It seems WildSnow has a thing for homemade ski storage. I can remember a couple of how-to articles we’ve published: here is one, and another ski rack post here. And there are probably more buried in the amazing nearly 4,000 blog posts that comprise our family web-pire. I think this has something to do with bored skiers in the off-season. I know I’m beginning to yearn for winter. Summer weather, sunny rock climbing, and dry hiking are all nice, but they don’t compare to the feeling of cold crystals under Ptex.
Completely unecessary, but kinda fun. I made a quick solidworks model of the rack. It did help me figure out the sizing, and the correct amount of materials. Those are 190cm skis for reference.
How about a project? There’s no denying it, I’ve got a sizable quiver of skis. The quiver has been leaned up against many walls, stuffed under beds, and crammed into many storage units. It was time to figure out a solution once and for all.
I had a few requirements:
1. The rack has to hold at least 15 pairs of skis, of all shapes and sizes (rockered and not, mostly ski touring but a few alpine, ranging in size from 165 to 195.)
2. It can’t be screwed into or otherwise attached to the wall. I’m a renter, and landlords tend to be draconian about how many holes are in their walls. Also, it can’t damage the wall or floor in any way.
3. Dis-assemblable. I move fairly often, and it’d be nice to be able to take my ski rack along with me without hiring a moving van.
4. Cheap and quick to make. I’ve got a small attention span, and a smaller wallet.
5. No hanging skis. I’ve never found a hanging ski rack that can handle the wide variety of rockered tip shapes out there.
The whole thing took only one trip to the home improvement store (a miracle!) and about four hours of work over two evenings. The rack now sits proudly in my basement, and holds quite a few skis and poles. I changed the design a bit from the initial CAD model pictured here, but it’s basically the same. I added some braces to the side, and some screws in the back to hang ski poles. I also moved the metal pipe back a bit, and made the dowels longer, so each slot can hold 2 pairs of fat skis. That raised capacity to a gluttonous 30 pairs of skis! If I ever reach that number in my quiver, I’ll admit I have a serious problem.
I’m happy with the way this ski rack turned out. It’s easy to grab skis and they all look quite nice displayed there. It has room underneath to store ski boots. A major space saver, it only takes up about 2.5 x 7 feet of space, and holds a ton of gear. I spaced the skis about 6 inches apart; while that works fine for tech bindings, it’s a bit tight for alpine bindings. They still fit, they just touch the adjacent skis. Who needs alpine bindings anyway?
Another view.
| Item | Length | Quantity | Total Leng. |
| .75 in dowel or tube top hanger | 5.5 | 28 | 154 |
| 1 in pipe or tube, bottom rod | 81 | 1 | 81 |
| 2×2 for bottom reinforcement | 78 | 1 | 78 |
| 1×6 for bottom part | 78 | 1 | 78 |
| Parts below made from 2×4 | |||
| 13in piece for bottom vertical | 13 | 2 | 26 |
| 19in piece for bottom vertical | 19 | 2 | 38 |
| horizontal bottom reinforcement | 78 | 1 | 78 |
| horizontal full length pieces | 84 | 2 | 168 |
| vertical pieces | 66 | 2 | 132 |
| horizontal on floor side pieces | 22 | 2 | 44 |
| angled corner reinforcement | 31 | 2 | 62 |
| top offset piece | 5 | 2 | 10 |
You’ll also need some plywood for the triangle shaped braces, and 2.5 inch deck screws (we prefer star drive) to put it all together. Add in a few felt protector pads if you’ve got concerns about scratching walls or floor.
10 comments
I built something similar. With all the skis in it, I had to put bricks on the bottom to keep it from tipping over. But, you can lean it against the wall with minimal damage.
Gluttonous 15 pairs of skis! I don’t know if I classify my feelings as envy, admiration or amazement.
Boot drying racks? Sorry to see the forced air galvanized pipes go from Taos, they were classic.
I’ve seen literally hundreds of boot drying systems in Europe. Some are quite elaborate. Pretty easy to scratch build smaller systems, and the big systems are available commercially. In our climate, just keeping the boot open and near a heat source seems to dry them pretty well, that’s what we do up at our cabin on a basic rack.
On the other hand, we do have the DIY, which I should probably update:
https://www.wildsnow.com/608/your-boot-dryer-take-too-long-build-the-turbo-model/
Quality workmanship. Looks like a piece of furniture in a good way.
Quickest easier boot/glove/gear drying system to fabricate is take your summer in home standing or table circular fan and stick it face down into a office chair cardboard box with a circular hole cut to he dimension of the fan shroud. Cut circular holes to match the diameter of toilet paper roll cardboard on every side a few inches off the floor and shove cardboard into them. Turn on fan to high speed and watch the water molecules pump out the pores of your goretex gloves. 😉 Panicked one day back in 2009 when visitors brought the gear drying load to more than was available with the forced air vents in the house so….ten minute job, running temporary full time duties since 2009.
Swiss, nice! But, photos?
Louie, nice rack! (Never thought I’d say that to a guy…)
How come you used metal pipe on the bottom part, as opposed to something with a softer edge, like a 1″ dowl, or piece of square 1″ deck post? I’d think that would be better on the edges.
I’m looking to make something similar for my newly remodeled shed, but can’t copy it exactly as it has to fit my fiance’s snowboards as well. Plus, I don’t have 15 skis…
I don’t have a garage & the shed is not real accessible in winter so I built my ski rack into the entrance way coat closet, its a slot type rack which holds 4 pair at the top and bottom so even brakeless/strapless skis stay together .
The rest of the closet is shelfs that hold a boot dryer and various other pieces of gear
made from 2×4 and osb the project was pretty cheap
Lou; I keep sending you pics of various projects but no response; suspect i’m getting caught up in a filter or something?