 Poster: A snowHead
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After several years of hiring I bought my Head all-terrain skis in 2008 for £250 after spending £150 to hire a pair in Fernie, Canada for ONE WEEK. They have since been used several weeks a year so the cost saving speaks for itself. I tune my own (and my families / friends skis) which is a nice hobby and they are in very acceptable nick and should be for years more to come. And I avoid other people's feet, hire shop queues etc.........So it works for me to be an owner much rather than a hirer, especially as even nowadays sometimes you can get free ski carriage on flights.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
I think @biddpyat's point is that there are some equally good arguments for renting as there are for owning. For a great many people renting makes more sense. If you ski once a year then the cost benefit of owning vs renting is pretty marginal.
An equally good question is renting vs owning ski boots. I fully appreciate that to achieve the absiolute best result you need a pair of ski boots that fits perfectly and you are unlikely to find them when renting. However, 99% of skiers should be able to find a reasonable fit when renting. I fully appreciate many people would rather have their own boots than use those that have been filled with thousands of stinky foreign feet.
However, the number of boot owners who struggle to get their boots comfortable and who spend their lives clipping and unclipping the boots before/after chairlifts is truly astonishing. For many people I think the answer to finding a pair of boots that work well and are truly comfortable is just to rent them and keep changing if you need to. |
nah - I've NEVER run into a pair of rental boots that fit me (And i've worked at three rental shops and been skiing 25 years, so had time to try quite a few). Two pairs (out of 4) of my bought ones have fitted me - in the end. Boot owners contain ALL of those who have skied more than say 4 weeks and have problems with rentals/difficult feet - hence all the faffing. It looks like cause effect but it's not - it's not buying that causes the faffing, it's faffing that causes the buying.
aj x
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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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| robboj wrote: |
| Two words. Rental Bindings. |
.. are really useful if you want to, or need to, switch skis around during a day. I think they're better than consumer bindings for that reason. Where I ride at least your instructor/ guide will likely be using rental bindings for that reason.
I'm a snowboarder, but I use a mixture of my own gear and rental gear. The reason is that for on piste I can't rent what I want (advanced gear), where as for powder I can easily rent a variety of modern boards (top quality gear) and it's less hassle to do so than to carry and maintain my own quiver.
But it depends on what you need to do. I do think for learners that rentals are the only way to go, so much so that I wonder if they maybe could have two types of gear: stuff for the high street to satisfy consumer urges, and then stuff people actually use.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Thu 8-01-15 19:04; edited 1 time 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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Much of it depends who you fly with. If you fly with Easyjey, for example, you will pay around £60 per return trip to take skis and boots. You will also pay around £20 per year to service your skis. Rental is around £90 per week, so you are saving very roughly £10 per week's skiing by owning your own skis and boots. The average price of skis, boots and bindings is around £400, so you would need to do 40 weeks of skiing to break even. Obviously there are a huge nuber of variables in these calculations and I've done my best to take average prices for kit and transport, and you can certainly get away with paying less but it does show that owning your won skis is not necessarily a good deal financially.
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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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As a one week a year (so far) skier I used to own my own skis when you could buy a pair from Ski Billek for not much money. In fact I often bought two pairs in auction and sold one pair at a profit so making the pair I kept very good value. Then you could often get ski carriage for free on a tour operator holiday.
After a few years the cost of carriage went up to what it is now £40 ? Factor in the purchase of tools and wax for tuning and for me it just wasn't worth the effort.
So now I hire and this year I have booked some top of the range piste skis, new this year with insurance included for 75 euros. I have put down a preference for some Head iSupershape Magnums but could get some Rossignol Hero ST, Volkl Racetiger or a choice from about 5 other skis. If I decide I don't like them, I can take them back and swap them at no extra charge.
I also actually enjoy scanning through Google, reading and watching reviews of this years new crop of skis and being able to hire them if I wish and the anticipation of trying different skis.
If I was skiing more than once a year, travelling by car or had a place in a resort, it would be a different matter, but for now hiring is best for me.
As for boots, I hired for the first two years and always had painful feet. My own boots have been fitted and through usage moulded to me and no way would I ever go back to hiring boots.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@philwig, Eh?
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Johnny foreigner has particularly stinky feet I feel certain
seconded
also beware of johnny in any queues as you never know what he's going to do with his cheap hired c##p!! 
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Hi @bernie, which company are you hiring with?
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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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I own 3 sets of skis, even the oldest pair (going into their 4th season) is still better than what I will get from a rental shop, and that's including all the damage I've done to them and had prepared.
Transporting them is easy as I generally drive out and can fit all 3 in the car easily enough, we've 7 of us driving out in a minibus on Saturday, with 7 sets of skis between us (possibly 9), only one of us will be renting and the rest of us will be on better skis.
I ski a minimum of 2 weeks a year and there's no way I'll go back to rentals unless I do head to the states where the quality of rentals is better and carriage more expensive.
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Fly BA and you can take your skis as your main piece of luggage (i.e. free to take) - no need for two bags if you use a coffin bag.
Fly Swiss - free ski carriage.
Don't be a muppet with your car configuration = carry your skis for free.
I'm not convinced the economics work out that much worse for owning if you go 2 or 3 times a year.
Plus I value the lack of faffing on arrival and knowing exactly how my kit responds. And it looks nice... 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@a.j., I wouldn't recommend renting boots, just sometimes if you don't ski that often it is worth thinking about hiring skis.
Someone asked how much our five star ski rental was for this trip, 90 euro each, and as there were two children as well, One of them got to hire all their gear for free. Both dh and I got great skis,not new but perfect for what we needed. We even got to swap for off piste skis one one of the afternoons no charge and we had a blast on them. I might just take my skis out of the attic for our next trip. It's horses for courses, my idea with the thread is for those who are just starting to ski, who ask what sort of skis for me, etc perhaps to consider hiring would take a lot of the hasstle out of it. Plus you don't have to be cranky that someone would ruin the look of your skis..
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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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@biddpyat, completely agree that it really is 'horses for courses'. Financially it can work either way.
Renting boots? Millions do and have no problem with it. My personal survey suggests that rental boots are frequently more comfortable than owned boots. Partly because they tend to be sloppier. Up also because you keep changing until they do fit. I've always been blissfully happy with rental boots and I'd never suggest someone bought a pair until they've done quite a few weeks on snow.
The 'look' of skis. Always perplexes me that anyone much cares. Does anyone really look at their skis or anyone else's? I guess they must, but frankly I couldn't care in the slightest what they look like. Give me scuffed pair covered in cartoons of the prophet or Mickey Mouse and smeared with dog poo and I'm happy. More to the point I'd be amazed if anyone else noticed.
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@foxtrotzulu, good point on rental boots, hadn't thought of that, in our case we pack our boots and go get the skis, I have a weird foot and hiring boots caused me a lot of pain in my left leg, so I went to a shop and bought boots and had special insoles and end of story no more pain. ( realised my boots are 20 years old now, holy hell, ).
I agree with you on the look of skis, it doesn't matter a jot to me at all. I do see posts on sh where folks are a bit uptight if someone dares to scratch the surface of their own skis. I hardly notice what mine look like never mind anyone elses, once they do what I need I am happy. 
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You know it makes sense.
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| biddpyat wrote: |
@a.j., I wouldn't recommend renting boots, just sometimes if you don't ski that often it is worth thinking about hiring skis.
Someone asked how much our five star ski rental was for this trip, 90 euro each, and as there were two children as well, One of them got to hire all their gear for free. Both dh and I got great skis,not new but perfect for what we needed. We even got to swap for off piste skis one one of the afternoons no charge and we had a blast on them. I might just take my skis out of the attic for our next trip. It's horses for courses, my idea with the thread is for those who are just starting to ski, who ask what sort of skis for me, etc perhaps to consider hiring would take a lot of the hasstle out of it. Plus you don't have to be cranky that someone would ruin the look of your skis.. |
They may be perfect for what you need but if you had top quality skis of your own would you consider the "five star" skis good enough? I certainly don't, they generally aren't as good as what you can buy apart from in very rare occasions, especially when it comes to the off piste skis.
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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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I'm just back from 4 days in an powdery, then icy, then occasionally rocky Les Menuires where I paid €65 for a day on powder skis then 3 days on nice pair of Rossi 9sl World Cup skis and was greeted with a cheery smile when I handed the latter back with their bases looking like they'd been attacked by Freddie Kruger
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Poster: A snowHead
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haha, I know that feeling, I was glad last year mine were rented when I came to the end of a long run and it was hard packed cheese greater stuff. @adamj88, I do have my own skis, it is just between transport and maintainance just as handy to hire ,
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