OK, time to hear from the woman....
I always feel like I pack too much and I almost always wear everything I pack. I don't skimp on the polypro layers and underwear because they hardly take up any room. What takes up room are the fleece ski tops, small backpacks/camelbacks and the jackets.
In the past I would just bring my one ski parka and one softshell. When I ski in Jan-Feb I find that I don't use the softshell. In the spring I bring the soft shell, the hard shell and the ski jacket, because you just don't know what weather you'll encounter. Sometimes I have a bag just for jackets and footwear as well as small backpacks and camelbacks. This year I purchased a puffy down jacket. It stuffs very small, so I'll have an extra jacket for nights out and apres ski. After a while, wearing that ski jacket I wore all day on the slopes gets old and you just want a warm clean jacket to change into.
When I travel by car, this isn't such a big deal and I tend to bring more, especially if the trip entails xc skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating as well as downhill skiing. I gave up on bringing the telemark gear. Took up too much room and I didn't use it often enough. I just don't enjoy it as much as alpine skiing. When we went to Gore/WF 2 weeks ago 2 of us brought a lot of stuff...skis, xc skis, ice skates, snowshoes, snow boots, big box of food, case of beer, bottles of wine, backpacks, camelbacks and all the clothes needed for all those sports, plus 3 dogs and their gear. We used about 80% of the stuff. Never went skating. Drank all the beer and wine of course.
When I go to Utah I bring my ski bag with my ski pants and jackets wrapped around my skis. I also put my hiking boots in with my skis. I wear hiking boots instead of snowboots because they take up less room than sorrells and are more versatile and can be used with snowshoes.
I always carry my boots in my carry-on.
I also bring a nice big plastic bottle of Takkaa Vodka as a gift to my hostess. It's decent vodka and comes in a plastic bottle, so I pack it nice n snug in the middle of all my clothing/fleece sweaters.
I never travel with a hair dryer (takes up too much room) or make-up (I don't wear the stuff) and I often don't bring shampoo either because it just takes up too much room. I'll either buy it when I arrive, or use the stuff at the hotel or what my friend has. Those things just take up too much room and the liquds/gels can explode in your bag during travel. I don't go on a ski trip to be a beauty queen...just a powder whore.
