 Poster: A snowHead
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Getting a hire car in Munich for our January boys ski trip. There are 5 of us so getting a people carrier.
The problem is i cant seem to bring myself to spending 175 on a roof rack.
I have seen there are inflatable ones online. Has anyone used these for skis or used anything else similar?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@mattiwilkin, Don't hire a people carrier - hire a minibus/ 8 seater like a Renault Traffic or similar, room for passengers and ski gear. Munich airport has just about the best range and keenest priced car hire in striking distance of the alps. Hired an 8 seater for Xmas week for £210.
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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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@mattiwilkin, Don't hire a people carrier - hire a minibus/ 8 seater like a Renault Traffic or similar, room for passengers and ski gear. Munich airport has just about the best range and keenest priced car hire in striking distance of the alps. Hired an 8 seater for Xmas week for £210.
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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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Don't know when you are going but 4 days hire of ford tourneo, 17-21 Jan including winterisation, £243 on rental cars.com
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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.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Hi I am going 18-22 jan. I found a galaxy for 214 pounds with winterisation i assume this is just winter tyres etc. No roof rack.
The minibuses were looking at £400 region? Where did you find the one for £210?
Thanks
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This winter, I used an inflatable roof rack for a couple of pairs of skis and poles coming back from the southern French Alps via Tignes - around 20 hours driving (in two sections) when adding the uk leg.
No real problems but I did gaffer tape the skis in their pairs and taped the poles to the skis before strapping them down.
Presumably much easier if the kit is in a ski bag as long as it's got enough places for you to pass the straps through to hold it in place.
With all the tightening, there was a bit of contact between the skis and the car roof - I didn't care about my car but a hire company might if you did damage their car.
Don't forget to tape the loops on the poles, the flapping gets a bit annoying!
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I've not used them but came across a bunch of blokes in Les Carroz a couple of years back, they had a hire car and were using inflatable rack for skis.
All seemed quite a good solution although they'd managed to get a slow puncture in one of the two roof bars but they were using them with bare skis loaded straight onto the material so something there seems to have damaged it.
I had a chat to them as I was curious having not seen one before, they appeared quite a good and secure method but probably worth loading with skis in bags or if bare then duct taping any sharps.
The galaxy may also have individual folding rear seats with two in the boot. Depending on the size of your mates it may be possible to use one rear seat with one middle row folded so you get five seats plus a long load bay area down one side of the car for the luggage. You've got a fair amount of acerage in those galaxy so a possibility.
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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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@mattiwilkin, search for "handirack" on snowheads and you'll find lots of positive comments (and very few negative ones, I think).
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When I hired a car in Geneva we got a ski rack which had a big magnetic plate to hold it to the roof - this was an option available at the airport and also when filling in the form or updating the booking on rentalcars.com. Can't remember what it added to the booking cost but it wasn't expensive and worked perfectly
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Ruddster wrote: |
| When I hired a car in Geneva we got a two part ski rack which had big magnetic plates to hold each part to the roof - this was an option available at the airport and also when filling in the form or updating the booking on rentalcars.com. Can't remember what it added to the booking cost but it wasn't expensive and worked perfectly |
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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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When I hired a car in Geneva we got a two part ski rack which had big magnetic plates to hold each part to the roof - this was an option available at the airport and also when filling in the form or updating the booking on rentalcars.com. Can't remember what it added to the booking cost but it wasn't expensive and worked perfectly. Was a little like the one below;
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I do like the look of the handirack and seems v reasonable. Is it easy to fit and secure the skis too?
The rental option is 25 euro per day, Would be cheaper to hire a second car!!!!
Thanks Keep any other ideas coming
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You know it makes sense.
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I've got a handirack and think it is bloody good. Easier to fit than normal roof bars and very secure. Some people have had problems with punctures. I haven't (yet, touch wood) but it's obviously a risk. Makes sense to be cautious about grit, glass, etc but then you need to do that to avoid scratching the roof anyway. It came with a hand pump that was utterly useless but I find them easy to blow up by mouth before you strap them on (lilo type valve).
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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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| Quote: |
I didn't care about my car but a hire company might if you did damage their
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I have had that very conversation...using their own supplied magnetic racks. They claimed there were little scratches on the roof. Had to dig the heels in a bit, get the credit card involved and then I found their internal memo on what was "acceptable" damage or not (i.e. wear and tear) and scratches from supplied magnetic ski racks were specifically something you could get away with.
But that was their own kit.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cool. I think for the 8.99 i will get the anti slip mats that should also help protect the paintwork i assume.
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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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We take a old cloth to clean the roof before we put the handirack on so that we don't grind any dirt in. Other than that we just make sure that nothing sticks down near the roof and any loose straps are tied away. Easy really.
Top tip: leave the second tube from the front soft so that some weight is taken by the first tube. It's usually lower 'cos of the curve of the front of the roof.
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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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@altis, +1. Main issue with inflatable racks is getting crud between rack and car roof - not a problem with my 9 year old Scenic, but may be with a hire car.
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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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@altis, @jedster, are your Handiracks still going strong, am thinking of getting one to avoid these expensive estate cars I seem to end up renting to carry our skis. No issues with punctures or failing valves?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@ster, I’ve got one if you want it.
Before we had our own place it was great for 2 coffin type bags on the roof between Geneva Airport and Val d’Isere.
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@muppet, sounds like exactly what I'll be using it for, I'll drop you a PM
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| mattiwilkin wrote: |
Hi I am going 18-22 jan. I found a galaxy for 214 pounds with winterisation i assume this is just winter tyres etc. No roof rack.
The minibuses were looking at £400 region? Where did you find the one for £210?
Thanks |
Holidayautos is worth a look. Seems to be £268 for a 9 seater on those dates. I've not checked what's included.
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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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@sugarmoma666, I think that was Jan 2017 he was looking at.
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| ster wrote: |
| @sugarmoma666, I think that was Jan 2017 he was looking at. |
Doh!! 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Ours worked the last time we used it but that was some time ago. We prefer to drive these days.
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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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Four of us heading to Chamonix from GVA, we were upgraded to a brand new Vito mini bus, it was cheaper than adding the hire fee for a roof rack to the car we had booked.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Richard_Sideways, 
Only things missing are that it should be a 4x4, and I can't see a snowheads sticker on the bumper.
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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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@snowdave, Bah! Resorting to Roof Racks or 4x4 hippomobiles is an admission of failure!
Weeks worth of kit for 4 including ski and snowboard boots, quiver of skis and boards all in a Golf! Pack it in people!
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Poster: A snowHead
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| ster wrote: |
| @altis, @jedster, are your Handiracks still going strong, am thinking of getting one to avoid these expensive estate cars I seem to end up renting to carry our skis. No issues with punctures or failing valves? |
I've not used them all that heavily but they are fine. I took three skibags back to Geneva on them in Feb so an a hour at motorway speeds - all good.
Was planning on taking all the gear out to Canada before covid intervened!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Richard_Sideways, nice tetris. Looks like over-use of bags tho - surely you could get a lot more in if you packed it freeform?
We had 5 people, with mountaineering & camping kit (but no ski kit) in a merc C-class this summer. Nothing on laps, and nothing above the parcel shelf! Mainly achieved by taking it all out of bags and packing everything loose in the boot.
Back briefly on-topic- I have handiracks which are a few years old and only used for local trips from apartment to ski slopes, but are still going strong.
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