For those who take a lot of bulk rather than weight it's worth buying a snowboard bag. You can get loads in there and you only need to pay for ski carriage rather that being charged a lot more for excess baggage weight.
We have both got one, and we can get our skis, poles, plus all our ski gear in there leaving our main baggage free for just clothes.
Don't think he'll move to the Darkside, he likes to look elegant and would worry he didn't look . You know how he worried last year about how he would look in a thong
Another option we use is to buy a ski bag/tube that holds 2 sets of skis...and like you say, you can put all your others bits and pieces in like thermals, socks etc.
That way we have only ever paid for 1 carriage and leaves us plenty of room/weight left for our boots to go in with our lugguage.
This does not work all the time now.... I have one and they make you open it up and only calculate the weight at 6.5 KG for your equipment. Check with your airline but I have been seeing ALOT of people paying high excesses!!!