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Ski Hire in Les Menuires, France

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Hi Guys,

My first ever post here so please be gently. I'm going on a group ski trip to Les Menuires, France which has been organised by our mate in Jan next year. There will be 19 of us so should be a great laugh. Only a few of us don't have ski's so wondering if anyone could point us in the right direction for good deals on ski hire. We will be staying at the Neilson Chalet Reberty so somewhere close to that would be good with good quality equipment available.

Many Thanks

Karl
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Hey up cocker, welcome to snowheads. snowHead
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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?
Yes, if you turn right as you walk out of the chalet, down to the road, there's a particularly good shop at the end that serves that chalet area. It's about 30 metres away, tops.

Can't remember the name off hand, but I'm sure someone will.

There's also another one just up the hill, but is more of a 5 minute-ish walk away.
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kbrpro, another welcome to snowheads. snowHead It's worth looking at skimium.com (and there are others, but that's the one that I use as they feature my local ski hire shop). Good reductions on the "walk in" price - especially if you google around for vouchers.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Twinner shop next to Hotel Kaya, really good equipment and helpful staff, better than the skiset shop in Reberty, which is still OK. The skiset shop is closer so if you are walking it might be a easier option. Its in the ground floor of the building behind your chalet on the Neilson web site.
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I wasn't overly impressed by any of the shops, all pretty average stuff. Skimium is closest and friendly enough but very small!

It's a great chalet - full review below:
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=108186&highlight=

aj xx
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
a.j., Did you try Twinner?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
We used skimium, absolut twinner and kaya twinner. All three gave out what might kindly be called average gear, none of us were blown away (group of 14 hiring - mix of red/black/premium level). Didn't try the skiset, as a few years back we used the skiset in bruyeres (which i thought was the same owner) and were very unimpressed. Kaya was the cheapest - and gear ok (Only 2 went there) but a bit of a hike up. Skimium was closest - gear okay for most, two were pretty unimpressed and complained/changed. Absolut the most expensive and gear just okay, plus it's a bus ride down/up.


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Fri 2-05-14 21:58; edited 1 time in total
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Fair enough, I have only had good skis/boots for Kaya Twinner, with multiple changes for a group of 9, my skis last time were brand new as were my boots and my wifes, they had our preferences from the previous years. We both wanted to buy the boots, but they said not to bother if we were back next year as we would get the newer version as we were on record.
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A lot of the shops in Les Menuires (and VT) are owned by the same people despite having different signs over the doors so kit purchasing etc will be the same across the board. As an example, IIRC one woman has shops carrying four different logos. Service obviously depends on individual staff within. Also the networks don't seem to impose any real standard controls on their affiliates, so a Skimium in resort A might be completely different to a Skimium in resort B.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I'm the mate who's organised this trip. Karl and his missus are beginners so to a certain extent, gear choice is not as critical. We do have some more experienced skiiers coming along though who might appreciate a higher standard. It's going to be a trade-off between convenience versus price versus quality I think
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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.
a.j., my understanding is that skimium is not a "shop", it is an internet pre-booking service affiliated to different independent rental shops in a big range of resorts. If you walk into a "skimium" shop you won't get the discount price unless you've booked online. My local shop is affiliated to skimium - I use them quite a lot, mainly for gear for my visitors, as I have my own. On top of the usual skimium discount I have a Decathlon card which gets you an extra 5% off and also could usually find an extra discount code on the internet. I would be quite prepared to rent direct from the shop at the same price - but I can't (though that would obviously be more advantageous to them). At Easter I'd rented one child's helmet, at the reduced price, but during the course of the week we wanted another, as the 2 year old turned out to be a demon toboganner. That cost me more.

The people in the shop know me quite well - and sometimes service me skis free - but I still can't get stuff from them at the rates I can by booking through skimium.
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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
pam w, that's basically correct. French Ski shops are not comparable to big centralised chains such as Tesco, they are independently owned shops who's owners pay a fee or commission to be part of a nationwide booking and marketing agent. The contract requires them to meet certain standards based on age and value of products, and some specify a range of skis of which at least part of their park should be made up, but beyond that the owners can do as they please. Some, such as Skimium take a commission on bookings and require the sale of a quantity of Decathlon branded goods in the shop. Others, such as Intersport, also take a commission and require the sale of Firefly branded goods, but allow owners to buy shares in the network, giving them more control over group activities. Beyond the price you as the customer pay, it's all meaningless. I recall seeing in the same resort a North Face/Skimium swap its logo with a Sport 2000 who's sister shop had dropped it's independent name to become Precision Ski. Not a single ski was exchanged during the 'moves', the stickers were just swapped over.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w, well yes, but they all are (sport2000, twinner etc). Your point is?

There is only one skimium and one skiset in that bit of town (unlike twinner), so you don't need the names to work out which store someone is talking about.

kbrbroI'd suggest the Kaya I think - the skimium was very limited imo, so if anything doesn't fit right (boots in particular) I'm not confident it could be solved and shop not accessible from piste for changes. The Kaya is an uphill walk at the start but ski in/out for changes and friendly enough. None of us need boots so didn't try them but good review above from blahblah.

aj xx
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Thanks guys. I'll try the Kaya twinner for starters. Sounds like theres not much to go at but I'll be fun whatever. Another question would be on ski lessons whilst there, any recommendations? We are having lessons at Chill factore which is good but thinking we might need some extra ski lessons whilst on holiday
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
kbrpro, If you haven't skied before, despite your lessons at CF , I would book at least half-day group lessons for the full week.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
+1
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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?
kbrpro, if you're new to it, I heartily recommend daily group lessons.
There's nothing more disheartening than going out with a group who can all ski and struggling to keep up all week, feeling like you're the only one who can't do it. On top of that, everyone else's enjoyment will be hampered by baby-sitting you. In a group you'll be properly guided and get to measure your progress against the other noobs.
For many beginners, half day lessons are enough as they're worn out by then but if you're fit and enthusiastic, it can be worth going for full days, at least at the start of the week while U find your legs, then drop back to half days and spend a bit of time 'social skiing'.
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We had decent lessons (especially for beginners) with prosneige. The lessons Neilson organised with ESF were surprisingly good (ESF can be a bit variable). Like admin and hellsbells, I'd suggest half day lessons for the whole week - it's cheaper than privates and even if you are fit and get it pretty well and move on fast, half day lessons are perfect for your first week, you spend the morning learning to do it right, and the afternoons with your mates tiring yourself out trying to keep up Wink

If money is no object and your friends aren't likely to be good babysitters you can do full day lessons and they are usually reasonable value, but that's rare, most people hang out with their friends or classmate buddies in the afternoons (or lie in a heap in the hotel counting how many muscles hurt Toofy Grin).

For the twinner ski hire you want a discount link - snowheads sponsor alpinresorts is a good bet - we used them for our booking and it was the cheapest I found. Note the Kaya shop is called ROSAEL sports really, it's just IN the Kaya hotel Smile.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Great advice thanks. All the other people in our group are good skiers so don't expect to see them throughout the day, just breakfast and evening times (and maybe as they fly past us back to the chalet Happy)

I know its 8 months away but can't wait. Off to Chill Factore tonight to practise some more beginner snow plows (including turns ofcourse).
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We are staying at hotel neige at ciel club belambra anyone know the closest best ski shop? Many thanks
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
We've always used Ski Republic - absolutely fine.I don't know if they are still in Les M
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