$59 - Mountain Hardware Huckster Backpack
When I managed at a gear store my friend and I spent days looking for a good ski-carrying pack to put next to the rows of snowboarding packs. We didn’t have great luck, but it turned out OK because we were in Chicago and the whole snowboarding thing was overhyped for a place where 400 feet is a lot of vertical.
Too bad the Huckster ski-carrying pack from Mountain Hardware wasn’t around then. This pack is a low-profile daypack most of the year, and a backcountry skiing monster during the winter. Skis can be carried a-frame or diagonally and the aluminum stay and rigid strapdown panel guarantee the skis will stay put comfortably and the pack (& your back) won’t end up wrapped around them. Also has a hydration bladder sleeve, insulated hydration hose, and a big loading panel.
The pack also ships for free and has no sales tax if you ship it outside of Washington state, at Altrec.com.