Chris, Best bet is to talk to Terry. He and Tayne have shipped a ski to World Finals before (and probably will again this year). They'll be down at the Nationals this weekend so you may not get them till next week.
Chris, I did the opposite when i moved here, shipped a complete ski with some other stuff in a 2.5 x 1 x 1 meter crate that was framed in angle iron and wood sided. Door to door it cost about $2500USD all said and done, and took about 2.5 months seafreight. I used a freight forwarding company, and they were a complete mess to deal with, wouldn't recommend that route. Mainfreight has a depot in LA that specializes in vehicle transport, I'd try them as you would be able to work with a kiwi company on both sides. What do you need to know?
As Dan say's , it's not a cheap exercise. I paid around $1200 NZD for sea freight on a new X2 that i shipped up to california afew years ago. That was the start of the costs !!! I paid another $1100 USD for all the port charges and clearance fee's to be able to collect it from a yard in LA,then paid another $180 USD for a forklift fee before they would load it on my pick up truck. Then had to register it as they need an American title (Ownership Papers as such) before riding them in any body of water... Quite a drama !!!! So was a pretty costly exercise. Unfortunately what ever you get quoted here as a shipping charge,be prepared for some hefty charges once it arrives in the USA.