Winter Driving: Ski Trip Cars, Features and Accessories

OnStar Remote Link: You’re freezing your tootsies off, the clubhouse is closed, and you’re too far away to use the remote keyfob to pre-warm your ride. With OnStar’s latest round of Smartphone-enabled tech, you can start your car from virtually anywhere in the world – including the end of a trail – so it’s warmed up when you get back.

Tailgate Listening: Fold down hatch speakers on some models, and a Party Mode on the stereo system in others make it easy to blast your favourite tunes from within your ride to share with an entire parking lot. Ready yourself for the ski, or take in some tunes while removing your gear, with ease.

Ford Keypad System: This one’s great, since you can lock your keys in the car and open it by typing a secret password into the keypad on the door. Meaning, of course, that you’ve got one less thing to carry around in those funny form-fitting ski-o-tards you’re rocking on the trails.

Heated Seats and Steering Wheel: You’ll probably leave your ski-session a bit on the chilly side, but a ride with a heated steering wheel and heated seats can take the nip out of the equation by providing instant heat to your backside, thighs and mitts before your ride’s engine gets to pumping hot air into the cabin.

2014 Dodge Durango Citadel, Subaru Crosstrek, OnStar RemoteLink app. Click image to enlarge

Our Favourite Skiing-Ready Accessories

Heated Thermos: A Thermos can keep some soup, tea or coffee hot for hours, and a Thermos of the plug-in variety, running off of your vehicle’s battery, can keep things warm for hours longer than that.

Form Fitting Mats: Form fitting mats from a company like Weather Tech keep all the nasty moisture, sand and salt you’ll track into your ride after skiing from winding up in the carpeting, where it’ll get mouldy, smelly, and start to rot your rides floor pan. These custom mats trap the bad stuff, so you can rinse it down the drain in the laundry-room sink, rather than spend hours shampooing it out of your ride’s carpets.

Ski Rack: There are over 97,817 types and varieties of roof-mounted ski-carrying accessories on the market, which can be fixed to the roof of your ride in moments, off-loading some cargo to maintain interior space and comfort. Various sizes, capacities, shapes, security implements and features are represented. Your vehicle’s dealer probably has some good options to consider, too. Determine your needs, and visit a retailer for a closer look.

LED Light Bar: Having a late ski? Your local speed and custom shop sells a variety of LED light bars with numerous purposes, including the ability to light up the area behind or in front of your truck or SUV for easy packing up and loading at the end of the day.

Cargo Mat: Look for form-fitting rubber cargo mats for the cargo area of your ride. They offer protection, and are often rubberized to keep your gear in place. Plus, they make a great place for that clunky wax-box, or for a four-legged skiing-buddy to ride along.