 Poster: A snowHead
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Is there really a difference between the skis you get for 3*, 4* etc hire through an agent. Booked 5* recently which was quoted as Atomic D2 Race GS or equivalent. Got a pair of Elan Speedwave 08's. (No problems with them, but it is a bit like getting someone who has been riding a motorbike for 6 months to compare a standard S3 shock on an R1 with a USD Showa. If you read this and think ?????????, that equates to my knowledge and feel of skis  )
Booked basic (3*) skis for the kids and they got brand new Atomic D2 Race GS skis, which was an initial option, but about 50 quid more per kid.
Is there a big difference or are they just bunging you out whatever they have spare?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Thornyhill, it depends on where and when you hire - if you turn up for a long weekend at the height of the season, you'll be taking your pick from some almost empty racks, so they may have no basic skis left and you get an upgrade, or they may have nothing at all so they break out some new skis early because they'd rather bank the cash than turn you away.
There also seems to be a lot of variation in what they consider to be "premium" skis - I've been offered everything from €200 beginners skis to €800 race skis, so knowing what you're looking at and having some idea of what to expect does help a lot. Shops also vary of course, so where I've walked in and they've chosen skis for me without asking any questions, I walk straight back out again. The best places I've hired from took about 15 minutes to find out what experience I had, whether I preferred to ski fast/slow, on piste/off piste/fringing, large/small turns, etc then they combined that with my weight and height and gave me a choice of 4-5 models and were happy to discuss the differences between them. They were also happy for me to swap between them as many times as I liked.
Basically, it can be a lottery - go on personal recommendations, and have some idea of what you are paying for...
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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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This is something I've been wondering about too this week. I've been pricing up ski hire in Peisey Vallandry and am a little confused (incidentally, if anyone has any tips about specific shops there, please shout up...)
I used Ski Republic last year (Tignes, not PV) and the experience was a cut down version of ousekjarr's, experience, but this year's massive price hike has put me off and I'm probably looking to book online. A couple of shops use the bronze/silver/gold system which I'm assuming mostly refers to the age of the ski/how much use they've had - my default would be silver, but I've seen gold to be only 6 euro more for the week, so in this case I would probably take my chances with an upgrade.
However, other shops use blue/red/black system and imply that the black skis are more 'advanced' than the others. Is there any truth in this, or is it just as above but re-coloured? Also, if you book online with Skiset/Snowbrainer etc. do they actually ask you in the shop about your ability, or do they just swap your receipt for a pair of planks and send you on your way? 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| ousekjarr wrote: |
and have some idea of what you are paying for... |
This is the problem. It probably took me 5 years on a bike to understand all the suspension options. Maybe another 5 to be able to tell the difference. It only took a few weeks to work out that if you have crap suspension, you will probably be slow and fall off a lot. In comparison, the ski options seem like there may be 100 times more varieties.
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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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| Scarlet wrote: |
| swap your receipt for a pair of planks and send you on your way? |
That is what they did in VT. I was too impressed with the kids getting new 'platinum' skis at fools gold prices to ask about mine. (Kids got brand new boots as well, and helmets with built in avalanche transceivers. I thought it was just the passive metal strip thing, but the guy in the shop tested them and then replaced batteries in the linings)
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Thornyhill, that's why I am disinclined to and generally don't hire skis. Too many experiences in the past similar to those described above. The whole experience was too often an unpleasant one, from entering the shop and being looked up and down to be stereotyped, the arrogance of the shop hand trying to hand me something before listening, being offered whatever they have left or are inclined to give me, having to argue the toss having plainly been given something that isn't at the level of hire paid for (knowing about skis isn't a panacea - they just tell you you're wrong anyway), unserviced skis, basically it being a pita trying to get the level of ski or quality I've paid for and been promised. These days I only really hire from shops I know something of. Either I've been inside already then booked online after, or I have prior knowledge of their range and commitment to a proper service. I've then generally had a pretty good experience but I'm still disinclined to hire if I can avoid it.
BTW if the shop's playing fair, the top level ski hire is usually expert skis, which imo will hinder the progress of an intermediate skier. OTOH if the premium isn't much, at least the shop should then be willing to part with the best they have that's appropriate.
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My approach now is usually to e-mail the shops in advance and ask them what they have available which would suit me, so I can do some research on them ahead of time and then reserve that model. If they aren't prepared to put the time in to respond, or they say they have a wide range and I can only choose on the day, they're not worthy of my €120 (current price in Saalbach, where I'm off to in 7 days) and I'll take it elsewhere if I can. I have three ski models which I know and like, so if they have any of those I'll book them. If not, I have a couple of weeks to read some reviews.
Having said all that, at €120 for 6 days, I'm now as close to buying as I will ever be so this time out I'll be swapping a bit more with the aim of buying at the end of the week, hopefully with some discount.
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ousekjarr, €120 ouch! I was looking at about £66 for the golds... The advantage there is that it says you can swap them if you're not happy. I think I've seen a level above gold in some shops - platinum or premium specifically for the top level.
What confuses me is that if a ski is hired out as 'expert', be that black or gold or 5* whatever, next year when it's been bashed around a bit and is no longer a premium ski, surely moving it down a hire level doesn't make it any easier to ride? Or am I missing something? The info seems a little contradictory.
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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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Scarlet, my experience is that I've almost always got new skis in December, and heavily scuffed but well maintained skis in March/April, so I suspect that many hire shops sell on their stock at the end of the season, or keep it for at most two seasons, so the idea that the top price is for current models, the next for last year's, and the lowest for older skis doesn't stack up in my experience.
At the top level, I usually see the "race" skis and more specialist stuff like all mountain skis or fat powder skis, while the mid-range is full of kit which is forgiving, easy to use, but fairly boring. The low level is really just basic kit for beginners, so hiring the economy package is really only OK if you are in ski school for the week. Even then, many of the instructors I've spoken to tell me that they have to run hire skis over a mat at the start of the week to take the wax off and limit the speed of the beginners for their own safety, as most hire skis are fed through the servicing machine on auto.
At the top end I've had some great experiences, including some Fischer Progressor 9 demo skis in about 2005/6 before they hit the market officially - they were so much better than anything I'd hired before that I came to realise for the first time the difference that individual models can make, but they're a stiff, heavy, 100% piste ski which needs someone of maybe 80Kg+ with reasonable technique to get them working, so hiring them to a 50Kg woman who wants to ski off-piste wouldn't do them any favours, and giving them to a beginner would be nothing short of negligent. Paying more to get the higher level doesn't always get you a better ski, but if you have the experience and technique to benefit from something higher up the technical curve, it makes sense as long as you can be sure of getting an appropriate model. That brings us back to the service level, and the time taken by the shop to match your needs.
Prices vary hugely depending on the level of competition locally and the ownership of the shops - since I mainly ski in Austria where the shops are usually owned by a long-standing local family with little competition, prices can be high. In the huge French resorts the same applied in the main until people like Ski Republic turned up and upset everyone, so the prices have dropped. The shops charge what the market will bear...
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