Skiing - Buying own ski's

Guest2

Guest2

Guest2

Soldato
Joined
6 May 2009
Posts
20,118
Do you have your own ski's, hire or are thinking about buying your own ski's?

I usually go skiing once a year and always think about buying my own ski's if I was to go more than once a year.

I have hired the same make of ski's now for the past 4 or 5 years which costs around €80 (~£65) for ski and pole hire. I hire the all mountain Rossignol Exp

If I were to buy these, plus poles and a bag to carry the skis it would set me back around £670

Rossignol Exp 84 CA 2015 - £525 skis and bindings
http://www.snowandrock.com/rossigno...outdoor-sports/fcp-product/63568?listing=true

Poles - ~£70
http://www.snowandrock.com/black-di...ki-snowboard-outdoor-sports/fcp-product/63231

Ski bag - Double is £75, single £55

Carriage is also £25 a time

Doing the maths above it would be pretty pointless unless I went 3 times a year or did a whole season. Still, it would be nice to have my own ski's. Maybe I will get the poles as they will collapse into luggage and you always seem to get crappy poles with hire (bent, broken baskets, knotted hand holds etc)
 
If you are going once a year, you may as well rent. The tech and length / shape is changing all the time with skis and you will only get ski envy in a couple of years.

I assume you have your own boots, as they are the one thing I would always buy and get custom fitted.
 
If you can find them on a better deal, but £500 just to go once a year is a bit steep

Have you look at used but still in great condition? could take a chunk off the price, usually what your rental ski's are anyway! but I bet the rentals would be in a lot less decent condition


I seen someone selling a decent looking snowboard a few weeks back for £100
 
Yeah getting your own boots is a definite if you can get ones that are comfortable for you. The other option is to buy ex demo/rentals which is a good way to keep the price down, or buy skis at the end of the season, a lot of places will give you fairly hefty discounts.

To be honest, skis now aren't going to see much radical development again.
 
I have been snowboarding 4 times and a few times at the snowdome.

Bought a board in the end of season sale for an awesome price and even though its worked out more expensive the times of having my own board that i Demo'd at the snowdome. All I can say is WOW what a difference having a quality board/boots made to my whole experience

My advice would be get some boots, go try some skis out at your closest snow centre. If you are trying the goods out they let you on the slope for free (they do in tamworth anyway)

100% worth trying some to see how you feel
 
Yep, I have my own boots with a custom fit insert. Salamon ones I've had for 14 years. I can honestly wear them all day and they are comfy - not having to undo them at lunch or anything like some people do

To be fair to Skiset the 'excellence' hire ski's are always in great condition. I normally return them with a few marks and light scratches too and they don't quibble - I guess this is expected and they wax them out

Might just buy those poles and stick them in my bag

Guess I would need to have ski's and binding maintained too. Don't want to fly down the mountain at 70mph and the bindings fail!
 
Last edited:
I don't think its ever really worth buying brand new unless you especially want the latest model or a very specific set of skis / boots.

I bought a board a few years back that was from 1 or 2 seasons prior and got it for less than half price. As others have suggested, ski and board tech doesn't move much between seasons.

Having your own kit is generally preferable to stuff that has been beaten up season after season. If you don't want to fork out for skis then boots are a bare minimum that you should consider. They make a huge difference to your comfort and enjoyment and shouldn't cost much second hand or with off season discount.
 
I am a firm believer in buying your own skis.

If you only go once a year you spend 3-4 days trying to find your technique; knowing that your crappy skiing is nothing to do with equipment is really helpful.

Ski holidays are really quite expensive, there is no point spending half your time wondering if it your equipment (which it can be) or your technique.
 
Unless you go for 2 weeks a year, forget buying skis! You're having the benefit of your own boots which I have previously found to be the weak link in hire equipment.

The rental skis will be much higher quality than you'd think of buying if you go for their top of the line skis which are usually €800+ to buy. Also, you can change your skis if you don't like them, or if the conditions change. Why would you want race skis if there is a huge powder day? Similarly, you can go hard on rentals and not cry every time you hit a rock. It's for this reason that I usually take out the ski shop's insurance as then even if the edge comes off or they need re-basing they shouldn't moan.

Your crappy skiing is never to do with kit alone. If you're blaming the kit, you've either chosen the wrong stuff (your fault) or you're not good enough.

In summary, don't waste your money on buying skis.
 
Interesting, very mixed views in here

I am looking into Scotland (Nevis) and ski hire is £35 a day! £70 for a weekends hire is quite pricey. There's also waiting around until after a certain time to pick up ski's etc. E.g. when we usually get to France, pickup is after 4pm so I could have got out on the slopes for 2 or 3 hours sometimes

I would be looking at buying all mountain skis that I know can cope with half decent powder and piste skiing (ones in post 1) People could ski fine in the 70s and 80s in powder on really thin long skis so im sure some quite wide mountain skis can cope
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom