff in this bag.

  35. One can never have enough ski/boot bags! One day the gear is in the car another day it’s in a locker, depends on the day!! Ski races, ski clinics, coaching, teaching you name it my gear can be all over the place. Forget my hand warmers and MOM is not happy!! I would love a new boot bag to carry all of my gear plus the extra things the kids always need – M&M’s lip stuff, hand warmers, socks, etc…

    • Multi-functional, I use my boot bag to store everything I need all season long and into the off season. That way, I never miss those hand warmers!

  37. Oh-My-Goodness… Did a woman design this?? Yay. I lerv the pocket for one’s gogs. We end up wrapping our (very expensive) goggles in socks then in a beanie to keep them protected bc, after all, they just end up somewhere in the bag and then all hell breaks loose trying to find them. The PT Kulkea looks like stuff of dreams.. even if I don’t win imma gonna go get some for my 5 kids for Xmas presents. Done. Job sorted. LOVE LOVE LOVE on all levels.

      • Braveskimom. I went online and thought the price really reasonable – even when u convert American $ to Aussie. Now to hassle our local ski shop to stock! Btw, would love some stickers please if u r still giving (heaps so i can give them out to other mums who ski). email is thehacketts2@hotmail.com as I wld rather not give out my address publicly. TIA.

        • Thanks so much Rossi! I copied you on an email to Kulkea so that they can tell you directly if they have stockists in Australia. You can send your mailing address in reply to that message and stickers will be on their way!

          Thanks!

  38. Oh gosh, just what I need. They look perfect for all the accessories and things that you need on the hill

  39. Starting ski club with my 5yo girl and we are using a large duffle bag that is going to fall apart on the day we ad e late for start time, sending all our gear flying across the parking lot!! So desperately looking for the backpack boot bag style to free hands for ski gear and avoid embarrassment! BTW how can I private message you my email for a few stickers as we start the “brave ski mom” journey?

  41. A second Kulkea ski bag would be AWESOME! Especially when our tiny boy goes skiing with his school. A place for everything and things won’t be left at home or on the slopes if he knows where everything goes. And when he outgrows it (in 2 years) I can have it back, cause I LOVE the color. The countdown to ski season started at our house mid July. 🙂

  42. As a ski patroller, I need a lot of extra gear for my day/night at the mountain. The ski patrol hut is cramped, so it’s important that my gear is stowed away properly, but also easy to get to quickly. The Kulkea bag would make this so much easier & better! I could really use it!!

  43. I have skied for many years and owned several ski boot bags this by far is the best most organized bag I have used. Just purchased one beginning of last season worked great!

  44. I’d love to win that bag! Before our kiddo my husband and I put on all our hear in the car and carried only small daylacks to the lodge. With a toddler in the mix now we’re going to need some organization!

  45. I would LOVE this bag! I swear by boot bags and mine broke last year so I only have one of the backpack straps! Now that I’m chasing a toddler and hauling my own gear, a new fully functioning bag big enough for my yetti sized feet would be awesome! If it says it will fit up to an 11.5 it should fit my mt. stompers!

  46. This bag is perfect, compact and light weight, it would be a huge improvement from the canvas shopping bag I’m currently using.

  47. Brenna needs a bag to go with her new ski pass. Also, her mom likes things organized!

  48. Currently I am using one of my daughter’s old Lands End Soccer bags as my ski boot/multi-gear bag. Having a new bag that actually fits my ski boots would be awesome! Plus, my daughter really wants that bag back so she can haul her gear to the ski area for race nights.

  49. Because my son keeps taking mine….if I had a new one, he could keep it, and I’d have my own again!

  50. I’ve been using a bowling ball bag for my boots (mary janes woo!) and the Powder Trekker would be a huge help! This year I’m taking a group of students on a ski/snowboarding trip and I’d love to have a bag to keep all my gear organized so I can be ready to help them!

  51. My son needs a boot bag because we are both new skiers and we lug everything in our arms every time we ski! It would be great to have a bag to hold it all.

  52. We would love a ski bag! This is my first year taking my boys out on skis. I have twin boys and this would help so much as I end up being the one carrying everything. I love the fact you can fit a helmet in it. Loved your article on Helmets. thanks! Shopping for some good ones!
    Thanks for doing these giveaways! Kristi

    • You bet Kristin! Good luck with the twins – double the fun! And come back tomorrow. Doing a Jr Helmet Giveaway with my friends at Ski ‘n See in Utah!

  53. Two reasons I need this bag: #1- only 1 out of the three zippers work on the bag I currently have making it nearly useless. #2- my 4-soon-to-be-5 year old has just recently asked for his own skis. He has been snowboarding for a few years now and tried skiing for the first time this past season. He liked it enough that he wants to do both this winter. It would be nice to have another bag for storage and for ease of transport. I am excited about this giveaway! Hope we win!

  54. Oh man, I need a new ski bag because I noticed the other day that the fabric on my bag is practically see through. Plus, with a new little baby in tow to the ski resorts, I need all the gear organizing help I can get!!

  55. We could definitely use a new boot backpack. I’ve learned my lesson on not having the right gear for my 3 year old – lots of tears, and the frustration was not one sided. My son would love to have his own boot bag, as would I 🙂

  56. I’ve never had a boot bag…there always seemed to be a duffel bag around that would do (40+ years.) BUT, I was just thinking about buying one because I’m going on a bucket-list trip to St. Anton, Austria in December and everyone says “just bring your boots.” If I don’t win it, I’ll know what to buy! Thanks!!

  57. My ski bag is from the 90s — and with two kids to pack I need to be as organized as possible. I’ve been coveting one of these bags since I saw them @ the boston ski expo!