 Poster: A snowHead
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Might not appeal to many people, but if you've got kids who ski and want to reduce the cost vs renting, buying (and reselling on ebay the following winter) is an option that works very well for us.
Ellis Brigham have the kids Head Supershape for £94-99 (depending on length) with bindings.
http://www.ellis-brigham.com/products/head/supershape-team-lr-97-107-skis--lrx-45-ac-bindings-1213-/700278#information=1
http://www.ellis-brigham.com/products/head/supershape-team-lr-117-147-skis--lrx-75-ac-bindings-1213-/700277
I've just bought a pair of 107cms for my son, who currently skis the 97cm version. In my, his, and most importantly his instructor's experience, its an excellent kids ski with decent sidecut and flex, but still stable at speed.
Looking at resale prices on ebay, I reckon we'll get £50-75 back for them which, by the time he's put 4-6 weeks on them and his sister has done the same, will make them practically free!
Summer seems like a good time to buy.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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snowdave, Silly thing is that with some canny buying and half decent research you can do the same with adult skis.
At the mo on fleabay Edge and Wax have some half decent K2 Apache MSL skis for £40!! Down side is they don't have the bindings for them which fit the K2/Marker system. In fact having just checked the E&W Ebay shop there are some well priced kit!
As you say summer seems like a good time to buy!
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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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I'd be very happy to do this with skis, but they would still need to hire boots and I suspect that the difference in price for hiring just boots vs hiring boots + skis is fairly small.
I suppose I could start buying a series of boots for the children too, but having to get a new pair every six months just seems like a lot of work.
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| Quote: |
Looking at resale prices on ebay, I reckon we'll get £50-75 back for them which, by the time he's put 4-6 weeks on them and his sister has done the same, will make them practically free!
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Wouldn't that refer to the resale price if you were to sell them now? I assume you will need at least 1-2 years to get 4-6 weeks of use out of them and by them the resale value may be significantly less. The other factor that would deter me, apart from skimastaaah's excellent point about boots, is that the resale market for children's skis must be very restricted. How many people do you know who buy skis for children, let alone second hand ones?
Then again, if you plan on skiing more than one week in a year you are unlikely to go far wrong.
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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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| kieranm wrote: |
| I suppose I could start buying a series of boots for the children too, but having to get a new pair every six months just seems like a lot of work. |
You can get adjustable boots for children, CH20 had some last winter that looked good to me.
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The resale market for children's skis is pretty damn good. I have two little ones (five and two and a half) and trust me, good skis for very little ones are as rare as hen's teeth, and tend to hold their value well. I've been involved in some furious bidding wars on ebay for tiny skis, and equally, I've been lucky enough to get some good bargains too. We now have an impressive quiver of kids skis and boots going up through progressive sizes, but it's worth it for us, as littlest' un will step into all the boots and skis that the bigger'un grows out of. Plus we ski every weekend as well as three weeks in the Alps a year. I'd say that if you can find good deals on kids skis and boots, they are always worth grabbing! 
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re boots - mine have the Roces adjustable boots which are excellent, give at least 2 seasons service, and have fantastic resale value. New they are £60-90 on amazon.
re resale price- before buying new skis for mine, I looked on ebay for secondhand skis and was amazed at the resale prices. 5+yr old kids skis (that's the age of the skis, not the age of the users!) in reasonable but not perfect condition were typically going for 75% of new price. In some cases they were selling for more than you could get at a discount outfit like ekosport or superschlep. At this time of year the new prices are low and the secondhand market on ebay non-existent, but by Dec/Jan the secondhand market is absolutely roaring and new prices are much higher.
I think rental price inflation has had a significant impact. The beauty of kids skis is no ski carriage charges as well; they fit in a big 'normal' bag still!
In total skis + boots for 2 yrs work out about £150-170 new, and should resell for north of £100. I think that's breakeven on 2 weeks skiing for one child, so on 4-8 for 2 kids its a bargain, and much better kit than rental.
edit to clarify
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I stand corrected.
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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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Interesting, I'd forgotten about the adjustable Roces boots.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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kieranm, the teachers at Snow Stars in Hemel recommended getting their own poles because they'll probably be a bit lighter than the rental ones for them. Thank you for that link - those look interesting, although I am unsure what makes them "boy" poles.. heh.
We got a pair of skis for our oldest in the Snow & Rock downstairs in the sale for a decent price a few months back after checking reviews online. She'll pass them on to her little sister in time. Did the same with boots as well.
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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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I have something like those for my eldest son (he's 5), they are excellent, really light and good quality. His are made by Leki and go from 80 - 110 cm.
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| Fenfilly wrote: |
I have something like those for my eldest son (he's 5), they are excellent, really light and good quality. His are made by Leki and go from 80 - 110 cm. |
Just a word of warning about these telescopic Leki poles, they can 'self adjust' when you don't really want them to  my son has had them for last three seasons but has used regular poles at times too as firstly he had trouble with the trigger mechanism jamming and then last season had the poles 'collapse' on him off piste. Since that he is on regular poles full time and I'll buy a new pair every year. They are nice and light and look like they'll be really good, and they are probably fine for beginner and early intermediate kids who don't actually plant anyway, but once a kid starts using them properly they are not reliable enough in our experience.
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You know it makes sense.
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| Quote: |
they are probably fine for beginner and early intermediate kids
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I had four beginner kids (aged 6 - 9) in a series of 5 x 2 hour private beginner lessons in April and none of them used any poles (and neither did their instructor, come to that).
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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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| sparklies wrote: |
kieranm, the teachers at Snow Stars in Hemel recommended getting their own poles because they'll probably be a bit lighter than the rental ones for them. Thank you for that link - those look interesting, although I am unsure what makes them "boy" poles.. heh.
We got a pair of skis for our oldest in the Snow & Rock downstairs in the sale for a decent price a few months back after checking reviews online. She'll pass them on to her little sister in time. Did the same with boots as well. |
What length are you after? I probably have a pair or two at 90, 95 and 100 cm floating around somewhere.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I actually have no idea  We were planning on buying them in person so we could work out which length she is. She tells me she uses the black (children's) ones at Hemel, but I don't know if that length has been sanity checked by anyone recently for her!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| sarah wrote: |
| Fenfilly wrote: |
I have something like those for my eldest son (he's 5), they are excellent, really light and good quality. His are made by Leki and go from 80 - 110 cm. |
Just a word of warning about these telescopic Leki poles, they can 'self adjust' when you don't really want them to my son has had them for last three seasons but has used regular poles at times too as firstly he had trouble with the trigger mechanism jamming and then last season had the poles 'collapse' on him off piste. Since that he is on regular poles full time and I'll buy a new pair every year. They are nice and light and look like they'll be really good, and they are probably fine for beginner and early intermediate kids who don't actually plant anyway, but once a kid starts using them properly they are not reliable enough in our experience. |
Thanks for the heads up on that, although ironically, I extended them to their full length and couldn't get the blighters shorter again as they had jammed! I will however, keep an eye on them. To be honest, he doesn't use them in his normal weekly lessons, it's usually only for private lessons on the dry slope, and he isn't really planting properly yet anyway. But, as I say, thanks for the heads up. 
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks Simon!! Hope you're having a great holiday!  She doesn't use poles a huge amount just yet in lessons, but she is strangely very keen on them and always has them when she's not in a lesson. Although she is still very clearly learning what to do with them!
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
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They were a requirement for the kids lessons last time I went, not so much for turning but for helping get them along any flatter sections or moving around near lifts and so on, which is why I'm after some.
I'll probably be at Hemel this weekend and will size the children up then for poles so I know better what I'd need.
Thanks for the advice everyone!
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Yep, the one afternoon we took our four year old out skiing we took her poles away for obvious safety reasons (waving them in our faces, tripping us up etc etc..) and she really struggled on the flats. We spent a lot of time towing her!
The six year old (seven next month!) is actually very keen to learn how to use them properly. I think she wants to look like a "proper" skier, although given nearly all of her skiing, a week in La Plagne aside, has been at Hemel I don't think they're exactly necessary yet. But presumably she's sometimes taught some sort of pole technique there (well, I've seen them all with poles occasionally and not just playing games with them!) so they'll be useful for that as well as on holiday.
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I've been looking for a pair of the Roces adjustable boots but failing. Amazon keep dangling a price of around £60-70 but don't have stock in the medium size. Other supplies claim to have stock but the prices are closer to £90.
Does anyone have a pair of second hand Roces adjustable boots, or something similar like the Full Tilt Growth Spurt ones, for sale? As my children ski all year round, and typically change shoe size every few months, the adjustable ones seem like a great idea, but only if I can actually buy them.
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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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kieranm, try looking for the Roxa ones as they are cheaper. Skiwear4less used to do them.
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Thanks sarah, they are much cheaper, but a quick search turns up a similar problem. Sports Direct and various clones have the larger size in stock, but can't find anyone stocking the smaller size that I'd need for my children.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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kieranm, I know  I had a quick google this morning. You'd have to order from Czech rep as far as I can see, could still be cheaper. I know a snowhead with a pair, he doesn't post much in summer, I will PM and see if he still has them and is selling and direct him to you.
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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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The Roxas are good boots but unfortunatly for you kieranm Chloe has still not grown out of hers. If you buy some new then when grown out of hold off selling till between Oct half term and Christmas you'll probably get most of your money back, in fact I sold Chloe's first pair for more than I paid new!
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| kieranm wrote: |
I'd be very happy to do this with skis, but they would still need to hire boots and I suspect that the difference in price for hiring just boots vs hiring boots + skis is fairly small.
I suppose I could start buying a series of boots for the children too, but having to get a new pair every six months just seems like a lot of work. |
Last season littleh_mk1 went through three pairs of boots!! - fortunately he's in a scheme in one of the local shops so they just swapped them free of charge. 
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You know it makes sense.
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kieranm, amazon has the medium size in stock at present. You have to choose the right size/colour combo, if you stick with the shocking pink that amazon seems to default to, it will say out of stock, but of you change to the black/red then there is stock.
Edited for accuracy!
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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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Super, thanks snowdave, it has changed since I last checked yesterday.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Snow dave,
Thanks for the link re the sale skis. I have just ordered but there is a slight problem. My son's current boots are length 235mm but the binding size starts at 239mm. Probably not too much of a problem for him as he needs next size up boots now (which I guess will have a base length of about 245mm) but when my girl grows into them she may well have smaller feet for her height. Do you have any advice? (ie what size in actuality do the bindings go down to, or can they be drilled slightly differently to take a smaller boot?).
Bizarrely, the bindings are suitable for a child as light as 10kg, I can't imagine many 10 kg toddlers having feet as big as UK12!
Thanks in advance.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Another question for all,
Looking at the Roces boots on Amazon, am I right in assuming they are in European sizes? Those black ones look fab!
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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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SachaF: yes, I think the sizes being used by Amazon are European shoe sizes. They correspond, when converted to mondopoint, to what the manufacturer claims for each of the three sizes anyway.
You could use the skis with smaller bindings, but you would need different bindings to the ones they come with, which would probably cost more. I'd ask the shop what they can do.
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SachaF, yes, as kieranm, says the sizes are euro not mondo. Thus the smallest is (from memory) mondo 16.5-18.5 and the mid is 19-21 or so.
Changing the bindings would be very tricky as they come with literail mounts which are really easy to use but would be quite hard to change for something else and also expensive. The lrx4.5 bindings are about £80 on their own so you'd lose all the savings on the skis. The literail mount is basically a plastic platform attached to the ski that the binding slides onto and can easily be moved along without need to re drill and with both toe and heel moving so the midpoint stays correct even as boot size changes.
That said, I'd be surprised if someone big enough to ski a 107 had feet so small that their sole length was under 239. My son is a reasonable skier for his age and I won't put him on 107 till he's over 120cm tall/25kg.
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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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Thx, basically he can only have the 107's when I get him the next size boots up (soon). He is already 120cm and probably about 22kg, so he'll get to choose which he prefers from 97 and 107 for Christmas. The fridge had already put him on 110's, much faster but obviously more difficult to turn so the next time I asked if he could have 100's, but that was a while back now.
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