Help! My child lost their skis at lunch

We have all been there: that moment of panic when you walk out from lunch, complete your first look through a crowded ski rack, and you cannot find your skis. Your child has lost their skis at lunch!

When you add kids to the equation you get two confounding factors:

1. All youth skis come with the same 3-4 top sheet designs
2. Kids often mis-remember where they put their skis

Most skis are not stolen, but rather taken by accident. This is particularly true of youth skis. There are several ways to prevent skis being taken by accident. Handily enough, the tools used to prevent mistaken ski identity are also the tools we recommend to prevent ski theft.

Let’s dive into ways to prevent lost skis and what to do when you cannot find your child’s skis.

How to make sure your kid never loses a ski

1. Alter the look of your skis and make your child’s skis stand out

Most importantly, slap a piece of duct tape (the wide silver stuff in a pinch, or cool colored tapes) in front of the binding and put your child’s name on the tape with a Sharpie.

Add some cool stickers. We use these stickers as milestone markers for skiing. Did Susie learn a new skill and is suddenly into Unicorns? If so, we will spend $5 to decorate their skis and build exciting motivation.

These tips help prevent someone taking the wrong pair of skis and deters theft. No thief wants to spend 5 minutes cleaning sticker and tape gunk off a ski. By the way, the best way to remove these stickers is with warm water, soap, and a good fingernail.

2. Split your skis when stopping for lunch

Are you heading into lunch? Mix your skis before putting them into a rack.

If you have 2 children, take one ski from child A, and pair it with one ski from child B. Place this mismatched pair in the ski racks.

This is an incredible deterrent for thieves or some kid mistaking your child’s skis for their skis.

3. Consider where you place your skis

If you go to the same mountain regularly, use the same rack every weekend. This helps make sure you can find your skis.

I also take into account how crowded a ski rack is. If a rack is already crowded, I will choose somewhere else to put my family’s skis. Normally if you are willing to walk another 20 steps, you can almost always find a less crowded rack or handy snow bank to put your skis that will not tempt fate with someone taking the wrong pair.

What to do when you child tells you they lost their skis at lunch?

Typically if someone has taken the wrong skis, they do one of three things — put the skis back in the nearest rack to them, give the skis to the resort, or call the rental shop number on the skis.

1. Slow down and double check ALL the racks

Weirdly, skis move around. Some kid might have easily thought your child’s skis were theirs, took them out of the racks, and then realized their mistake and put them back. It might be your child remembers putting their skis in rack A, but they actually put them in rack B. Or it might be that your child’s skis like to play tricks on you. Whatever it is, skis never seem to be where you expect them to be!

So, start your search knowing this. A clear and calm mind wins the day here no matter how frustrated you are that this is the third lunch in a row where you spend 15 minutes looking for your kids skis while they add helpful tips like, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

Worst case, there are only about 10 racks at maximum in any one place. Take the time to start in the bottom left corner and work your way to the upper right corner methodically. And, don’t forget, youth skis can fall into the middle of racks or can be covered up by wider snowboards or adult skis. Take your time and look carefully.

2. Give your info to nearest restaurant and lost & found

If you left your skis in a rack right outside a restaurant, step inside and let the hosts know that you are looking for a pair of skis and give them your cell phone number.

Also, let a mountain host know you have a missing pair of skis and exchange contact details. You can find mountain hosts often at the base of mountains or at a ticket window or guest services desk. Call them again in 20 minutes to see if anyone has returned your skis.

3. Call the rental shop

If your skis are rentals, call the shop. Typically the rental shop puts a sticker on skis with their phone number. Call the shop and let them know your skis have been taken.

When someone realizes they have taken the wrong skis, they will often call the number on the skis to report it and try to figure out what to do. The rental shop is used to these types of occurrences, and will work to put you two in contact to reclaim your skis.

Conclusion

Remember that prevention is key. Make sure to make your kids’ skis stand out and put them in places where you can easily find them again. An ounce of prevention is worth a few pounds of cure here! And, if you do find yourself looking for skis, remember — you are probably one of 15 other parents doing the exact same thing right now so keep calm and search on!

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