“Carrying your own skis” means carrying your own work load. It means being responsible and taking care of your own stuff and don’t expect anybody to do it for you. Skiing back then was a lot of work but most importantly, when you carry your own skis, it means you are standing on your own feet. It means you sign up for the obligation and then later on you can have the fun stuff.
A gerund is a verbal used as a noun. It ends in -ing. ur gerund phrase in this sentence is " by preparing "....and it is functioning as the object of the preposition.
