 Poster: A snowHead
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| frank4short wrote: |
You can refuse skis if you aren't happy with the standard they're at. This is especially true if you're paying a premium for higher grade skis.
Whilst i don't doubt that some ski rental places are raking it in. You've got to realise that an individual pair of skis will maybe get rented out for 5-6 weeks a season. The rental shop owner will have to replace about a third of his stock of skis every season. So they're looking at an up front outlay of possibly 20 grand even at wholesale rates before they ever rent a pair of skis. Then there's the cost of staff, renting the premises year round. Plus in france there are higher minimum wages, higher taxes, & you're staff have to work less hours & get more days holidays than pretty much everywhere else. I'm sure for some shady operators it is a big pay day but for most i don't think it is the massive pay day you think it is. |
OK, but the same situation occurs in every country. My experience suggests that France is expensive and one can't be sure of getting what is expected/paid for. I tried to query the skis I had once (pre-booked/pay in resort) in 3-Vs - other than being accused (I assume) of calling the guy a cheat by questioning the quality/grade (they looked about 2-3 years old, I didn't feel equipped (haha no pun intended) to put my case over succinctly enough. And his English suddenly seemed poorer in all honesty.
I'm also not sure I buy the arguement about high levels of stock just sitting there unused apart from 5 odd weeks. With over 12 ski hire shops in ADH, they must be coining it to have that many skis and boots sitting around gathering dust.
Brian thanks for the extra 10% promo code - €71 seems much more like it 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| snowb4ndit wrote: |
| We have a beginner coming with us this year ............We will be straight on the slopes! |
I'm sure your beginner will be chuffed you're all in such a rush 
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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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Chasseur, I'm not saying you won't come across assholes trying to rip you off but you're tarring every rental shop with the same brush. I'm not saying that they don't make money obviously they do but most shops aren't raking it in like you think they are. As to the stock thing in my experience of working as a ski tech in a rental shop even at the highest point in the season the most stock that would be out would be about 70-80% this accounts for 3 weeks of the skiing season. The most of the rest of the time it would be a little more than half of that. With maybe 2-3 other weeks being close to high season weeks.
You're also ignoring the point that france is the most expensive country in europe to employ people in. Adding to that the mainstream resorts in france tend to be more expensive in general than the most resorts elsewhere (with the possible exception of switzerland) their costs are going to be higher. Again like i said they've got to be making money from it, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it but don't automatically assume they're raking it in.
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frank4short, well I can only report on my own experience - possibly shared by others. Look, France gets 50% +/- of the British ski holiday trade. Being a non-alpine country it is unlikely that the majority of Brits own skis. Given the distance and way our own carriers are charging ever more to carry gear, I think they're (French) probably making hay.
And, to have that many ski-hire shops (ADH) all pushing roughly the same gear, not too mention ski-related inventory, and employing sales assistants, fitters, service technicians etc, someone must be making money somehow - quite a bit I shouldn't wonder.
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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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Chasseur, the price of airline ski carriage as been the same for at least 4 seasons with a TUI or TC package. I don't think £15 each way is unreasonable at all, pretty sure it's about the same cost as taking a pushchair or travel cot. Are other carriers charging significantly more than this?
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I have seen some real tat on hire in Canada too as top level skis.
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But queen bodecia, doesn't that simply add 30 quid to the cost of hiring skis? [ba is 25 each way!]
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| queen bodecia wrote: |
| Chasseur, the price of airline ski carriage as been the same for at least 4 seasons with a TUI or TC package. I don't think £15 each way is unreasonable at all, pretty sure it's about the same cost as taking a pushchair or travel cot. Are other carriers charging significantly more than this? |
It was only last year (2008/09) that TUI increased their ski carriage to £15 each way. Prior to that it was £15 return (although, I also got my 2008/9 ski carriage at £15 return 'cos I booked early.)
Anyway, if the French prices mentioned in this thread look high……. I've just found a Scheiber Sport, Obergurgl 2008/09 rental booklet and for 6 days, the published ski rental prices are: Bronze=€111, Silver=€147, Gold=€168, Platinum=€192, Diamond=216 
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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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| davelebus wrote: |
| But queen bodecia, doesn't that simply add 30 quid to the cost of hiring skis? [ba is 25 each way!] |
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| snowb4ndit, Presumably you will NOT be booking for them to be delivered to your home or UK airport, since you would then have to pay ski carriage charges on top of the rental fee? |
No ski carraige costs as we are not flying on this holiday. So we will be having them delivered to our house before we go.
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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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| stoatsbrother wrote: |
| davelebus wrote: |
| But queen bodecia, doesn't that simply add 30 quid to the cost of hiring skis? [ba is 25 each way!] |
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Apols, I lost the thread there; I was saying that renting skis in the UK simply makes it [insert cost of carriage] more expensive to rent skis, as opposed to renting them in the resort...
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| frank4short wrote: |
snowb4ndit & all the other people hiring their skis in the UK, What's the point of renting equipment in the UK? Seriously you have to pay for ski carriage & hire. Then if you have any problems with the skis or boots you're in a position where you're stuck with them. One of the main advantages of hiring in resort is that if you do have a problem whether that be boots not fitting or one of your mates adjusting your bindings in away you can't undo  , or you just don't like the way the skis feel then you can go back to the shop to get it sorted.
The only advantage i can see is not having to go to a busy rental shop on the sat when you arrive & then return the skis afterwards on the friday evening. Possibly if you're lucky enough to have your transfer arrive in the resort before 12.00-13.00 on the sat you might get an afternoon's skiing out of it but in all the time i've been skiing i've yet to be lucky enough for this to work out on a weeks holiday.
It just seems like a waste of time & effort to me. |
I certainly would not be able to hire boots in England for the reasons you have stated above as I have very odd shaped feet. In fact hire boots are a complete no no for me. But my sons g/f has pretty normal feet and also knows what fits and what doesn't. So she is confident now to know if she has correctly fitted boots. If anything technical goes wrong that my hubby can't sort out then we would get our money back so we would just go to a hire shop in resort. It is possible but unlikely that this will happen.
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You know it makes sense.
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jtr, oh right. To be fair, this season will be the first since 2006 that I've taken my own skis. I could have sworn I paid £15 each way then, but I don't rightly remember.
davelebus, I was referring to take one's own skis rather than hiring in the UK. Can't see the point of hiring in the UK unless it's significantly cheaper and better quality 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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There are hire shops and hire shops. In some of the smaller places the hire gear is just stuff they couldn't sell on sale the previous year.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| queen bodecia wrote: |
jtr, oh right. To be fair, this season will be the first since 2006 that I've taken my own skis. I could have sworn I paid £15 each way then, but I don't rightly remember.
davelebus, I was referring to take one's own skis rather than hiring in the UK. Can't see the point of hiring in the UK unless it's significantly cheaper and better quality equipment. |
The beginner skis for sons g/f in England are £49 and in Les Meniures I have been quoted 89 euros. My son has chosen his hire skis. In England they are £75 in Les Menuires the same hire skis 138 euros. That is significant when you are at college and not earning.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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queen bodecia, I hate to tell you, but pushchairs go free. 
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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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pam w, I expect you're right there but a friend of mine did have to pay to take pushchair, car seat & travel cot to Hong Kong.
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we just checked with easyjet - for Christmas - free to Geneva, at any rate.
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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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| queen bodecia wrote: |
| Chasseur, the price of airline ski carriage as been the same for at least 4 seasons with a TUI or TC package. I don't think £15 each way is unreasonable at all, pretty sure it's about the same cost as taking a pushchair or travel cot. Are other carriers charging significantly more than this? |
Yes. Thomas Cook Group are actually the cheapest (apart from Swiss and maybe one or two smaller ones who still take them free on scheduled flights), at £15 return.
Inghams are £18 on charter flights.
TUI are £30 return (paid for mine a week or two ago), although as said below, that has only been for last season and this. It was £15 total for a few seasons before - I first took my skis with them in 2006 to Italy.
But once you are outside of TO travel, most of the scheduled airlines, and particularly the budget operators, charge more. Ryanair are the worst, at £40 each way (so £80 return). Easyjet are £18.50 each way, which isn't too much more than TUI.
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| queen bodecia wrote: |
| Chasseur, the price of airline ski carriage as been the same for at least 4 seasons with a TUI or TC package. I don't think £15 each way is unreasonable at all, pretty sure it's about the same cost as taking a pushchair or travel cot. Are other carriers charging significantly more than this? |
It was an earlier post contributor that first made the point about rising ski carriage costs - borne out by later posters. And BA was free not so long ago.....
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| alex_heney wrote: |
| But once you are outside of TO travel, most of the scheduled airlines, and particularly the budget operators, charge more. Ryanair are the worst, at £40 each way (so £80 return). Easyjet are £18.50 each way, which isn't too much more than TUI. |
Quite a few scheduled airlines still carry your ski for free.
I just flew with Swissair LHR-Zurich at the week-end, £108 incl ski carriage. First time in years I used a scheduled airline and I just realised how muh more stressfull it is to fly with ryanair/easyjet...
Next trip to Austria in January, some of the group are booked on Lufthansa, £99 including ski carriage.
Once you get your own gear it certainly is worth looking outside of the low cost usual suspects.
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Kruisler, I did mention Swiss above as still taking them free 
I'm not sure how many others still do, but I don't think it is very many any more.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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alex_heney,
Missed that.. 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Lizzard, too heavy? There are an awful lot of people out there that need to man up a bit. I quite like the Metrons when I hired them a couple of seasons ago.....at a not rediculous price. They certainly didn't seem over heavy.
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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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Lizzard, Chasseur, Ive got a pair of metrons. Good but heavy, luv em.
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I maybe new around here and new to skiing but i think the online rental sites are OK. I accept that a site covering so many resorts has to use generic descriptions for the skis. Of course if all shops in all resorts provide identical equipment then makes and models could be provided.
I must also add that i got some advice from Snow Rental by email and they were very helpful. I have ordered online rather than use Crystal and it saved me and my friends about £200. Fingers crossed the skis will be OK.
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You know it makes sense.
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I have been skiing many years and started off hiring my skis and boots when I first started as I didn't have a clue what I needed to look at. I had problems with the hired equipment of course like the bindings would undo when I would make a slight mistake or when i wasn't expecting it, had a few boots that didn't fit quite right, but not major problems. At the end of it I would say that I would lack confidence in the equipment or more to the point how it had been set up for me.
When I moved over to my own equipment, with foam infill for my boots making them more rigid, the bindings set accurately for my ski style and aggression factors, my confidence in the equipment was total.
I am happy to pay the baggage fees when I have to because I am confident in the equipment I am taking with me.
If you have to hire equipment than that's the choice you make and the market price is the market price.
At the end of the day it is about personal choice and whatever we feel comfortable with.
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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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| solataire wrote: |
| If you have to hire equipment than that's the choice you make and the market price is the market price. |
Assuming that the basic tenets of market pricing conforms to supply and demand and not cartel price fixing.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I have used Snowrental for the last 2 years and their service is very good.
They use Buri Sport in Gindelwald who offer you the choice of all the skis on the rack
They used a not so Good shop In Saas Fee last year, very poor equipment supplied at start, but after a few very loud comments about crap equipment in a full shop of clients it magically improved. On hearing this Snowrental appologised and gave me 10% refund.
I am using them again this year as a result.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Chasseur, if you're going to accuse ski shops of running a cartel, I really think you need to produce at least a smidgeon of hard evidence.
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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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There is some discounting going on - I have just received a 40% discount offer from skiset (having used them in LaDaille last year), so this gives "performance" skis for €135(£123) with boots, or €100.20(£91) without (8 days, Arc2k, end of Jan), beating their previous offer of €146/€108. (Agreed the walk-in undiscounted price €225 does seem like a ripoff.) They apparently have a shop right next door to our chalet this year as well.
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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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| Lechbob wrote: |
| don't hire skis through the T.O. as you are in a better position with cash at the hire shop to haggle & can take it or leave it. |
Totally agree with this. Avoid the crowds and the crap the hire shops save for TO hire 'deals'.
Last edited by Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do. on Tue 22-12-09 13:37; edited 1 time in total
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narc, For the named quote to work, you must have " around the name, that is why yours has appeared in plain text.
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Lechbob, OT I know but what did you think of Espace Hilly?
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red 27, The Silly Espace was good but was very cold & I felt it as I was I was incubating a cold or worse.
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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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Well I have been up to the local ski station and rented everything,boots,skis,poles for the family(2 adults,2 kids)for €570 for the whole season which I think is pretty good value.It is low end stuff as we have never done it before
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Hi, I am due to go to La Plagne 1800 in Jan, and am just about to pull the trigger on hiring some skis online from one of the hire centres in resort. The shop is Sport2000 and I was intending to select the 'Blue Pack' skis (which show as Salomon X-Wings but may be something similar) for the princely sum of 42E inclusive of insurance. Taking my own skis, if I had any, would cost an additional £30 with our TO.
This seems to me a fairly good deal, bearing in mind it will be my first skiing holiday (after numerous lessons indoors in the UK), so is there anything I need to be concerned about? Hopefully, as it will still be fairly early in the season, the state of the skis will be ok, and should I wish, I may be able to swap for another make or model to suit my needs better.
What are peoples thoughts on Sport2000 and in particular their hire kit?
Nick
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FAQ
She's as keen as us...She has had a course of lessons on the dry slope and can't wait to get on the snow. No way can I spend an afternoon in a ski resort and not ski. 
