As a nation, Canadians spend a fortune on snow sports: skiing, snowboarding, curling, ice hockey, polar bear riding, sledding, snowshoeing. Okay, so I made one of those up. The point remains, when the Great White North gets covered in white, we all like to get out and have a great time, eh?
Of course, getting the gear is only half the battle. You’ve got to get it to the mountain without it flying off halfway and getting run over by legions of commuting Australians off to work operating the ski lifts. We need to have stuff strapped in, locked down, and safely secured. Here’s a brief guide to racking things up for the winter.
The Basics
Many hatchbacks and most crossovers come with some kind of factory-installed roof rails, always assuming you’ve got the right trim level. If you’re looking at a new car, and snowy activities are a yearly treat, you’ll need to check carefully to make sure the base model you’re checking out still has the rails equipped.
On some crossovers, like the Toyota Highlander, roof rails are only available on mid-level trims and up. A dealer-installed accessory roof rail might exist, but both the cost and potential for rust and/or leaks should turn you away from trying to have hard-mount roof rails installed as standard.
On some crossovers, like the Toyota Highlander, roof rails are only available on mid-level trims and up. The 2014 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is pictured here.
Rob Rothwell, Driving
You won’t need them for every racking application, but crossbars can be handy for more than just ski and snowboard racks. Your dealer likely has a factory-fitment option, and occasionally these are the same price as an aftermarket crossbar, and even manufactured by the aftermarket. Yakima and Thule are the two biggest names in the automotive racking, er, racket – consider them the Canon and Nikon of the racking world – and both supply OEM equipment that you can get right from your dealer. However, there is also a huge aftermarket of adjustable crossbars to fit.
If your car doesn’t have any sort of roof attachment, it still may be able to fit crossbars that attach right into your car’s rain channels. The cheapest kind of racks actually clamp to the inside of the door jamb via tension across the roof, but these are not recommended as they tend to compress the door seals after a while.
Vehicle-specific fitment comes into the equation in a big way, but it’s worth noting that currently, one of the highest rated crossbar packages comes from Yakima, under their Whispbar brand. Thule has an aerodynamic bar as well, but currently the Yakima setup appears to be scoring better in terms of reduced wind noise. If you’re the type to leave the crossbars on year-round, it’s worth getting a set that doesn’t whistle.
Snowboard and Ski Racking
Once crossbars are fitted, or in cases where they aren’t required, you need to get a set of ski racks to hold down your boards or skis. These mount to either the crossbars or roof rails in a number of ways: universal straps, flush-mount feet that slide into a channel in the crossrail, or clamps that attach directly to the roof rails.
With most modern racking equipment, all three attachments come with some sort of locking apparatus, meaning that you can leave the racks on right through the season without worrying about somebody trying to steal them. Further, all but the cheapest ski holders come with locking mounts so your skis are safe in the Tim Hortons parking lot on the way up the hill.
Both the Swedish-designed Thule and the American-sourced Yakima watch each other carefully, matching innovation for innovation – the off-brand competitors also follow the big companies’ leads, so you can often find feature overlap throughout. Something that Thule pioneered was the sliding access rack, as with their Pull Top series of racks. As the name indicates, these slide out away from the vehicle so you can load skis and boards without rubbing road salt all over your clothes, or scarring your vehicle’s paint with zippers or lift tags.
Thule AeroBlade Edge 7501.
Supplied, Thule
However, most reviews (both professional and user-feedback) give the Yakima products a slight edge in comparison testing. The Yakima Fatcat series of carriers have plenty of space, a slightly lower profile than some Thule products, and include the ability to adjust the angle at which they sit. If you’ve got a vehicle with a curved roof, this last feature means you can get your skis or boards locked down in a proper straight-line orientation.
Lastly, some consideration should be given to whether a smaller, offset rack might be useful. If you want to fit a cargo box, there are several carriers that hold boards or skis at an angle and take up less room – one example is the Thule 575 Snowboard carrier, which rates well overall, though there are concerns about the finicky nature of its cable-based clamp.
Cargo Boxes
Skiing doesn’t just require waxed-up planks, you also need boots, poles, and a full set of winter clothing. By the end of a hard day, these can all be damp and sweaty, kinda like hockey gear. Don’t want to stuff the stinky in the trunk? Stash it in an overhead cargo box instead.
Cargo boxes come in all manner of sizes, from stout little pods that make your car look like it’s wearing a bowler hat, to longboxes suitable for cross-country skis. Like the racks, they can come with sliding attachments for better access, and many are hinged on both sides. They’re costly, but they do perform double-duty for summer road-trips too.
Yakima SkyBox Pro 12.
Supplied, Yakima
The two best-rated cargo boxes seem to be the Yakima SkyBox Pro series, and the Thule Sonic series. The former provides excellent room, and the latter is attractively priced.
If you only intend to use your box for skis, there are also low-profile boxes that have less cargo space, but are still easier to load than a ski rack. With any overhead rack or cargo box, care should be taken in underground parking, as roof clearances can be an issue.
Hitch-based racks
Less common than roof-mounted carrying are systems based on either tow hitches or spare-tire-mounted racks. These are very easy to load, and eliminate some of the clearance issues of overhead racks.
However, the back of any automobile is the place where road salt and grime accumulates the fastest, so hanging a set of skis or boards off the back can result in really dirty equipment after you get to the ski hill. It’s a trade-off, but if you already have a hitch-based bicycle rack, it’s a less-expensive, easy-to-install option.
