Lots of options can leave some people paralyzed with doubt. Imagine that you walked into a grocery store for the first time in your life and wandered over to the cereal aisle. There, you're confronted with over 200 boxes of sugary deliciousness to choose from. How would you start to narrow down the options? By the shape of the cereal? By the marshmallow content? By the cartoon spokesperson? It's equally difficult to figure out which Thule ski rack is right for you if you've never shopped for one before. Here are a few guidelines to help you narrow down your options.
Ski-only Racks
Slope purists will tell you that snowboarding is just a passing fad. "Yes, the kids are shredding on half pipes and grinding on handrails this season," they say. "But they'll see the light when next winter rolls around." They've been telling themselves this for nearly twenty seasons, but still they persist in their belief that skiing is the gentleman's mountain sport. For these stalwart skiers, Thule makes a special rack that only carrier skis: the Thule 562 Non-locking Ski Carrier. It mounts up on a roof rack and has room for up to two pairs of skis. It may not have a lock, but who is really interested in stealing deprecated technology anyways? Stealing skis from a parking lot crowded with snowboards is like stealing an Apple Newton when it's sitting next to an iPhone.
Snowboard-only Racks
The yang to the die-hard skier's yin is the dedicated snowboarder—that dude or dudette who pooh-poohs skiing as an old-man's sport that should have died out with The Lawrence Welk Show. These snow cats are so dedicated to their particular sport that they roll with a rack designed to carry just snowboards, so Thule made one special just for them: the Thule 575 Universal Snowboard Carrier. This compact, roof-mounted snowboard rack has room for up to two boards, but absolutely no patience for skis. It's padded to protect your board's finish, and it comes with a couple of locks.
Combo Ski and Snowboard Racks
For the non-extremist snow-sportsperson, there are a number of combination racks available that can carry both skis and snowboards at the same time. Yes, the two can get along. The most popular of these types of racks are the Thule 91725 Universal Flat Top and Thule 91726 Universal Pull Top. Both can carry up to six pairs of skis or four snowboards—the only difference is that the Pull Top slides out to the side of your roof for easier loading and unloading. Pretty trick.
Now, most of these combo racks mount to a roof rack's crossbars, but there are a couple of options that don't perch that way. The Thule 5401 Snowcat mounts right to your factory side rails, creating its own crossbars. It has room for up to six pairs of skis or four snowboards and is fully lockable. The other option is the Thule 987XT Hitch Ski & Snowboard Rack, which connects to hitch-mounted Thule bike racks and can carry up to six pairs of skis or four snowboards.
