Working out what to pack for a La Plagne winter ski or snowboard holiday can feel a bit daunting, especially if it’s your first winter trip. In reality, you’re packing for two overlapping situations: daytime riding and evenings in resort. A bit of planning helps you stay within luggage limits and avoids dragging huge bags through ski flights check-ins, airport transfers and into your accommodation. And you should also remember, most operators will absolutely hammer you if you go over their weight allowances.

Truth is, you don’t need that much extra clothing. In the daytime you’ll wear the same core kit: jacket, mid-layer, salopettes, gloves, helmet, etc.

And the handy part? That same jacket and fleece work at night too. Temperatures drop fast once the sun goes down so you’ll want warm layers on the trudge between bars and restaurants. Jacket and fleece is the perfect combination.

If you ever do a winter season, you’ll quickly realise just how little you actually need. There’s nothing worse than travelling with stuff you’ll never even wear. The kitchen sink analogy comes readily to mind.

When you’re packing, work to a list. We’ve included downloadable PDFs for both men and women further down so you can print them and tick stuff off.

Also, instead of folding, try rolling your clothes to save space. Lay out tops and mid-layers one on top of the other then roll them into a tube. It saves room and reduces creases. And don’t forget the helmet / boot filler trick – you can fit a fair amount of stuff into these, otherwise-empty, spaces.

You’ll wear your salopettes a lot on a winter trip, so you can get away with just a couple of pairs of trousers for evenings.

Don’t pack your best trainers (or heels). Even when there’s not much snow, what’s there often tends to melt into slush in villages and it will wreck whatever’s on your feet.

Pack – or travel in – a decent pair of boots (call them weather boots if you like) and you’re basically sorted.

You’ll want a change of underwear each day (and maybe again before you go out). But jackets, fleeces and hoodies can do double duty for cold evenings.

Honestly, you mainly need: underwear, your ski/snowboard kit and a few base layers.

A golden, massively useful rule learned over countless seasons: No one ever looks at your trousers. You don’t need to take many. For the top half, a simple T-shirt or shirt plus jacket combo works well for staying warm outside but not overheating inside those roasting hot Alpine bars.

Below are two checklists to cover ski and snowboard trips. You can definitely skip some items, but these lists are designed to be thorough.

It’s also worth remembering, your phone now does most things – but you’ll get better video and photos using dedicated cameras if you’ve got them.

Jump to:

Ski holiday packing checklist
Snowboard holiday packing checklist

Use the checklist below, then trim it down based on what you’re actually doing (lessons, off-piste, spa days, nights out, etc). These lists are pretty thorough – you likely won’t need half this stuff but we wanted to be comprehensive.

Download the ski holiday packing list (PDF)

Same deal here: use it as a base, then cut it down based on your plans and what you can rent in resort. A comprehensive list that most people can probably cut in half.

Download the snowboard holiday packing list (PDF)