Packing for a week in london then skiing in Italy

Hmmm... skis and boots and goggles would be a heckuva schlep in London... Can you ship them to the hotel in Italy and have them held for your arrival? Or maybe just rent when you get there? You say you want to pack your own. I get that. I spent a lot of time skiing when I was a kid, and I know how your own gear can't be beat. (I have really wide feet, and renting boots is a pain. I end up with boys' boots mostly - not an ideal solution.) But packing all your stuff into England and then to Italy sounds like a pain. So, rent? Ship? I will be fascinated to watch this thread and see what others come up with!

There are backpack boot bags that will hold one pair of boots and your helmet, with a bit of space for smaller accessories like goggles, gloves and your baselayer clothing. These are known as Trapezoid style. If not over packed, you should be able to carry on. I imagine if you are going skiing you will be checking a bag, especially since you are spending a week in London as well. The boot bags looks like this: http://www.ebags.com/product/high-sierra/trapezoid-boot-bag/203191?productid=10158873 You will have to take 2 bags, there is no way to pack a bulky pair of ski boots and a helmet and have room for more clothing. With the backpack style, you can have a free hand for your other piece of luggage by using this one bag on your back...or the bag has a strap that will slide over the handle bar on your luggage piece, so you can wheel it around.

What Ellen said. If you want to bring your own, get a boot bag that will hold your boots, helmet, goggles, and a lot of your ski clothes (rolled up) and gloves too. That is what we do when we fly to a ski resort. We check that, and our regular casual clothes go in our carryon.

Thanks for the comments so far will hire skis looking forward to some more hints from fellow skiers

I have seen bags sold in stores over here that are designed to carry everything, skis, boots, helmet and skin clothing, but I wouldn't have the foggiest notion if they're available in Australia. If you haven't picked a ski area yet in Italy, look up Tonale. Even for a ski resort, the views from here are amazing. See my trip report under "Val di Rabbi".

I think I would either ship my boots directly to my hotel in Italy or rent. One good thing about renting is that you can get a chance to try something new and different. If you haven't had a new pair of skiis for a while, you may be pleasantly surprised at new improvements. Use this as an excuse to try something new-and not have to schlep gear half way around the world.

Sounds like packing boots from home and hiring skis at destination is a reasonable strategy. You may want to plan on carrying your boots on board, the UK to Italy leg in particular, to safeguard against lost or incorrectly routed bags. I would also carry on (not check) one set of ski clothing. Renting skis (and poles) is a good idea for Alpine skis. Transporting skis, especially Nordic skis, can be a problem with some car services. Hauling skis and duffel bags of gear on the Underground is possible if you can avoid peak travel times. Of course hauling a lot of gear can be a workout especially with hotels lacking lifts.