What To Do - Bring, Ship or Rent Skis?

I'm leaving for the snowy shores of Lake Tahoe in a couple of days and I'm still debating whether to bring my skis or rent skis. At this point, the only thing off the table is whether to ship them on one of the ground carriers and not by much because some shippers can do cross country in 3 days for less than $200 a pair.

One of the things to consider when heading to big mountain ski country is the likely snow conditions. If your resort destination is being bombarded with powder and all the skis you have are "front side" carvers you might think about renting some mid-fats when you get there.

Be prepared to lay out around $50 a day for skis, a little less for low end skis, but you can go higher for some hot fat skis. Shop around the resort for the best price or see if you can get your ski rentals rolled into your package.

On the other hand, if where you are going is making more snow than nature is giving them, maybe you want to bring yours. Or, perhaps you have a really good pair of mid-fats that you can ski all conditions with, and you want to bring them. In either case, this year you could be looking at hefty add-on fees from some airlines.

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, here are some examples of airline baggage fees into Reno:

Southwest Airlines: No extra fees for the first two checked bags.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air: First checked bag is free; $25 for the second checked bag, with weight and size restrictions.
American Airlines: First checked bag $15; $25 second checked bag with restrictions.
Delta: $15 first checked bag, $25 second checked bag.
United Airlines: $15 first checked bag, $25 second checked bag with restrictions.
US Airways: $15 first checked bag, $25 second checked bag with restrictions.

Another new twist by resorts anxious for your company on their slopes is a season rental fee. Similar to a season pass, one price covers as many rentals as you can get out there to ski on. For example, in the Lake Tahoe region the season rental fee at Heavenly is $359, a good deal when you do the daily rental math. Up at Northstar-at-Tahoe, ski rentals have been bundled into a number of different packages.

So, back to my conundrum - I'm flying Southwest, have a new pair of mid-fat Head Mojo 94 and Lake Tahoe is getting dumped on. What do you think?

_{Photo Copyright Brian Griffin}