We have always hired skis for the kids till now. However this year we are going skiing twice and it looks as though the total equipment hire cost will be around £400.
Therefore we are thinking about buying skis for them or at least the eldest who is not growing at such a rate.
Son age 14 - about 5ft 5 - competent skier on pistes of all colours, passed ESF Gold a few years back but is not interested in racing. Enjoys skiing mainly on piste with us.
Daughter age 11 - approaching 5 ft - similar level to son above. also enjoys skiing on pistes of all colours with us.
I'd be grateful for advice on where to start in terms of brands /types of ski. I had been thinking of buying from a shop in resort so they could try a hire pair for the day before we buy. however I can only find hire websites for ski shops in France so I am not sure how get an idea of the likely cost of buying skis from them. If we get to the resort and find the skis cost a lot more than the Uk we will wish we'd bought them in advance!
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Once you get recommendations look on glisshop.co.uk I got ours there
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?
Don't think of the cost of the skis outright. Think of the net cost after you sell them on as used.
@snowymum,
Sounds like you ski in France. Do you fly or drive? Don't forget to factor in transport and servicing costs.
Just lugging them round airports can be off-putting.
If you are only skiing on them for 2 weeks a year and not racing/doing other things in the UK then do you really want to buy? I'm happy to buy for my daughter who skis twice a week year round, but junior gets hire skis as he will only use them 2-3 weeks a year (and I'm getting too old to carry 4 pairs around with me . ).
The rate kids grow buying boots for two weeks a year doesn't really make sense, similar might be true of skis. If you buy for your son, they might only be suitable for a season if he really starts sprouting and your daughter might not grow into them.
All that aside, buying skis is not only fun you might end up saving a fortune (and avoiding hire shop crushes) if you are driving and your daughter gets big enough to inherit. You should be able to buy something reasonable for about £100-150 each if you aren't looking for top spec. race skis, and as GlasgowCyclops says there will be a resale value.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
For fast growing kids ebay is your friend. Buy 'em, ski 'em for a week or two then flip 'em at minimum or no loss when the kids grow out of them.
For fast growing kids ebay is your friend. Buy 'em, ski 'em for a week or two then flip 'em at minimum or no loss when the kids grow out of them.
^^^ This is exactly what we did with our kids.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@musher, We will be driving for both holidays and yes they are both to France.
We are only thinking of buying skis at this stage. Will probably still rent boots and helmets.
Thanks for the website suggestion above.
Any thoughts on brands/types of ski for their age/ability?
After all it is free
After all it is free
Second the vote for EBay. Kids are always embarrassingly good in whatever skis you get them. Buy them, use them, then flog them on. That's what we did (one of the offspring is now a ski instructor!).
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@snowymum, You have left it a bit late. You should have done this at the end of last season when the pound hadn't crashed and the ski shops were selling off old stock and ex hire skis at massive discount.
Anyway I always like to demo skis before purchase so buy them in the resort, but you are paying for the privilage. Buying in the big French sports shops such as Decathalon is cheeper. On the next trip call into Decathalon in Albertville on the way and look around (or Espace Montagne in Grenoble). At 14 I suspect your son will be needing adult skis.
One more thing, when my wife passed on her skis to her niece the hire shop wouldn't rent out boots only. They insisted on renting the skis with the boots.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
True, renting boots only may not be much saving from ski/boots/poles "package"
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
If you are driving, going twice, buying boots and skis would be worth it if you want to save money AND are ready for time taken to buy and sell, preferably buying second hand if cost saving is uppermost.
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.
For your daughter you can't go wrong with Juvy's...
My kids 11 & 9 have been skiing on them a few years.
They stop at 149 so you will have to look at something else for your son. As mine haven't gone beyond the Juvy's yet I don't have any recs.
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
Thanks for the very useful information. I think it is definitely worth buying skis for the elder child as he will get 15 days use of the skis this season. There is a chance they will still be ok for the year after and then they could be passed to the younger child.
My daughter might only get the 15 days use of hers but then there appear to be some reasonably priced skis for sale for her size. I would then sell them on Ebay.
Layne - those K2s look nice.
Jonny996 - I like the glisshop website - plenty of choice on there
I have now measured their heights and my son is 167cm tall and my daughter is 143.5 cm tall. What length of ski would I need to buy for their respective heights?
Any suggestions on specific brands for my son or any further suggestions for my daughter (as am not sure if the k2s layne mentioned are big enough).
Despite having skied for a long time I really know very little about skis so all the advice on this thread is much appreciated.
John E - good point about the boots. I will check the rental cost of boots only before making my final decision.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@snowymum, 17% off glisshop until Thursday, code is ANNIV17
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Jonny996 wrote:
@snowymum, 17% off glisshop until Thursday, code is ANNIV17
Thanks Jonny - I noticed...hence my questions above Hoping to buy something tomorrow if I can work out what to buy!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
snowymum wrote:
I have now measured their heights and my son is 167cm tall and my daughter is 143.5 cm tall. What length of ski would I need to buy for their respective heights?
Broadly chin height, so 5-8 cm's shorter than their full height. Obviously you have to factor in their growing rate, what they've been skiing on and what is available. It doesn't have to be that precise.
snowymum wrote:
Any suggestions on specific brands for my son or any further suggestions for my daughter (as am not sure if the k2s layne mentioned are big enough).
The Juvy's come in 139 which should be just right for your daughter for this season.
snowymum wrote:
Despite having skied for a long time I really know very little about skis so all the advice on this thread is much appreciated.
Just filter by All Mountain/Freestyle.
snowymum wrote:
John E - good point about the boots. I will check the rental cost of boots only before making my final decision.
We are having that debate at the moment. We've bought second hand a few times but last year bought our son some new ones, which will be handed down to daughter and then sold on. Trying to make sure the little sods don't knock them about unnecessarily is part of the challenge so you can maximise the resale value.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
for boots, these might be to small but I got my 9 year old Roces. They expand from a UK size 3 up to a UK 6, so hopefully with him just being a 3 just now he will get 2/3 years out of them.
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?
@On the rocks, Thank you for the offer but I would prefer to buy new skis on this occasion.
I have checked a Skiset rental shop in the resort we are going to and it looks as though one can hire boots only for 23euros for 7 days, so I will probably just buy skis for my children this time.
Layne - thanks for your detailed message. I have looked up the K2 juvys and they look great skis at a very reasonable price. However it says on glisshop that they are 4cm shorter than advertised so I think they will be a bit small. Unfortunately my daughter might also have a problem with the skull picture I will filter by all mountain/freestyle as you suggest on searches.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
snowymum wrote:
Layne - those K2s look nice.
Jonny996 - I like the glisshop website - plenty of choice on there
I have now measured their heights and my son is 167cm tall and my daughter is 143.5 cm tall. What length of ski would I need to buy for their respective heights?
Any suggestions on specific brands for my son or any further suggestions for my daughter (as am not sure if the k2s layne mentioned are big enough).
I'll second the recommendation for the K2 Juvys. They are light flexible and very versatile. My 9 year old son has a pair of 139s and he is 147cm. I'm not intending replacing them this season. Last winter in Val d'Isere he had both his K2s and Salomon X Race SLs with him. He spent most of the week on the K2s. We were doing a bit of everything so they were a better option than the Salomons. They were even quite good on the Val Stade:-
It's a great facility that stade, btw, my lads also loved having a few runs on it.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@balernoStu, I don't like to talk about the head to head we had earlier in the week when he beat me by about 2 seconds.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@snowymum, has anyone mentione rail bindings? When you buy the skis you won't know the boot sole length of any rental boots so you will need to be able to adjust the bindings
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.
Despite their .co.uk web domains, online retailers like Glisshop and EkoSport are based on mainland Europe and their mode is pile it high sell it cheap. So any issue with your hardware may be complicated to deal with. For example, although returning purchases may be your right under EU law, the cost of delivery is going to be more and the delivery chain more complicated than within the UK.
When Sterling was strong these guys had an almost unassailable price advantage and yet many snowHeads still thought it worth shopping at Ellis Brigham or the Piste Office for the better service.
Now the pound is so much weaker, that advantage is reduced so it's always going to be worth checking in with a UK retailer to see if they can offer a competitive price on what you want.
Oh and btw. my personal opinion is that buying new skis and sticking them on crappy ol' rental boots is utterly bonkers.
Last edited by You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net. on Wed 26-10-16 10:09; edited 1 time in total
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
holidayloverxx wrote:
@snowymum, has anyone mentione rail bindings? When you buy the skis you won't know the boot sole length of any rental boots so you will need to be able to adjust the bindings
Good point. The skis that usually come with bindings mounted like the K2 juvy's have rail bindings like K2 Fastrak. I've been buying my son the K2 Shreditor 85 skis for the past couple of years - first 119 now 129 now he is 8 years old. It's a solid ski with a little more width under foot (85). I somehow like the idea of keeping him on the same ski model, and will probably look for some 139s end of season. After than and when you start to get to 150 length, the choice opens right up for a lot of the niche players and you can get shorty models.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
admin wrote:
Despite their .co.uk web domains, online retailers like Glisshop and EkoSport are based on mainland Europe and their mode is pile it high sell it cheap. So any issue with your hardware may be complicated to deal with. For example, although returning purchases may be your right under EU law, the cost of delivery is going to be more and the delivery chain more complicated than within the UK.
Neither company hides who they are. I have purchased a number of ski sets and boots from them and it's worked out well. We did purchase some boots which got sent back (wife - wrong fit) and there was no issue with the return mechanism.
admin wrote:
When Sterling was strong these guys had an almost unassailable price advantage and yet many snowHeads still thought it worth shopping at Ellis Brigham or the Piste Office for the better service.
As far as I know the Piste Office doesn't sell children's ski's at all. My wife had a really poor experience trying to buy boots at Ellis Brigham. I notice also their website is down this morning.
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.
Layne wrote:
I have purchased a number of ski sets and boots from them and it's worked out well.
+1
I got my sons Salomon X RACE Jr SL skis from Ekosport. They were on at a huge discount (c.£180 v £400 at full price) at the end of the season in 2015. It made the difference between me being able to buy my son two pairs of the same ski (one pair for training the other for racing) rather than a race pair and (probably) a random pair of other skis for training.
I also got him a pair of K2 Juvys from Glisshop, again at a large end of season discount, so that he could have some fun.
We live in a global market place and while personalised service from UK shops is not to be underestimated, buying something in that global market place such as a pair of skis that don't need any customisation, can be easily achieved.
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
@Gaza, like the slalom video @admin, I have not found much on uk based search sites and live in the south east. if I were willing to pay £400 for snow n rock skis for one years use I might as well buy in resort where the children could try the skis first. I do usually buy clothing in the uk. My children have never complained of discomfort in hire boots wheras they have noticed the difference between good and bad hire skis. I was planning to give them skis as a surprise present which is why online might be a good option. If I can't be sure I will wait till we are in resort and get advice there.
I emailed the two companies mentioned above and heard back from glisshop. They recommended Fischer rc4 or rossignol hero both around 132 cm for my daughter. Not quite sure why they didn't recommend the k2s or why the ski size seems quite short so will go back to them on that.
They suggested Fischer stunner or Scott sagebrush for my son. Around 162cm.
Still thinking
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Gazza wrote:
We live in a global market place and...
I'm not living in a bubble - obviously I know it's not always worth buying in the UK - I'm just saying it's usually worth giving a UK retailer the chance to price match or make a competing offer, esp with the € so expensive atm.
Snow and rock have never really pitched themselves at the price sensitive demographic. IME other retailers often make more of an effort.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
snowymum wrote:
@Gaza, like the slalom video snowHead
Thanks @snowymum, he enjoyed that stade and the snowpark next to it.That was the beauty of the K2s; good for a blast in the stade or a play in the park.
snowymum wrote:
They recommended Fischer rc4 or rossignol hero both around 132 cm for my daughter. Not quite sure why they didn't recommend the K2s or why the ski size seems quite short so will go back to them on that.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
).
Hoping to buy something tomorrow if I can work out what to buy! 
