 Poster: A snowHead
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With the rip off airlines charging us more to carry our skis that it is for the flight ticket, thought I'd look at the price of hiring skis as opposed to taking my own.
Guess what, with the ski carriage cost and a full service, pre-booking is just as cheap as having your own.
So what are the advantages of having your own :-
You know how your skis perform without having to adjust to a new pair.
Ability to bung more stuff in your ski bag.
Oneupmanship - "oh yes I've got the latest Salomon fancy named skis"
Disadvantages
Major outlay of £200 - £500 up front
Continual servicing
Having to lug them through airports, on and off trains / coaches etc.
Purchasing a bag to carry them in
Outrageous carriage costs - if more people stop taking and hiring, carriage costs will soon drop
Having to leave them outside a bar without knowing if some moldovan gypsy will like the look of them
There are probably other which I can't think of here
So this year i'm taking mine, cos i need the extra luggage space.
So once these skis are wrecked they'll be going in the bin and I won't be buying a new pair, hiring for me.
What do others think?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've never really worked why holiday skiers who fly want to buy skis. Just more hassle and expense.
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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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Advantages of having your own skis:
Selling them on ebay often for not much less than you originally paid for them.
Don't always have to pay for air-carriage.
Agree about being a bit of pain lugging them around & getting them serviced. At least you know they have been serviced though!
How much does it cost for a week to hire a good pair of skis, on average?
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The costs, particularly with budget airlines, are certainly making it worthwhile to consider the options. But I'll always be on the side of having your own kit, because:
You can always be assured you've done the research and have something tailored to exactly what you want.
The condtion of equipment will (or should) always be good.
Saves the hassle of going to the hire shop on arrival, so you can either find the first bar or get straight out on the slopes (good if you're travelling with a TO and loads of people turn up to the hire shop at the same time).
You can always learn how to service skis yourself and save money that way.
You'd like to think that airlines will consider the cost of hiring as opposed to carriage and the costs will soon plateau. We'll see I guess...
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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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The airlines have clearly been putting up the cost of ski carriage until they see a drop-off in demand. Ryanair was about £30 now seems to be £50!!! Result - we are not going to take ours (but will take boots).
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The reason I bought my own skis was because of a lack of decent ones in a short length. I either had very soft beginner skis or ones that were too long.
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Partly why I sold mine. Yes they were a bit too long and fast, but there's not much difference in cost between airline carriage charges and hiring in resort, so I'm happy to rent in future. You can also swap hire skis to suit conditions, etc...
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arlberg, I bought a pair of new old stock Heads with bag and poles for under £150 last year as I was going to Canada with free ski carriage on BA flights, hire charges for 10 days in Canada would have been similar, so made sense to me.
I'm quids in this year because I've got free ski carriage with my £35 all-in flights with GermanWings, so all it'll cost is a £15 edge and wax, instead of a £60-80 hire charge.
But agreed, once these get worn out and if you have to start paying huge amounts for ski carriage, I'll probably go back to hiring.
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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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| arlberg wrote: |
Guess what, with the ski carriage cost and a full service, pre-booking is just as cheap as having your own.
What do others think? |
And that's without factoring in the cost of buying the things! For me the big advantage, and the reason I always hire, is that you can try a different ski every trip/day/snow condition and I have found that trying different skis teaches you a lot about the mechanics of skiing.
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We don't always pay ski carriage, and if we stay in our own place too, then it nets down the cost of a ski trip to a flight and a liftpass, allowing us more trips per year. Including just booking a £25 /night B&B and driving up to Scotland. My first pair of skis I got about 11 weeks out of, having spent £125 on them, so I got my money's worth. Admittedly I am going less for value now and more for just cos I want them, but still, it can be more economical for some people.
We're going to start learning how to service our own kit too so that will help.
Another advantage to owning kit is being able to ski where you like whenever you like. We quite often fly into one airport and drift around different resorts in the region for a few days, staying one or nights in each place at the most. Having own kit means no returning it to the original rental store. Also can arrive in resort and be on the slopes in 15 minutes, which is good for short breaks.
Agree though it is a pain lugging it around sometimes, although when we hire a car it makes no difference really.
One thing that is more of a pain is booking a big enough cab to get the airport in the UK before flying!
D
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Deliaskis wrote: |
| We're going to start learning how to service our own kit too so that will help.D |
Recreational skiers only need to deburr the edges(this is essentially all the shop machines do) .
This can easily be done with one swipe on each edge with something like
http://www.fktools-us.com/ProductDetail.asp?Part_Number=MT719D#
I've carried one for years & ski on new edges every day 
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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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unless you ski more then 2 trips a year Im say rent all the way.
hire kit is quite a bit better then it used to be (or so I understand)
the great thing about hiring is you can try a few different skis when renting. 
I had some skis that I sold for half I paid for them, used for only one trip. The cost of carrage,repairs and maintenance of your own over renting for one week a year is just silly
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Save up air miles, fly BA or carrier that doesn't charge you for this stuff, then sell on eBay. 
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You know it makes sense.
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| arlberg wrote: |
With the rip off airlines charging us more to carry our skis that it is for the flight ticket, thought I'd look at the price of hiring skis as opposed to taking my own.
Guess what, with the ski carriage cost and a full service, pre-booking is just as cheap as having your own.
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Not if you do your own servicing - depending on which airline and how expensive the hire skis are in your resort of choice, of course. And as has been suggested elsewhere, pre-booking tends to mean you end up with less choice and/or worse customer service.
| Quote: |
So what are the advantages of having your own :-
You know how your skis perform without having to adjust to a new pair.
Ability to bung more stuff in your ski bag.
Oneupmanship - "oh yes I've got the latest Salomon fancy named skis"
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One of your "advantages" isn't at all, IMV. You won't have "the latest Salomon fancy named skis" unless you change them every year, in which case you either have more money than sense, or are doing a heck of a lot more skiing than most people.
But there are a couple of other advantages that you didn't list which do mean that (ignoring the cost of buying) it is worth while taking your own.
One is that if your flight arrives early in the day or leaves late in the day, you can get an extra few hours of shiiing without having to pay for another day's hire.
The other is that you don't need to waste an hour or so of your first day in picking up the hire skis.
| Quote: |
Disadvantages
Major outlay of £200 - £500 up front
Continual servicing
Having to lug them through airports, on and off trains / coaches etc.
Purchasing a bag to carry them in
Outrageous carriage costs - if more people stop taking and hiring, carriage costs will soon drop
Having to leave them outside a bar without knowing if some moldovan gypsy will like the look of them
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I don't think the "outrageous" carriage costs will soon drop if people stop taking them. I don't think the high charges are as much to make large profits, as intended to be a deterrent to taking them (which seems to be almost working in your case). They are awkward things to carry in an aircraft.
And it doesn't take much to lock them, so I don't really see the last of those as significant.
It is the costs (both pu7rchase and carriage) that I see as the biggest disadvantages.
| Quote: |
There are probably other which I can't think of here
So this year i'm taking mine, cos i need the extra luggage space.
So once these skis are wrecked they'll be going in the bin and I won't be buying a new pair, hiring for me.
What do others think? |
I have my own, and will always take them, but I didn't have to buy them to start with. (I won them in an online competition).
I don't think it is worth the expense of buying your own for a typical 1 week per year skier.
Having said which, I have managed a few hours in each of the last few years, skiing on the hill outside my house. I certainly couldn;t have done that without my own skis.
Whether I will replace them when they are knackered, I don't know yet.
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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: |
You know how your skis perform without having to adjust to a new pair
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Can't say as I am that good that I have noticed that from hire skis. As others have pointed out it is easy to go and change at hire shop.
It is the worrying about lugging them about, and worrying about them getting stolen that are the drivers for not getting them. Don't need that kind of hassle on my holiday thank you very much! 
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Poster: A snowHead
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i bought my own last year, a lot of people called me silly, but I got them at a good price and since I damaged my knee on hired bindings that didn't release I've got a lot fussier about my kit. So even though they only get used for one trip per year and I have to pay carriage, I think it's worth it.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| alex_heney wrote: |
The other is that you don't need to waste an hour or so of your first day in picking up the hire skis. |
Each time I hire I have been able to collect them the evening befor.
Infact in Cham' last year we got them at 1pm and skied the afternoon we got there (free of charge), so we even got an extra few hours on the slopes anyway
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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 was looking at prices for carriage when I was considering flying. Carriage to fly Jet2 from leeds / BRADFORD to Salzburg was £11.99 each way. Not all that expensive really.
Still prefer own skis and, as we generally drive anyway, will always take them.
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I very nearly bought a pair in Andorra a couple of seasons ago. Wish I had - late season deal = good value for money especially weighed against the pound to euro now, which is also pushing up the rental costs now 
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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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In the really top resorts such as Verbier I could probably hire the sort of ski I want, with a good touring binding. In, for example, Arabba they have no off-piste skis for hire, let alone with touring binding. Everything is narrow, piste skis. Also on that holiday we had a night in a hut followed by skiing down to a night in another resort at the end, so we just had to have our own.
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| Quote: |
We quite often fly into one airport and drift around different resorts....
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I quite often fly into two airports  ........so there.
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I only rent. With only doing 1-2 weeks per year I can't justify the cost. I get grumpy enough just flying myself and a clothes bag, I would be completely horrible to all and sundry if I was carting my skis around the continent's airpots and train stations. 
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Er, two weeks ago I bought my fourth pair...
I can't justify this on economic grounds, but damn it feels good
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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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Helen Beaumont, I'm with you. You cannot get decent top end hire skis for ladies in a short length. Like you say, either soft or too long - your choice is always very limited. And I can definitely notice the difference. Since I'm going for 4-5 weeks a year, I'd spend at least the cost of buying a pair on hiring them. So, if I buy a pair, I get the high end skis in the length that is appropriate, and get to use them at the Snowdome too. Then still get to sell them at the end of it. This costs less than renting but to be honest it would be OK if it cost more than renting, if I could get skis that were good, and of the correct length for me.
I DO sometimes rent skis for a day or two to try different types out, and I would rent powder skis on the very rare days that there is actually something worth renting them for and likewise a pair of GS race skis for a day or two if having race lessons. Lugging them isn't such a big deal with those Ski Tube thingies. We do our own servicing at home, and get them professionally serviced in resort if we are staying for two weeks, as it is our holiday as well, and we couldn't be fussed to do it when on holiday! I have three pairs of skis now - race skis, a new pair of all mountain skis and a pair of old hacks that I use for teaching at the Snowdome.
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I love my skis and I don't think I spend too much carting them around. I've never paid more than 30 quid return for ski carriage and do most of my servicing myself. Also like being able to go skiing as soon as I get to resort. I tend to fly from MAN so I get the train right to the airport or park off site with a minibus to take me to the airport so no worries with taxis. I've probably had an extra half a day on average. Plus I use them in the snow dome and up in Scotland which saves me money and means I don't have to use the crappy snowdome hire ones.
That said, I got them when hire skis weren't that good and the difference when I first skied on them was amazing. I don't know if I'll replace them when they wear out as hire skis are much better now.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I bought mine because I was sick of getting to a hire shop having booked premium skis to find the best ones the shop had left were no different to the beginners ones.
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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've been renting for nearly twenty years and never owned skis but no more. I recently checked out Intersports rental charges for Ischgl and found them to be 153 euros for 6/7 days for top of the range skis (139 last season). Add in 10% for insurance and with today's exchange rate we are talking £150. I am just not prepared to pay it. And if you rent there appears to be no alternative as there appears to be a cartel in existence whereby all rental shops charge the same price. I'm also going to Mayrhofen this season where prices are more reasonable but if I were to rent there as well my total rental costs for two weeks would be in the region of £230. Instead I've bought some new skis for not much more which should last me a few years. As it happens they're the same model I hired in Zell Am see at Easter and I really liked them. OK they're last seasons model, hence the discounted price - last year they were £400 but I've never been a fashionista.
The disadvantages are that I have to transport and service them and buy a ski bag and poles although Mrs Corky has intimated that Santa might bring those. As for carriage both my trips are with Lufthansa at very reasonable prices with free ski carriage.
I'm not saying that everyone should buy but I've made my decision and believe it to be the right one for me.
By the way is there any truth in the rumour that a model produced for the rental market is not of the same quality as that produced for the purchase market or is it just an urban myth?
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Anyone who thinks servicing your own saves loadsamoney is clearly not fully kitted out...
Waxes, iron, decent quality workbench and clamps, p-tex, cloths, edge files / stones ( various grades), brushes (various grades), brake ties, and a whole lot more of possibles, and the time to do it all. It ain't cheap.
Worth every penny mind you, and incredibly therapeutic after a ahrd days ski... its another aspect of the whole mountain experience. Look after your kit and it will look after you.
The problem comes when MrsW thinks her nice fast, edgy planks are simply a result of leaving them out for the ski-elves...
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You know it makes sense.
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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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add stinky boots and scratched skis to the disadvatages list...
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Poster: A snowHead
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| fess wrote: |
| add stinky boots and scratched skis to the disadvatages list... |
Why does having your own skis make your boots stinky?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I will put up with the hassle of taking my own skis because:
1. We ski for a month. The hire of a decent set of skis for a month is virtually the same as buying a pair.
2. I love my Stoeckli's, which are almost never in the normal rental stock! Yes, I guess I could hire a demo pair for a month, but see point 1. (...and yes, I can tell the difference between different skis in mosts cases. That is why I always demo before I 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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| Quote: |
So once these skis are wrecked they'll be going in the bin and I won't be buying a new pair, hiring for me.
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arlberg, try it and come back to tell us how it works out.
I've always own my own skis since I don't have to pay for carriage often. Though I enjoy trying a different ones once in a while. And I THINK I adjust to different skis pretty easily.
Last year, I happened to room with someone of the same height and weight, so it's only natural we swap skis.  Between us, there're 5 pairs of skis!  Talk about fun of trying out new toys! But, after 2 days of skiing two different skis, I decided not to bother trying the last of my roommate's 3 ski collection. Why? I started to notice it takes a few runs to get used to each new pair and it's starting to cut into my skiing time when I switch skis more than once...
When you hire from a shop, there's no guarantee the first pair is going to work out. Sure, they're quality skis, but not neccessarily right FOR YOU! And yes, you can swap them out. But in reality, by the time you "adjust" to it, and then realizing you're NOT "adjusting" well enough and wanted a different ski, you already wasted half a day or more! And if that's the case each time you go on skiing holidays, I imagine it'll get tiresome fast.
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Fri 5-12-08 3:15; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I've been waiting on a new set of skis to arrive, I'd intended to add these to my flight booking. I'm off to Val Thorens next Friday for a short break and, as a back stop (in case they didn't turn up, guess what they havent so far  ).
I have compared the airline fees to the hire rates. Today was my decision day and I've come to the conclusion that in my case, both cost and hassle, it's not worth taking skis on the flight. I'm only going for 4 days and the hire works out at less than £15 per set of skis, via Ski Republic 2 for 1 offer. It would cost me £32 carriage per set if i now booked these on a flight and maybe even a £25 booking amendment fee on top of that.
If I was driving I would take my own skis. For a short break, via a flight, its not economic.
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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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| BMF_Skier wrote: |
I've been waiting on a new set of skis to arrive, I'd intended to add these to my flight booking. I'm off to Val Thorens next Friday for a short break and, as a back stop (in case they didn't turn up, guess what they havent so far ).
I have compared the airline fees to the hire rates. Today was my decision day and I've come to the conclusion that in my case, both cost and hassle, it's not worth taking skis on the flight. I'm only going for 4 days and the hire works out at less than £15 per set of skis, via Ski Republic 2 for 1 offer. It would cost me £32 carriage per set if i now booked these on a flight and maybe even a £25 booking amendment fee on top of that.
If I was driving I would take my own skis. For a short break, via a flight, its not economic. |
Funny how the same argument works the opposite way for me
If I'm going on a short break or long break then I definitely will take them as I like having my own kit and I like the feeling of being able to be in resort at say 10:30am in the morning (following an early flight out) and then all i have to do is get changed, skis on and ski down to the lift pass, buy the pass and I'm away... no fafffing around to find the shop you booked online (which is always miles from your bit of hill) no wondering whether they've got the right set of kit, one less set of queues to negotiate. Then on the mountain I'm on my kit that I know and trust to work. End of trip, back to the car park, change, clean edges/dry, pop in the bag and away you go..
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I am 6'4" and 115k and like longer skis(190s) and after my first experience of hiring decided that,,, 1. I like the stability of longer skis and the hire shops don't have any and 2 I like the comfort of knowing my bindings are set just right for me,,cost wise I have found that carriage @£30 return is still a considerable saving over hiring (£50) which for me is one weeks free lift pass per season....I am now learning to do my own servicing ..its not brain surgery!
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I don't think you're ever going to get a straightforward answer to this.
People will find all sorts of reasons why they think it's important to buy and then justify it to themselves. A bit like new cars, new shoes, new outfits etc etc
But then Skiing is a lot in the mind, so if you feel happy with them then I guess you're likely to ski better.
fwiw, I ski mostly off piste, and the development in off piste and free ride skis over the last few years has meant that a weekly hire has given me an opportunity to keep up with things that buying my own would not have.
One other observation is that, rather like modern cars, most skis are perfectly adequate for most people in most conditions. I've only ever skied in one pair of hire skis in the last 6 or 7 years (since I would consider myself good enough to appreciate the difference) which I thought had a negative effect on my skiing and I took them back and changed them later that day.
d
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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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| Quote: |
I ski mostly off piste, and the development in off piste and free ride skis over the last few years has meant that a weekly hire has given me an opportunity to keep up with things that buying my own would not have.
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That's a unique situation. For cruising about on piste, the only "developement" of the new skis coming out every year are on the graphics (plus a few new marketing phrases)!
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true enough. But it you're cruising around on piste then I'd warrant that pretty much most of them do the job. So for Joe Average skiing once a year (and unlike snowheads, I would guess that this is normal) I would have though cost/benefit would stack up on hiring.
BTW, I think that my earlier post looks a bit arsy. It's not meant to. After all, I'm pretty one-eyed about hiring. I just see a lot of pretty average once a year skiers buying kit that just isn't going to deliver any sort of improvement in their skiing.
And of course, you can buy skis in sterling, and those of us hiring in Euros will be bleeding money in a few months time !!
d
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FAQ
) and I have an involved route bus to LHR , change plane at Minneapolis to Denver, bus to Frisco so I don't fancy lugging skis here and there plus they probably will not arrive at the other end.
