What level of ski to rent

A snowHead

I am taking four beginners skiing in ten days. What level of ski should I order for them?

The level variously described as "Standard" or "red" or 4*?

Or the level below (a tenner cheaper) "low cost" or "blue" or 3*?

What about for me? I'll go down pretty much everything pisted, some things in much less style than others. Is it worth my paying an extra tenner for "premium" or "black" or 5*?

Of course, when picking up the skis one has no idea whether what one is given bears any relationship to what one rented, but that's another matter.

Thanks for your thoughts.

A snowHead

James the Last, in good conditions, I'd say it's worth you paying extra.

Cheapest ones for the rabbits

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Once someone can carve turns, not to skid them, then its a good reason to rent advanced skis. Before clean, carved tracks left behind You, it's useless..

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James the Last, Given the standard rented out that I've seen, in the worst case give them standard and put yourself on premium.

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Get the ones that are one click above the level you think you are.

Skiing skis that are "better than you" is a great way of improving. It's not like you'll suddenly be able to do nothing, the difference between various pairs of skis isn't as pronounced as that, but the slight extra stiffness, the slight extra sharpness of edge, whatever you get from going "high", will coerce you into improvement.

This is my experience anyway.

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Get the most basic ones for the newbies and get what you think you can ski on, but won't hold you back because they are too extreme.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

bar shaker, there is (almost) no way you can rent skis that are "too extreme". Not when they're described as "Blue", "Red" or "Black"...

After all it is free

But we've all been there when you've watched the ski-techs hand the bronze skis over to the guy in front, then hand you the same skis as you explain that youv'e paid for silver. "Oui", they explain.... Theeze are silver"
So you say "But you just gave that guy the same skis as bronze...",
"But they are not the same skis!"
Little Angel

I think that you pay what you want, and then they give you what they have spare. If they don't check your height weight and experience, start making a fuss. (The more clued in shops ask about your height, weight and experience, and then give you what they have spare anyway, so it might not help much)

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I would say it makes little difference to beginners, I skied on cheap skis for about the 1st 5 years and reached a plateu, then I bought some "expensive" (last yrs model at 1/2 price) skis and my skiing changed overnight. basic skis can be unstable at higher speeds
It amazes me, how many reasonably ok skiers out there on carving skis do not carve or haven't the faintest concept of what carving a turn is.
Andorra, 15-20 yrs ago, before the extreme side cut carving skis were thought about, the instructors were teaching us about getting the skis locked onto the edge to leave two sharp, clean tracks across the slope, the beginnings of carving a turn, even my old 2m gs skis would carve a turn, but a very big radius one!!!
Some people will benefit from better skis after just one week
Others, it will never make any difference

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

The last place I went to said there wasn't a lot of difference between the skis, just that Bronze were 2 seasons old, silver 1 season old, and gold new skis that season. Which seemed a bit odd to me!

snow reports

Last year, although I ordered the same level of skis as others in my party, because I booked it through a different internet portal and got it more cheaply, I'm convinced I was given a grade of skis down. So the level of skis are appropriate for the actual cash you pay, irrespective of the "standard" you book.

I did feel sorry for the beginner I met two years ago who was put on huge fat off piste skis...

Thanks for your thoughts.

Group of us went into shop last week to pick up pre-booked skis and although we paid for different levels, we were shown the same rack and basically asked what length we wanted and picked within those available. All seemed pretty hit and miss as to what you got. I reckon if you want a specific ski then you should pay more to get it. Otherwise check if the shop will let you change if you are unhappy.

Crappy skis without an edge and loose bindings wont help anyone but if theyre properly serviced then the cheaper ones will do the beginners. Probably worth the extra to get yourself something stiffer.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

An advantage of choosing a higher level of renal can be the facility to swap to different skis during the week. The last time I rented I tried 5 sets over 6days. After that I bought my own

A snowHead

My experience of rented skis is that most shops stock a fairly good general range of skis most suitable for on-piste ski-ing

They charge the most for those that had already been rented out for less than about 15 weeks, the middle-price for those which had already been rented out for about 15-30 weeks. The lowest price were for those that had been rented 30+ weeks but were still generally o.k. to use.

The better shops sometimes have a range of more 'specialist' skis and since these are rented out less often, they could still be in the top price bracket even though they might be 2 or 3 years old.

A snowHead

YOU pays yer money and THEY takes yer choice.

We all booked "premium" last year on a w'end trip in Les Houches and my two mates got some very ordinary looking rental market specials. I asked for a ski by name which they didn't have but they brought me something slightly more upmarket.

I think if you want to pay for and receive top notch gear, thumb the S&R catalogue and quote the model you want. If they don't have it they'll probably be so shocked to find out you appear to know what you're talking about that they'll give you a reasonable equivalent.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

This cynicism is all absolutely bang on actually. I certainly paid top dollar for some heavily delaminated bendy pieces of crap a couple of years ago.

Mind you that was in Scotland, they were probably just avenging their forefathers.

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What level of ski to rent

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