The Perfect Family Ski Vehicle
A 2014 Ford Transit Connect
Based on marketing efforts and ski slope parking lots, you might think that a big SUV is the perfect family ski vehicle. But you would be wrong. As evidence, I present the Ford Transit Connect minivan. It’s narrow outside, huge inside, and - when properly outfitted - absolutely kills it on the family ski vehicle front.
Transparency Note
Some products featured in this article were provided by the manufacturer for evaluation. This article contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. The manufacturer had no input on the editorial content.
Ford discontinued the Transit Connect a couple years ago. There are many reasons for this, but in my opinion, they boned the marketing behind what is an excellent vehicle and as a result, consumers didn’t know what it was. Fortunately, the used market is awash in reasonably priced Transits - the passenger version of course, not the florist delivery vans - and for the family that likes to ski, you should consider one.
Even without aftermarket ski-friendly add-ons, the Transit Connect stands tall in the ski vehicle hierarchy. Actually, narrow, as in a roughly 6” tidier width versus the likes of a Toyota Sienna. So, when you’re tucking into a jammed ski resort parking lot that is likely loaded with lumbering land barges, you’ll find ample space to maneuver.
Factor in the sliding doors, and you’ll find a remarkably easy ski slope arrival process. Anyone who has taken a family with little kids skiing knows the mental madness that often accompanies such an endeavor. On these adventures, it’s the little things that count, like being able to open your doors without fuss.
That said, our little kids are now teenagers, all 3 of them. And while the Transit Connect is slim left-to-right, it’s tall top-to-bottom, meaning the overhead cabin space is surprisingly huge. With 3 rows of seating, the 5 of us can spread out, and thanks to this unusual packaging format, we’re all quite comfortable.
The powertrain is a dog, the ride is a bit flinty, and the frills are few and far between. BUT, this little Ford van makes up for those challenges with tremendous interior flexibility and crisp carlike handling. All of which translates to a solid family ski vehicle. Especially when properly equipped.
Thule Rooftop Cargo Box
Rooftop cargo boxes are invaluable for any family activity, but uniquely so when it comes to skiing. We have the Thule Force XT XXL, a relative god in the universe of cargo carriers. Volume measures 22 cubic feet. That’s more space than you’ll find behind the third row of VW’s big ol’ Atlas SUV. This translates to holding a tremendous amount of stuff, but it is also the perfect container for 5 pairs of skis and poles.
I have customized our Thule cargo box with a cutting-edge foam pool noodle racking system. Two noodles, spread about 3 feet apart, span the interior. Into each tube of foam are cut 5 narrow troughs to cradle our skis. It’s an impressive bit of engineering that you can inspect in the video above. #humblebrag. Plus, once I load the ski gear at the beginning of the season, it lives up there. The cargo carrier is lockable, so no need to constantly load and unload the skis after each trip to the slopes. I highly recommend one for all your skiing needs.
Continental Winter Tires
I like to nerd out on winter tires, not all-weather tires to be clear, but dedicated snow rubber. The kind that transforms an otherwise pedestrian front-wheel drive cupcake delivery van into a Rocky Mountain snowstorm beast. Always looking to see who does it best, I currently have Blizzak DM-V2s on our Explorer, but the Transit Connect is sporting Continental WinterContact SI tires. These same tires powered us up and over the Monarch Pass a few winters back during a trek to Crested Butte.
It’s an 11,000-foot-plus run through the Rocky Mountains that straddles the Continental Divide. It is glorious and dicey all at once. The windshield washer jets did freeze up on our trip down the mountain, which required a quick stop in an emergency pull-off. Conditions were not great and I may have required a fresh pair of trousers that night. BUT, those winter tires did their thing and further cemented the Transit Connect as an ideal family ski vehicle.
WeatherTech Floor Mats
WeatherTech crushes it on the marketing front, with their logo everywhere. Full pagers in Car and Driver, ads on the tube, retargeting banners creeping around my online footprint. And it works, at least for me. I dig the Made In America aspect, but I REALLY dig how amazing the FloorLiner HP mats are. You can cheap out on some cut-it-youself rubber Walmart mats, but if you’ve got a carload of kids going skiing, you’ll regret it.
The Transit Connect must have the single most convoluted floorplan in all of autodom. When WeatherTech’s mats arrived, the second row, third row, and cargo bay units looked like Rube Goldberg and Tetris had a baby. Especially the third row. And yet, each one fit like a glove. Tall, rigid-enough walls surround each one, ready to capture as much melting snow and sandy crap as you can throw at it.
Little details like the cupped second-row section that protects the seat mounting bracket and turns into a small pool after a day on the slopes are what set WeatherTech apart. Cheap these floor mats are not. But having a dedicated ski boot section in the cargo bay and not having to worry about the carpeting getting utterly soaked is worth every penny.
SnoStrips Magnetic Ski Racks
Going skiing with kids, especially when they’re little, is so fun, for so many reasons. You get to unload all their gear. You get to put on their boots. You get to carry their skis through the parking lot. And, if you’re lucky, you get to watch them lean their skis against the side of the car. Whereupon those long slabs of sharp metal will inevitably hit the deck. But not before sliding and scratching themselves along the clear coat.
Enter the SnoStrip from RigStrips. These little magnetic doodads snap onto the sheetmetal and provide rubberized slots to lay your skis and poles within. Perhaps the best invention for skiing families in history, SnoStrips kick ass. We use them on both sides of the Transit. Not that our little Ford is winning any awards for its paint job, but that doesn’t mean I want it trashed.
Plus, by loading the skis into these magnetic racks, the kids can grab them when they’re ready and put them back at the end of the day, all neat and tidy. I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to drive to and from the slopes with the SnoStrips externally affixed, but it has mistakenly happened, and I’m happy to report, they’re still with us.
Nilight Air Compressor
With the frigid air temperatures that make for good skiing come car tires that like to lose a bit of pressure here and there. Maybe your TPMS light illuminates in warning. Or, like with the Transit Connect that has no monitoring system, one of those tires just looks a little low. When this happens in your driveway, it’s annoying, but likely an easy remedy. However, when a tire gets low as you gear up to head home from skiing, it might be a bigger hassle.
The nearest gas station could be a hike, and maybe you’re not comfortable driving the whole family home with tires in need of some love. Which is where the Nilight portable inflator comes in. Nilight sent me a unit to review, and I’m happy to report that it works like a champ. Power comes from a 12V cabin outlet and does not require the car be running. The nearly 11-foot-long power cable means you can reach all 4 corners. A digital touchscreen gives you the current pressure reading and can be set to a target PSI - then automatically shut off when said pressure is reached.
A built-in flashlight makes night work stress-free. And during a recent use in a frigid, snow-covered parking lot, pressures were increased with ease, and the tires were ready to go. Plus, its compact size means the Nilight unit fits nicely in the Transit’s high-mount cargo shelf that runs across the front-row seats. Very handy.
AddVisor Plus Polarized Sun Visor
Full transparency: I was skeptical of the merits of the AddVisor Plus when one arrived from the company for review. I was unfairly expecting something flimsy and of little practical use. I was wrong. This articulated sun-blocking gizmo would work in any vehicle, but it is uniquely well-suited to the Ford Transit Connect in winter, due to the comically huge windshield. This is great for visibility and for letting in ALL the sun. I’m not sure if this is accurate, but it feels like the sun is harsher and brighter on cold, clear winter days.
I also have little baby eyes that leave me forever squinting, so those highway signs that threaten “Delays Due To Sun Glare” leave me sweating. Particularly when heading due west, around 5 PM in late February, with that big orange fireball hitting me dead center in the face. Normally, I could choose between completely blocking out the sun, road, and every other car with the Ford’s regular sun visor, or sort of see where I’m going with a half-lowered approach that leaves me mostly blind in the process. Not so with the AddVisor Plus!
Once lowered, there is a second, polarized plastic rectangle that unfolds for down-low protection. To be sure, it reminds of Blue Blockers, but there’s no denying how well it works. Like one of those “But wait, there’s more!” infomercials, you can both see the road AND not go blind with AddVisor’s clever hinged sun visor! Bonus points for how it covers the windshield so you can rotate the factory sun visor to block out side window glare. Crisp packaging, sturdy build quality, and a cam-lock mounting system for easy removal have me sold on this subtly awesome vehicle upgrade.
Ford Made The Perfect Family Ski Vehicle
We’ve owned the Transit Connect for 11 years. It’s been super reliable and has, somewhat unintentionally, been transformed into an awesome adventure mobile. Especially for winter skiing adventures. The list of aftermarket upgrades has taken time to implement, but given our long-running experience with it set up as such, I wouldn’t trade our ski-ready Transit for anything. You should get one.
About the author: Niel Stender is an automotive journalist. More of his work can be found at muckrack.com/niel-stender.