Thanks, all, for your replies and input. You were right about UA refusing the short-check. That’s a concept I was unfamiliar with until reading threads about it here before I posted this. Good to know. It would’ve been so easy for me to just book the SFO>MUC>SFO on one itinerary and MUC>Prague separately and that would’ve solved the whole thing. Probably wouldn’t have cost me much more anyways - was trying to be too efficient I guess.

Tomorrow train leg one commences, replete with ski gear schlepping. Lesson learned.

Thanks, all, for your input.