We Tested the Best New Ski Packs for 2024
The ideal ski pack is light, unobtrusive, and highly water-resistant. Whether you’re racking up lift laps at your local ski hill, skinning in the side country, or embarking on a weekend hut trip, a ski pack provides storage for everything from snacks to extra layers. Ski packs are a different animal than their day-hike, multi-day backpack, and book-bag counterparts. In many ways, they’re some of the most ingeniously engineered and painstakingly thought-out pieces of equipment we’ve tested.
The following seven exceptional ski packs prove just how multi-functional a pack can be while being so uncumbersome that you’ll actually forget that it’s on your back. Our overall favorite for 2024 is the Patagonia SnowDrifter 20L which offers exceptional compression, organization, and versatility while fooling us all into thinking it was designed for lift-accessed skiing—until we tested it out in the backcountry.
Related: These Are the Best New Skis for 2024
Our Testing Process: Why You Should Trust Us
Our team of nine testers knows how to do our homework out in the field. Collectively, we’ll rack up more than 1,000 on-snow days in a given season just testing out ski gear to see if it lives up to its promise. Most of us have been running ski apparel through the ringer in every type of alpine terrain and weather condition imaginable for over 20 ski seasons.
We’ve run glades, bowls, couloirs, steeps, and remote backcountry in this gear—and we’ve taken copious notes. We’ve skied the slopes of New England and Eastern Canadian hardpack, Whistler powder, Pacific Northwest cement, and everything in between, including months in the French, Italian, and Swiss Alps. We offer a combined ski history of more than 100 years of high-level race and big-mountain experience racked up from Japan to North America to the Alps—and we know exactly what we want and need from the gear we’re relying upon. We also love being dazzled and inspired by the latest, greatest ski gear innovations, which never stop.
We’ve rigorously tested and compared thousands of items, harnessing not only ambition, but wisdom and experience, with testers from their early 20s to seasoned vets. We also tested a lot of this stuff with less experienced skiers to assess their own valuable takes. It's never easy putting so much great ski gear and apparel through its paces before whittling it all down to our favorite performers—but it's always a ton of fun.
Related: Powder Paradise: Snowcat Skiing at Colorado’s Purgatory Resort
What to Look for in a Great Ski Pack
In general, when testing out ski packs, look for lightweight, flexible suspension (backpanel, hip belt, and shoulder straps), dialed-in organization for everything from scratch-free goggle pouches to dedicated internal sleeves for your shovel, probe, and if you’re an extremist, ice aces and crampons. A good ski pack will have room for a helmet, hydration source (bladder or bottle), and any layers you want to shed or add. Another essential feature is ski and snowboard carry. Most ski packs have a thin layer of padding on the front; it protects the pack cloth from sharp edges, as it provides cushion between the packbag and whatever you’re lashing on the outside. If you’re carrying “A-frame”—one ski on each side of the pack—you’ll want a ski strap to hold the tips together. Then the tails are levered out and don’t bang against your legs.
Courtesy of Dynafit
Related: Best Small Ski Resorts to Avoid the Crowds
What Size Ski Pack Should You Get—and a Few Other Tips
For skiing, you don’t need a heavy-duty hip belt or shoulder straps as you’ll be wearing at least a couple of layers underneath to provide padding. As far as size, if you’re resort skiing, 18 liters is about right. Jump up to 22-25 liters if you like to bring along that extra puffy or vest. For all-day backcountry missions, you’ll want 30-plus liters of space. A great ski pack will have excellent compression (meaning you can cinch in both sides to suck up volume when you’re carrying a small load and expand them when you need more room).
Always practice with the ski carry system before you’re out in the elements. It’s much easier to figure out how to strap on your skis in the privacy of your home than in freezing temps and blowing snow. Lastly, backpanel access has always been a differentiation point for ski packs. It’s handy if you're loading and unloading your pack like a duffle in the snow, but it's more of a personal preference whether you go with top-loading or backpanel access to the main packbag.
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Best Overall Ski Pack for 2024: Patagonia SnowDrifter 20L
For versatility, it’s hard to beat the Patagonia SnowDrifter 20L—a pack you’ll use every day both at resorts and in the backcountry. Ideal for lift-accessed skiing due to its great compression that makes it nearly disappear on our backs, well-organized backcountry skiers will find themselves reaching again and again for this pack on relatively extreme full-day backcountry missions. While it looks and feels small when all the straps are cinched down tight, you can also add your shovel and probe in the dedicated compartment for days when you need them. There’s a goggle pocket on top and an external tuck-away helmet carry that keeps your lid secure. The hip belt has two zippered stash pockets, and there’s an insulated hydration sleeve on one of the shoulder straps. The pack has straps for diagonal and A-Frame ski carry, as well as snowboard carry. If you’re spending most of your time in the backcountry, consider the 30L version.
Best Ski Pack for Organization Sticklers: Rab Khroma 38
Testers loved the 38L Khroma’s teardrop shape that felt balanced on their backs, even with 20-plus pound loads. The ultra-durable 210D Cordura with Spectra Ripstop is as tough as a rhino hide when it comes to sharp ski edges. Inside, the organization satisfied even the fussiest testers. The roll top entry to the packbag (read, no potential zipper failure) is wide enough so you can toss in your rope and crevasse rescue kit. There’s also back panel entry, handy if you’re trying to reach something deep inside. The zippered front panel has sleeves for your shovel, probe, and first aid kit. We like the self-locking compression straps that cinch down your load, so there’s no shifting when dropping cliff bands or rapping into couloirs. While the pack’s official volume is 38 liters, testers felt like they could carry another 10 or 15 without pushing its seams.
Best Ski Pack for Double-Duty off the Slopes: Arva Ride 18
Arva is a French brand that is dedicated to snow safety and rescue equipment. You’ll end up using our favorite all-purpose pack, the Arva Ride 18, as your daily driver for skiing, work, and even hiking. And it’s a good size for toting your computer to the local coffee shop. The molded foam back panel provides plenty of protection for the computer sleeve. The low-profile pack is sleek enough to wear on a chairlift without having to take it off. Despite its small size, the Ride is feature-rich with both A-frame and diagonal ski carry (snowboard too) options, a fleece-lined goggle pocket, and room for shovel and probe. You can also attach two ice axes (on the outside).
More Ski Packs That We Love
