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Does anyone lock their skis?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Oh dear feef, that might have been me.
I always lock my skis, and last year in Tignes did lock mine to another's by mistake.
Was relaxing in restaurant in town when waiter came up and asked we had locked our skis . . . . Embarassed

I lock my car, i lock my bike, i lock my skis.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
We have only recently bought a cable/combination type lock which is very small and light - he carries it - and have now on the odd occasion locked the skis to a rack if we are somewhere at village/road level where it would be easy to get away. Outside restaurants we sometimes just swap them so that it stops someone taking a pair away by mistake.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
a.j. wrote:
we just do swapsies, mid end rental gear though so nothing special...

But if they get taken you still have a day of inconvenience reporting to the police, which in our case was an hours drive away, either paying the shop €300ish and sorting out replacements, then if your insurance company decide you'd left them unattended which we all do when in a mountain hut, they may not pay you anyway, and if they do you still have the excess to pay. Worth a few seconds of locking them methinks! wink
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Whenever I'm out of sight of them, I normally lock my skis to my brothers board...he's had one stolen in the past. I know it's not quite the same thing but I'm a bit more careful since my motorbike got nicked 3 years ago.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Jonpim wrote:
Oh dear feef, that might have been me.
I always lock my skis, and last year in Tignes did lock mine to another's by mistake.
Was relaxing in restaurant in town when waiter came up and asked we had locked our skis . . . . Embarassed

I lock my car, i lock my bike, i lock my skis.


1st two weeks in Dec 2012? Lunchtime in Val Claret? Smile
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nope, never been anywhere where I felt there was a risk of them being snatched if honest. If it is a busier day or sitting away from them then we've mixed them up and put in separate racks but nothing more
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Nope, never locked and they spent a week in the boot room unlocked at the main hotel in Mayerhofen (close to the Penkenbahn) and didn't disappear. However its very unlikely anyone is going to clip into my skis by accident as:
1) I've not seen many pairs of Movement skis on the piste in europe
2) I've seen even less people with teleboots
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Always; would you leave a £ 500 bike unlocked outside a restaurant? Safeman locks are reasonably small, but with a quite solid wire; the thin wire ski shop Chinese ones are pretty fragile and break easily.
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Never have and have never been skiing with anybody that has. Maybe a different mind set between countries I think.
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My burton one did fail once in Avoriaz and we had to get a skier within our gang to take off his boot to smash it off
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I got a cable that I thought I'd use to lock my skis a couple of years ago... but then when I looked at the skis and bindings, I couldn't work out how to do it? The only possible method that I could see was to tie the cable REALLY tightly around the centre of the binding so that the ski couldn't be slipped out of the loop...
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Have never locked skis in the past 35+ years of skiing and never had a problem.
But never have had the 'best ski's on the rack'. Haven't noticed ski's being locked either.
However, in Les Arcs recently we felt a need to swap and stack,
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Never used - but do now. Also have had children accidentally borrow my children's hired skis in the morning which was a complete pain - so lock is just gentle deterrent from mistaken identity on the ski front.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
jamescollings wrote:
I got a cable that I thought I'd use to lock my skis a couple of years ago... but then when I looked at the skis and bindings, I couldn't work out how to do it? The only possible method that I could see was to tie the cable REALLY tightly around the centre of the binding so that the ski couldn't be slipped out of the loop...


Isn't putting it through the ski brake the accepted method?
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
feef wrote:
Jonpim wrote:
Oh dear feef, that might have been me.
I always lock my skis, and last year in Tignes did lock mine to another's by mistake.
Was relaxing in restaurant in town when waiter came up and asked we had locked our skis . . . . Embarassed

I lock my car, i lock my bike, i lock my skis.


1st two weeks in Dec 2012? Lunchtime in Val Claret? Smile


Or me if it was outside the Aspen Embarassed

We always lock ours as do most of our friends in resort. I have found Safeman to be the best lock so far. I have had a pair of skis stolen in Courchevel.


Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Mon 20-01-14 10:06; edited 1 time in total
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
feef wrote:
Jonpim wrote:
Oh dear feef, that might have been me.
I always lock my skis, and last year in Tignes did lock mine to another's by mistake.
Was relaxing in restaurant in town when waiter came up and asked we had locked our skis . . . . Embarassed

I lock my car, i lock my bike, i lock my skis.


1st two weeks in Dec 2012? Lunchtime in Val Claret? Smile


Laughing
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The question Id always want to know the answer to. When skis have been stolen, do you really think they've been stolen or taken by mistake?

It would look really guilty, especially up the mountain, to see someone skiing down with a pair under their arm.

Yes, I know they could take a pair up and leave their old pair behind.


Obviously down in the village, its easier to walk past somewhere and just take them if thats what the thief wants to do
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Quote:

Obviously down in the village, its easier to walk past somewhere and just take them if thats what the thief wants to do



Or pull up in a van with some toerag mates and pile all the better skis inside from outside a/many restaurants. It's been done...
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We've been using these Burton locks for a few years now and Saturday I secured my skis at the base station while I grabbed a coffee. Very irritatingly, the lock jammed itself. It's see through plastic and the mechanism was just not working. Borrowed a set of wire cutters from the lifty and off we go. No-one seemed to pay attention...

Need to buy a new lock tomorrow.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Borrowed a set of wire cutters from the lifty and off we go. No-one seemed to pay attention...


That seems reassuring........NOT
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feefee wrote:
a.j. wrote:
we just do swapsies, mid end rental gear though so nothing special...

But if they get taken you still have a day of inconvenience reporting to the police, which in our case was an hours drive away, either paying the shop €300ish and sorting out replacements, then if your insurance company decide you'd left them unattended which we all do when in a mountain hut, they may not pay you anyway, and if they do you still have the excess to pay. Worth a few seconds of locking them methinks! wink



Exactly this experience in val disere after forgetting one of the kids snowboards at village level. It cost about 100 euroes plus loss of half a day skiing. I lock them or worry about them.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
at the end of the day its like having a car or house alarm, its just a deterrent. Yes, some are easy to cut etc, but a lot of petty crime is opportunist, so having a lock will deter those thefts anyway.

As for the Burton lock failing on under a new name,& Nadenoodlee, thats not good at all; Burton would probably replace it if you could be bothered over a lock for a few quid. I guess at least a their is unlikely to ask a lifty for bolt cutters Laughing

oh, whats the French for "I need bolt cutters?" Laughing
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Always use a lock - small retractable cable lock that fits in the waist strap pocket of my backpack. Will never stop a determined thief but hopefully deter the opportunist. When I leave my skis to go into a mountain restaurant or bar it's always at the back of my mind that some toe-rag is looking at my skis thinking 'I fancy a pair of those' or 'those are better than mine' etc.

If my skis were stolen when I'd left them unattended and unlocked I'd anticipate the insurance company might be awkward. Also, getting off the mountain, getting a police report and getting replacement skis is going to be a pain and will eat up valuable ski/apres time - if using a simple lock can reduce the risk it's a no brainer to me.
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AB Ski, exactly this. But there comes a point, when a new pair of skis is on the wish list, that I sometimes hope some passing thief will relieve me of my old ones! wink
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cstreat wrote:
Always; would you leave a £ 500 bike unlocked outside a restaurant? Safeman locks are reasonably small, but with a quite solid wire; the thin wire ski shop Chinese ones are pretty fragile and break easily.


Yes. After the Sunday morning cycling club ride, there's normally about 30 or 40 bikes parked outside Nero, I think mine's one of the cheapest at about a grand. None are locked.

There's always folk around, there's always someone who can see them and I suspect it's the same for skis. I never lock mine but even when they are split, I'm aware if where they are and keep them pretty much in sight if I can. You don't need to see the ski, just see if anyone is in the immediate vicinity.
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 snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Tigski wrote:
feef wrote:
Jonpim wrote:
Oh dear feef, that might have been me.
I always lock my skis, and last year in Tignes did lock mine to another's by mistake.
Was relaxing in restaurant in town when waiter came up and asked we had locked our skis . . . . Embarassed

I lock my car, i lock my bike, i lock my skis.


1st two weeks in Dec 2012? Lunchtime in Val Claret? Smile


Or me if it was outside the Aspen Embarassed

We always lock ours as do most of our friends in resort. I have found Safeman to be the best lock so far. I have had a pair of skis stolen in Courchevel.


+1 with the Safeman lock which we've had over 10 yrs, although my hubby lost the last remaining key whilst we were in Canada, so we had a to buy a retractable plastic combination lock which is a lot more flimsy with thinner cable.

If I see another Safeman lock when we head out to Galtuer/Ischgl in Feb, I'll buy it.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I always lock my skis. As mentioned on this thread skis are often taken in error. I worked as a ski guide in La Plagne and the amount of times my guests came out from a restaurant and picked up the wrong skis was staggering. I even had people come out and walk in a totally different direction to where they left their skis.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Always lock mine since about 6 years ago in Alpe D'Huez when some ***** took mine by mistake & managed to use them all day before returning them late afternoon after I had spent 2 hours in the police station Sad
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Why do I lock?
Well, I've had one pair of hire skis nicked.
(Very stupidly left lying on the piste in Val Thorens by restaurant - not even put up in the rack)
But more common may be the mistake: i've taken a wrong pair by mistake, and i know of friends who have done the same.
Easy to do.
(one where the guy took our Guide's skis after he had been ranting all lunch how completely idiotic you'd have to be to take the wrong skis Toofy Grin )

As for your skis feef, it wasn't me: i wasn't there (December 2012).
My silly mistake was end of January 2013 (or maybe it was March? - memory so fuzzy these days rolling eyes )
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Always lock mine now I own a pair.

Heard too many reports from people who've lost theirs, probably to accidental, mistaken identity, possibly to theft.

A lock will prevent the former and may deter the latter.

Net effect? More relaxation in the bar Toofy Grin
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I always lock mine, but I always feel like a bit of an idiot whilst I'm doing it Puzzled
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Yep

Had to scrap an afternoons ski a while back when someone took sons skis, sure by accident as the ones left were similar, from same hire place, but slightly different size.

Is a cheap cable lock, but run it through bindings on one of each our skis. Won't deter theft but stops accidental removal
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Yes. Like others, it's a cheap cable lock, but it means that someone doesn't walk off with my skis by mistake.
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One way to prevent getting your skis stolen is to ski telemark. They look old fashioned or broken to most people Laughing

Main risk is getting them knocked over. No brakes to prevent a runaway Sad
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Quote:

Mind you they're always hired skis.

would still mess up your afternoon if they were stolen though, especially if you were somewhere you couldn't get down in a lift.
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Yep. It's very compact (Google "pebble ski lock")
I think you'd get through it with a pair of nail clippers if you wanted but it'll stop someone picking them up by mistake, and if they are nicking, nick the unlocked ones next to them instead (Which is all car steering locks do)
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Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
jafa wrote:
The question Id always want to know the answer to. When skis have been stolen, do you really think they've been stolen or taken by mistake?


I think this is a bigger problem. Just come back from a trip where my eight-year-old nephew's skis were taken from outside a restaurant. After half an hour of looking we gave it up, and his dad piggy-backed him down the mountain, hired a new pair and came back up.

By the time he'd come back up, whoever it was had come back, left my nephew's skis and (presumably) taken the right pair.

Just one of those things, I guess; a lock would have helped, as would mix and matching the skis.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Lost my skis temporarily in Livigno at Christmas this year. Popped into the hotel bar to get my boots off, only just the other side of the door. Came out 5 minutes later to missing skis. Transpired that a couple of South African families had swept up all the skis in sight and taken them to a bar next door but one. A very worrying 20 minutes. A lock on them may have worked. rolling eyes snowHead
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holidayloverxx wrote:
Shimmy Alcott, yes, I have a cable combination lock.


+1 works for about three pairs Smile
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Quote:

Borrowed a set of wire cutters from the lifty and off we go. No-one seemed to pay attention...

when my bike lock jammed a while ago (the bike was locked to a stand outside the leisure centre) I rang my son in law who came over in his dodgy looking white van, in a grey hoody, with a pair of bolt croppers and I was back on the road in a jiffy. Nobody turned a hair.

I always lock my bike because loads of bikes get stolen all the time. I have had a pair of skis stolen but that was my stupidity - I left them by a ski bus stop on the main road through the village on a Sunday. rolling eyes Other than that, in many years of skiing, with lots of people, nobody has ever had a pair stolen. My nephew once got to the bootroom to find somebody had taken his skis. He was very cross. Turned out to be my OH who had spent hours huffing and puffing at the kids about recognising their skis and put all kinds of complicated electrical tape markings on everybody's (hired) skis so that nobody would take the wrong ones. rolling eyes
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