Old Skis: 12 Things to Make From Your Old Pair

What to do with old skis that are too good for the tip and too bulky for the garage? Here are twelve ideas for what to build from old skis – sorted by whether you need no tools at all, a drill driver or a proper workshop.

Last updated: 12 September 2026

💡 By the way: your old skis become a shot bar on the wall as soon as four bindings are fitted – our set of four ski boot shot glasses with binding comes with the glasses, bindings and screws you need.

What to do with old skis? The 12 ideas at a glance

The short answer: in the corner, on the wall, as a coat rack, as furniture or as a shot bar – or, if none of that suits you, pass them on to someone who'll use them. The table shows how much work goes into each idea:

The ideas with glasses need one ingredient you won't find lying around the garage: ski boot shot glasses with binding – four glasses, four bindings, screws included.

Before you drill or saw: what's inside old skis

A ski isn't a plank, it's a layered sandwich. From bottom to top: the base with the steel edges, a layer of glass fibre, an extra layer of metal in some piste skis, then the core – usually wood, foam in cheaper models – above that another layer of glass fibre, sometimes metal again, and right at the top the top sheet with the design. That gives you three rules:

• Deburr the edges: The steel edges are sharp. Run a file or a sanding block over them once before the ski goes anywhere near the hallway.
• Saw outdoors, with a mask: Sawing and sanding produce fine glass-fibre dust. A well-fitting respirator (at least FFP2), tight-fitting safety goggles, long sleeves and dust extraction are all part of the job.
• Where a screw holds: For anything that's meant to stay attached to the ski later on, the core is what counts.

The screws that come with our bindings are Spax wood screws of about 1 cm (0.4 in), two per binding, and they bite into the wooden core, not into the layers above it. That's why this is a project for old, retired skis – not for the pair you still want to ski on this winter. An old snowboard works too. Always pre-drill the ski, or the top sheet will splinter; how deep to go is explained in our mounting guide.

No tools: old skis in the corner, as Christmas decor, by the front door (ideas 1–3)

1. The X in the corner. Stand two old skis in an X in a corner of the hallway or garage, with the poles in between – the corner holds them up, nothing gets drilled. If you still have your neon skis from back in the day: this is their big moment.

2. Old skis as Christmas decor. Fir branches, battery fairy lights and a few red bows turn the old pair into a Christmas display. Real candles need to be kept away from the greenery, LED candles can go right in the middle of the arrangement – and none of them goes inside a glass.

3. Winter decoration by the front door. Push skis and poles into a large planter filled with gravel, or into the snow next to the front door, and add a lantern: every visitor can see that someone lives here who'd rather be up a mountain in winter.

With a drill driver: shot bar, coat rack, bottle opener, shelf (ideas 4–8)

4. Shot bar on the wall. Four bindings on your old skis, then the ski goes horizontally on the wall: the glasses sit in the bindings, you click them out to wash them, and they're dishwasher-safe – the bindings stay on the wall. The binding colour can match the top sheet: five colours, from black to arctic flame. Whoever takes a glass off the wall bar washes it afterwards and clicks it back in – that's all the house rules a shot bar needs.

Before you drill, run a cable and pipe detector over the wall. And the ski doesn't go above the sofa or the dining table – there's real glass up there. The fact that concrete, masonry and plasterboard each need their own wall plugs is also covered in our mounting guide.

5. Coat rack. For a DIY ski coat rack, fix one of the old skis horizontally to the wall and put five or six sturdy coat hooks on it – from now on, the jackets stop ending up on the banister. The jackets hang on their own hooks; a binding at one end holds the glass for the welcome drink. A set of four covers both: one glass for the coat rack, three for the shot bar.

6. Bottle opener. An old children's ski or a snowblade – it's short already – on the patio wall, a wall-mounted bottle opener on top and a small box underneath to catch the bottle caps. If you remember that kids' ski from your own ski school days, you've got the story for the first beer ready to go.

7. Wall shelf. One ski on two sturdy shelf brackets becomes a narrow shelf for photos, small plants or spice jars; for books, lay two skis side by side. The camber makes the ski bow up slightly in the middle – anything round is better off somewhere else.

8. Key or towel rack. A short children's ski with small hooks next to the front door or in the bathroom – for keys, the dog lead or towels. No more hunting for your keys, at least not if the hook actually gets used.

For the workshop: bench, table, sledge and lamp from old skis (ideas 9–12)

9. Bench. Four to six old skis side by side as the seat, so you end up with around 40 cm (16 in) of seat depth, two more as the backrest, and a frame of square timber or metal underneath. The skis are screwed on from below so no screw heads dig in on top.

10. Table. For a tall bar table, cut four skis down to around 110 cm (43 in) and put a round wooden top on them. If you'd rather have a coffee table, lay several shortened skis side by side as the tabletop on a low frame.

11. Sledge. Two short skis as runners with a slatted seat on top – the classic among upcycling projects. It belongs on a gentle slope, not on a toboggan run.

12. Lamp. A ski as a pendant light above the table, with several lamp holders along its length. The wiring and connection are done by a qualified electrician; the rest is screwdriver work.

Bonus: old skis as a shot ski – the ski that raises a glass again

The Shotski is the idea for old skis that everyone at a chalet party gets straight away: one ski with several glasses that a whole round lifts at the same time. How your old pair becomes a Shotski is explained in our Shotski guide. The retired ski gets its photo moment once more – horizontal this time, with four people behind it instead of two boots on top. What goes in is up to each person – if you'd rather skip the alcohol, try our alcohol-free shots.

If you can't track down an old pair, or find out that your old skis only have foam inside, go for the SwigSki3000®: a Shotski of four pine modules, each one removable and replaceable if needed, and extendable for bigger rounds.

Where to get old skis – and how to recycle or dispose of them

Where from: At the end of the season, hire shops sell off ex-hire skis, and you can often pick up a pair for little money. Then there's eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, and simply asking around – almost every garage has a pair that hasn't been skied in years. According to the German Ski Association (DSV), skis, bindings and boots last around ten years if they're used for ten to fifteen days a season.

Where to: If nothing comes of the project, the skis usually go to your household waste recycling centre (the tip) or into a council bulky waste collection, because the bonded layers can hardly be separated. Some retailers and manufacturers take old skis back. Rules and any charges vary by council.

Frequently asked questions

What can you make with old skis?

Wall decor, a coat rack, a shelf, a bottle opener, a bench, a table, a sledge or a shot bar with shot glasses. Which idea suits you depends mainly on your tools.

How do you hang old skis on a wall?

With wall plugs and screws that suit the wall, and not where someone sits underneath. Check first with a cable and pipe detector where electrical cables and water pipes run.

How do you dispose of old skis in the UK?

Usually at your household waste recycling centre (the tip) or via a council bulky waste collection. Some retailers and manufacturers take old skis back; rules and any charges vary by council.

Can you saw through skis?

Yes, with a jigsaw fitted with a metal-cutting blade or a hacksaw, outdoors, wearing an FFP2 mask and safety goggles. The glass fibre in the ski produces fine dust, and the steel edges need a file afterwards.

How do you make a bench out of old skis?

Four to six skis for the seat, two for the backrest, and a frame of square timber or metal underneath. The skis are screwed on from below so no screws dig in on top.

Can I screw ski boot shot glasses onto any pair of old skis?

Onto any old skis with a wooden core, because that's where the screws bite – always pre-drill, or the top sheet will splinter. Use a retired pair, not the skis you still ski on; an old snowboard works too.

Sources: German Ski Association (DSV), reported by dpa on weather.com, February 2023, in German (lifespan of skis); disposal: no single UK source – rules and charges are set by your local council; BG ETEM (German statutory accident insurer for the energy, textile and electrical industries), fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP and GFRP), in German (health risk from fibre dust); DGUV (German Social Accident Insurance), technical bulletin FBHM-074, March 2024, in German (dust extraction, FFP2, safety goggles). As of: September 2026.