 Poster: A snowHead
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I use a Targus Defcon 1. Combination lock, retractable cable and an alarm if you want. It is designed for use with laptops but it works fine on skis, got it off ebay for a few quid.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Axsman wrote: |
| Cheapo (£10) retractable lock from Ellis Brigham. the really cheapo £5 lock I had been using stopped retracting last year so I got a new one. is long enough to go round two pairs of skis and the ski rack. wont stop a determined thief but then nothing will. Gives cheap peace of mind while in 'busier' resorts and drops in a pocket. well worth it IMHO. |
I've got the Ellis Brigham £10 retractable cable lock too. It's light and small enough to carry without noticing in a pocket. Should be enough to discourage the opportunist thief when there are so many unlocked skis on offer.
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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?
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Last season I was planing to use an old bike lock with a nice chunky cable, then lock them to something heavy, While the lock was quite big it fitted fine in the front pocket of my day pack.
Only ended up using it on on my first ski day of last season after which I saw the small locks for the lockable ski racks and brought one of those instead.
Had never seen anything like that in any of the French resorts ive visited, but they were really handy (all be it a bit of a pain when loads of other people decide to dump their kit over the top of your skis and you have to spend ages shifting it all off before you can unlock them!)
At any rate, I guess being able to eaisly lock up my skis is (yet) another reason to return to Canada next season.....
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Many ski thefts down in the towns are not opportunist - people drive into resorts specifically to steal skis, and they have wire rope cutters that will slice through anything upto 5 mm wire rope as if it was dental floss ( I have some myself for other reasons).
One of our group lost a pair of Apaches in Whistler this year, which were locked to a rack with one of the retractable locks - seems people drive up from Vancouver to go nicking.
I have one of the "ski-key" that fits into the purpose built racks they have in Whistler - we need these introduced in Europe! They are much more secure than the thin cable type - though nothing is perfect
http://www.skikey.com/
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I use a Kryptonite bike lock that happens to fit through the bindings of my ski (Head Freeflex). I bought a 1.7 m long length and really would buy close to 2 metres if I could again . Those that are 1 metre long are too short for a lot of racks. I also lock my poles with the same bindings since some losers will steal anything not nailed down.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've got a Bakoda retractable lock. It's a bit bigger than a Zippo lighter and does the job well
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No 1 tip, never have a pit stop/lunch etc close to a downloading lift where foot passengers are allowed on......asking for trouble.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The Agent ski lock that Slush&Rubble sell is pretty good. Sort of like a mini bike cable lock. Sufficiently more sturdy than a retractable one to mean that thieves would go for an easier option. Relatively compact.
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Split them.
Only time we lost any was when we went straight into town off the slopes in St A... they were gone by about 2100-2200...which wasn't really surprising
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Another vote for the "ski-key" system. If only more resorts had the racks...
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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.
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| Quote: |
I had my hire skis stolen last week in LaPlagne Centre. InterSport in LaPlagne 1800 charged me a staggering 680 euros!!!
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Hell's bells. Our hire shop offers insurance against theft or damage for an additional 1 euro per day. Well worth it.
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JT,
This isn't fool proof.
Last winter in La Daille 2 of us split our skis, when we went to collect them one mixed pair had been taken. Luckily when the bar shut there was one pair of rental skis unclaimed, and with these (assuming their "owner" had mistakenly take our skis) we traced the idiot who had mistakenly taken a mixed pair and we eventually got the skis back via the rental shop.
The rental skis did not look anything like eithe of the "mixed pair" skis.
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You know it makes sense.
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| pam w wrote: |
| Quote: |
I had my hire skis stolen last week in LaPlagne Centre. InterSport in LaPlagne 1800 charged me a staggering 680 euros!!!
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Hell's bells. Our hire shop offers insurance against theft or damage for an additional 1 euro per day. Well worth it. |
Most ski travel insurance policies cover this sort of thing, although the maximum is often only around £400. This would have been the case with my policy last year - AXA Superplus. It would have given up to £1000 cover for my own equipment, or £400 for rental equipment.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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alex_heney, The policy I ususally get also has theft cover, but I think you more likely to get insurance policies to pay up if you can say - 'yes, they were locked up' - some insurances say you have to take reasonable precautions against theft and I imagine any sort of lock probably qualifies.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just a warning to everyone, a very good friend had his skis stolen from outside a bar in Val D'isere last year.
He thought he was covered but the insurance company weren't interested. His holiday was wrecked as he spent alot of time sorting out the paper work and not enough time on the slopes. To make matters worse when he went to the hire shop to tell them, he could swear his skis were behind the counter as he recognized the torn sticker. Unless you take out their extra cover you are charged full price for new replacement skis. It is then up to you to try and claim from your insurance company. Definitely read their small print as most of the big name insurers won't cover you. Also very worth buying ski lock as there is more and more suspicion that this is a very lucrative scam so hire shops can claim for new skis to renew their stock. He has just bought a great pocket sized ski/snowboard lock from a company at http://www.sportslock.co.uk great value as they've got a preseason deal on at the mo £8.99 + P&P was only £3.00.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I found that poles are more often knicked..we used to lock both poles and skis together with two cable locks..but i found i could cut through the cable with my penknife..don't leave them unattended is the best way..one of us always stays near the skis while the other get the beer or food.
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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?
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| Keats wrote: |
Just a warning to everyone, a very good friend had his skis stolen from outside a bar in Val D'isere last year.
He thought he was covered but the insurance company weren't interested. His holiday was wrecked |
not sure I would let the theft of some kit that wasn't even mine wreck my holiday....FFS that's what credit cards are for. Ok so some paperwork but skip of the apres for an hour and that should be more than enough
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I had a really good one can`t remember the make, unfortunately I lost it when my skis got pinched.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Our view on this is that unless you chain them up with a heavy chain, any lock can be easily cropped and therefore acts as a deterrent only to opportunist thieves and those who are so p*ssed on Gluwein/vin chaud that they can't actually identify their own pair of skis anyway. We have something like the Sportslock, but a pair of wire cutters would be through it instantly. However you have to balance the hassle of carrying something heavier round with you against the risk that a thief will come prepared to cut a lock.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I have one that is really a length of plastic coated steel cable about 1/4" diameter and about 3' long with a loop in each end. I have a steel ring that the ends thread through so I do that...then put the resulting loop over the skis so the cable sits between the front and rear bindings on the skis.. Then pull the cable through the steel ring so it's tight around the skis. Then wrap the two ends around the ski rack/rail etc. in different directions and secure the ends together with a small padlock.....cheap, simple, more secure and more obvious than most other locking devices on the market.
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Even if you don't have a ski lock, it's worth labelling your skis so that they aren't taken accidentally. In Heavenly recently my wife's Atomics were gone when we came back from lunch, but an identical pair, un-labelled, were there instead. We waited nervously for a while until a woman wearing my wife's skis bowled up and apologised for her error. Coincidental that she had the same skis - even more so that she was also a Brit.
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Now I have my own skis I was thinking of taking a bicycle lock with me for them. Just a small cable thing. However, it strikes me that there is never really anything to lock your skis to, plus I guess looping through the bindings is the only way to attach a lock (nor is there any way to attach poles). Is this what people do? To be honest I don't think I've ever seen 'locked' skis outside a mountain hut but I'd rather dissuade the opportunist thief if possible.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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queen bodecia, I run the cable though the bindings and around a rail etc. on whatever rack or fence I am leaning the skis on. If you look round there will usually be something solid nearby.
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I shall have to look more closely for racks and fencing. Normally people just leave skis flat on the snow, or slot them together and half bury them to stand up. But I'm aware some huts have racks, or those silly slots like they have on bubble lifts that modern wide skis don't fit into. I've just never seen anything to actually lock skis to. I guess failing all else I could always lock my skis to those of one or more of my ski buddies.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| xcsrjy5 wrote: |
| I had my hire skis stolen last week in LaPlagne Centre. InterSport in LaPlagne 1800 charged me a staggering 680 euros!!! Ironically it was the one and only day of the week when they had been left outside the restaurant as a complete set. It's completely my own fault but my travel policy only covers me up to £100 for hire equipment (£350 if they're your own). I shall be locking my skis up when I visit Passo Tonale in a couple of weeks time. I suggest that everyone does the same AND double checks their insurance. It's not as clear cut as you might think and is a hell of a shock if you've got it wrong - trust me!!!! |
Doubt your insurance company will pay you anything, if you left them outside a Restaurant unlocked.
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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.
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A couple of places in Serre Chevalier have racks that you can place your skis in and lock with your own padlock, but most of them don't.
Kel, some will if there was no ski rack to lock them to, there is a thread on this somewhere, and several SnowHeads phoned their insurers.
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My mate hade his hire skis nicked a few weeks ago. Instead of spending the day skiing he had to get police reports for his insurance, and still does not know if they will pay up.
I have a ski lock from B&Q it cost £6, I think it is worth it for peace of mind.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Snobat wrote: |
| Even if you don't have a ski lock, it's worth labelling your skis so that they aren't taken accidentally. In Heavenly recently my wife's Atomics were gone when we came back from lunch, but an identical pair, un-labelled, were there instead. We waited nervously for a while until a woman wearing my wife's skis bowled up and apologised for her error. Coincidental that she had the same skis - even more so that she was also a Brit. |
I spent a couple of days skiing with a Canadian couple in Austria last week, and the lady recounted how she had done exactly that, and didn't realise until she was on the chairlift.
She was surprised that she just happened to have not onkly the same skis, but the same size bootsole so that she fitted into the bindings perfectly.
As soon as she realised, she skied back to the restaurant, where the owner of the skis had just come out.
It made me wonder whether to label mine.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Helen Beaumont wrote: |
A couple of places in Serre Chevalier have racks that you can place your skis in and lock with your own padlock, but most of them don't.
Kel, some will if there was no ski rack to lock them to, there is a thread on this somewhere, and several SnowHeads phoned their insurers. |
I had a pair nicked a few years ago and basically the only circumstance they would pay up, is if they were stolen from a locked room. Guess I might have had a crap policy 
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Poster: A snowHead
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I checked the wording on my policy regarding ski theft. There was no mention of necessary security or location in order to process a claim, just a stipulation that a police report be obtained within 24 hours and that only equipment up to 3 years old is covered.
Winter sports insurance cover certainly seems to vary a lot.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've never had skis nicked, but have had poles go on a few occasions hence, I only use cheapish poles now. Since buying some fairly valuable Head Magnums, I've bought a Burton 'garroting wire'. It's dead easy to use with a combination lock. A decent set of side cutters would probably make light work of it, but it's a decent visual deterant.
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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?
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Buy a retractable Master Lock from B&Q : Dont bother with a ski name branded one, they are all the same design, only more expensive :
Master Lock The retractable one with the thicker cable is £4.99 in your local B&Q store.
Or you could get one of these for slightly more protection, although it wont just fit in your pocket :
Master lock cable lock Again only £4.98
Or three of the above for a bargain £7.98 - I brought these the other day, only will be bring one with me and use the top retracting one as well and then mix the two sets.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 28-01-10 23:07; edited 4 times in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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FAQ
