Adding A-frame carry to a pack

I have a DaKine pro 2 pack which is excellent for what I use it for... except the ski carry. The diagonal carry with heavier skis puts a lot of strain on one shoulder which starts to get annoying after a time. The older packs had the option of both diagonal and A-frame I think but no longer.

Has anyone successfully bodged togther something to add A-frame ski carry capibility to their pack? Has it lasted?

In my youth when I was regularly making the weekend trek to Tuckermans I bolted a couple 1x1 strips of mahogany from the boat shop to my army rucksack frame to which I attached a cheap plastic rectangular garbage can. This made a great container for my gear. I closed the top with a plastic garbage bag and a rubber band. The sleeping bag went on top and provided a compressible surface for the skis in a a-frame to grip. An elastic tie held the skis together near the tips and a nylon cord around the skis behind the bindings kept the a-frame tight. This system worked very well for my needs but I imagine it isn't quite what you had in mind.

On the diagonal carry I've found it is much more comfortable if you put the ski tips down.  Because they are heavier it tends to pull the load to the center instead of leveraging the tips and tails away from your body.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mudfoot 

On the diagonal carry I've found it is much more comfortable if you put the ski tips down.  Because they are heavier it tends to pull the load to the center instead of leveraging the tips and tails away from your body.

Interesting. Do you get any problems with the tips getting stuck in the snow or hitting your legs? I'll have to try this.

It depends on how high you put the skis on the pack, and a lot of packs have bottom loops that are designed to slip the tails through and will not accomodate the tips easily.  I came up with this when just using a strap.  I have a 10 ft. loop of 1" climbing webbing I keep in my pocket for long on area climbs with my alpine gear.  You wrap the loop twice outside the bindings and pull the other end through in a prusick knot and slip in over one shoulder to carry the skis.  It works great except I noticed the ski tips and tails kept moving out away from my body in a horizontal wing configuation, which was a problem climbing in the trees on the Taos Ridge. With the heavier tips down it reverses the leverage so they want to ride more vertical in the middle.  It works the same on a pack and you get less movement and torque on the one shoulder.

The thing about an A-frame is that it has the tails of the skis out to the side where they are less likely to interfere with your legs. The tails can still get in the way though, especially going downhill if you are packing your equipment out from the bottom of skiable area as is common in the Spring. The tails keep striking rocks, bushes, whatever you're walking over. Mounting the skis up very high gets rid of this problem but the trade-off is that the raised center of gravity interferes with your balance.

Having a closer look, my pack has a horizontal snowboard carry which could accommodate a strap with loops to hold the skis under the bindings. I should be able to come up with something to support the upper part of the skis. It will be good to have the option of diagonal and A-frame carry if this works.

Mudfoot: My pack does have the bottom loop but I should be able to get the tips through one at a time. I’ll give it a go.