After a crazy year, somehow Winter 2020 is upon us.. er, wait a minute, Winter 2021 is upon us. How did that happen? Summer has faded into Fall which means a certain group of adventure seekers is starting to get tingles of excitement. The excitement we feel as we see the first coatings of fresh snow start to grace the highest mountain tops.

Quarantine Home Improvement Projects

The pandemic provided many challenges in every aspect of life and, for many, forced us into our homes much more than we’d like to be. While inconvenient, it offered a chance for us to jump into many of those home projects that seemingly never leave our lists. It allowed us to take a look at our home and see where we can improve and especially organize and increase our space efficiency. Many were finally found saying, “alright, the skis thing in the corner is not a permanent solution”.. and a good realization it was because nobody needs to be left playing a game of Pickup Sticks with $5k worth of gear when they have the need to get gnarly.

In-Home Ski Displays make you cooler.

Aside from the obvious organization and space efficiency, there are a few things about in-home ski storage that many skiers don’t think of..

1. Organization and Space Efficiency – This one is obvious, racks keep your skis organized in a way that can maximize the space in your home and hence more space with the same amount of home.
2. Protection – Keeping your skis safe on the mountain can be difficult. Keeping your skis safe in your home is not difficult at all. A Ski Rack is a great way to protect your skis from falls, scrapes, and dings which will keep your them in great condition, will extend their life, and will help you to enjoy them for longer.
3. Enjoyment – Skiing is such a delight.. why let it end when you leave the mountain? What we have noticed about our customers reaction to our products is that they didn’t realize how much of an impact seeing their gear on a daily basis would have on their general happiness. It makes sense.. We love our gear and what it allows us to do, so when we see our gear on a daily basis, it acts like a winter memento and fires up our adventure highlight reel. Sit back and let the memories play!

With stoke to get out on our next adventure higher than ever, it’s time to prep for the upcoming season and get your winter gear home base organized. Luckily we have a few great options for skiers of all types!

The Hallsteiner Series – Wall-Mounted Horizontal Ski Rack

Our Hallsteiners are our staple ski racks. They hold skis horizontally to make use of wall width and accommodate all skis (up to width of 110mm under foot) and similarly sized gear. Our incredibly strong, easy-to-install Grassracks Mounting Bar System allows you to adjust cradle width in seconds to accommodate for obstructions like bindings. This is a feature you won’t find on other ski racks on the market. Generally, when other racks are installed, their placement is final. Our Hallsteiners have been tirelessly tweaked over the years to find the perfect mix of storage and displayability so you have grab-and-go access to your skis but can also see the artwork that you most likely spent hours pining over before purchase. Protective padding for  each arm gives your skis a nice safe and soft pillow on which to rest.

The Moloka’i Series – Wall-Mounted Snowboard & Skateboard Rack.. ALSO perfect for fat powder skis.

Our Moloka’is were designed as our snowboard and skateboard rack and that’s really how we promote them, however, the size of and spacing of cradle arms makes our Moloka’I Series perfect for storage of fat powder skis or skis with robust bindings.. there’s just more space with which to work than our Hallsteiner Series. This rack series does come with only one bar so cradles are still adjustable but they don’t have the unlimited width potential that the Hallsteiner Series does (but we do sell additional bars separately, if needed). Padding is also included for each arm.

Nubbins – Flush Wall-Mounted Ski & Snowboard Rack – ALSO good for.. everything.

One of our newest racks, our Nubbins quickly became a customer because, well, they’re a no-brainer. The sweet circular babes grew out of our Zero Waste Initiative. While we are very material efficient with our sheet nesting, small ‘drop’ pieces were unavoidable and we wanted to make use of it. What we ended up creating was a “flush” ski and snowboard wall rack. While other gear that we design for is unique in all directions with fins, trucks, and handlebars, skis and snowboards are unique in that they have 1 side which is relatively flat, making it possible to mount skis flat against the wall. There are 3 main benefits to this.

1. Display – Most racks hold gear at an angle, which gives them great visibility but nothing compares to gear being flat against a wall and showing off in all it’s glory. It’s 100% visibility and it’s glorious.
2. Space Efficiency – Mounting skis flat against the wall saves space. While our Hallsteiner and Moloka’I Series are space efficient they will protrude around 10” – 15” into the room from the wall. With Nubbins, that protrusion is cut down to around 5” (depending on size of bindings). Now 5” - 10” might not seem like a lot, but it is a lot of extra space to be saved, especially in smaller rooms.
3. Minimal – The simplicity of our Nubbins really is great. They come out 1.25” from the wall and are very unobtrusive. They ensure that the focus is on your skis and not on the apparatus that holds them. Nubbins make it easy to personalize a wall and really make it your grab-and-go home base for your winter gear.

There’s no one-size-fits-all option for ski storage but we have the bases covered for every athlete whether you just want indoor ski storage to keep them safe and out of harms way or if you want a beautiful eco-friendly ski display to appreciate your gear all year long. We have Hallsteiners and Moloka’is for Horizontal storage and Nubbins for Vertical Display, it really depends on your home and what you want. Plus, if you have bigger gear, you can always check out some of our larger racks like our Kaua’is, O’ahus, and Vert Free racks which will easily accommodate surfboards and anything smaller.

Check out our full line today and how Grassracks can help you organize your ski gear. Bring Your Adventure Home!

It’s late September and the snow has already begun to dust mountain tops across the country. For us skiers and other winter adventurers, the excitement is beginning to mount and it couldn’t come soon enough. Speaking of Mounting.. Let’s get right into this little dittle about our new gorgeous, simple, and space efficient ski racks, our Nubbins. (This is a ski rack article, but keep in mind that our Nubbins are also designed for snowboards.. Since a snowboard is essentially a ginormous ski, they are measured, mounted, and displayed the same way with our Nubbins.)

No Waste Is Good Waste

Our Nubbins were born out of our Grassracks Zero Waste Initiative. The environment has always been priority 1 for us so in addition to using sustainable materials and practices, part of that is being as efficient as possible with our material and the energy put into making products. While our sheet nesting is incredibly efficient, we were inevitably left with small pieces of otherwise unusable bamboo that we refused to have as waste, so we designed our smallest and most minimalist rack to date.

Before we get too far.. we mentioned that our Nubbins are made from small “drop” pieces of gorgeous bamboo. The process is pretty interesting and here is an entertaining 51 second video about that.

Weird Shapes

Since most of the gear we deal with is oddly shaped and has awkward features like fins, trucks & wheels, or handlebars, skis and snowboards are unique in that they have one relatively 2-dimensional side. So, while other gear needs to be held by arms and given space on all sides, skis and snowboards are able to be mounted flat against the wall, this has 3 advantages..

3 Advantages

1. Incredibly space efficient. On a typical ski rack, skis lay at an angle on a rack so they would protrude into the room at the depth of the rack plus the width of the gear. With Nubbins, the space needed is ski thickness plus bindings. For reference, skis on a normal rack protrude about 10” with bindings. With Nubbins this depth is cut down to roughly 4.5”, depending on your bindings. (For snowboards the difference is more drastic going from roughly 16” on a typical rack to a mere 5” with Nubbins.)
2. 100% visibility. Most racks are pure function and it sucks and we hate it. We always design with gear visibility in mind so you can see your favorite gear thus releasing your serotonin and feel wintery happiness. While our Hallsteiner Series Ski Racks do a great job at being space efficient and showing off your gear, our Nubbins are king of the mountain at displaying your shred babies. They really excel at making the most of your board art, as can be seen above.
3. Simple and minimal. Like all of our products, our Nubbins are outrageously easy to install. What is slightly different is just how small and unobtrusive they are. Their focus is to get the job done and stay out of the way so your skis can show off proudly on your wall. That’s all there is to say about that.

Want to see how easy the Nubbin Installation is? Check this out. 

Ski Storage

Ski storage may seem easy but can be a problem, especially when we start to add poles, bags, helmets, gloves, etc. It may seem a bit daunting to figure out how to keep it all organized. Leaning your snow sticks against the corner may seem like a great idea until the first time they fall, leaving you to repaint your wall and fix a nasty ding on your ski’s sidewall or edge. For the safety of your gear, the organization of your room, and your own personal satisfaction it makes sense to look into a rack that is right for your home.

Versatile Ski Storage

Nubbins are different from our wall racks in how they store skis and that they don’t have the Utility Hooks found on most of our wall racks for skis, snowboards, surfboards, bikes, etc. Since the goal is to organize all of your gear, that may seem like an oversight, but our Nubbins are perfect for holding things like bags, jackets, helmets, and poles. For me, I like everything to have it’s own place (and Nub), but often times things like poles and bags can hang easily off Nubbins that are used to mount your skis.

Strong, Gorgeous, Eco-Friendly, Upcycle Bamboo

Our choice to use bamboo was easy. Its beautiful color and grain makes it an easy, eco-friendly addition to any home. Our sanding process then brings out every fiber that makes the material so strong, both on the face and cut edge. We apply a butcher block conditioner to each Nubbin to protect it from moisture and give it a deep, rich color.

With Winter fast approaching and the pandemic forcing us into our homes more than we’d like to be, now is a great time to create your ultimate ski gear home base. An organized and orderly storage and display system will not only maximize your space and protect your gear, but will keep your stoke high in between every adventure! Check out which Grassracks product is right for you so you can Bring Your Adventure Home!