Do like many people in Switzerland and just rent skis for the full season. That way you get a new pair every year. You should own your own custom-fitted boots though.

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1659447091 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

> You should own your own custom-fitted boots though

I would preach this with snowboard boots (+ helmet), made travel easier as well when you live nowhere near snow. Trying to take up skiing now and have no idea why I didn't think to do this with ski boots. Would probably help, a lot.

As for rentals it's easy to avoid beat-up janky gear. Have to go places just outside the ski town areas. Usually have to find a shop outside the resort for snowboards if you bring your own boots anyway, but easier to find better gear options. I remember getting a new (or basically new) K2 board from a general sports store in Reno, same for getting rentals in Queenstown or Denver or Vancouver before hopping on a bus.

Shops outside the resorts tend to have reasonably priced demo rentals, newer high end gear they are hoping you buy afterwards. Far better equipment that is nicely tuned than anything the resorts offer.

Not paying the oversize/ski baggage fee and lugging that gear around the whole trip while having quality rentals available levels the rent vs buy equation -- if buying a season lift pass makes sense so does buying your own gear, otherwise it's more hassle than it needs to be, imo.

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bee_rider 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

When people in the US think of rental skis, we think of weekend rentals that are usually not very specialized and pretty beat up.

What you describe here sounds more like leasing a car vs renting one—technically a lease is a rental, but practically it is a bit closer to owning the thing.

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einarfd 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Are you sure that there aren't multiple tiers of rental skies in resorts in the USA? I have friends in the rental business in Norway, and they rent out skies from the kind of beginner friendly skies that would fit your description. To top of the line Stockli and Van Deer kit. I think they keep all of their gear in at least decent shape, with the top gear kept in the best shape, as it makes the most difference for those customers. Btw. haven't rented much in the Alps. But my impression is that you can rent gear for all ability levels there aswell, and that that gear is kept in good shape.

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bee_rider 4 days ago | parent [-]

I’m not sure there aren’t, in fact I bet there are! I’m just talking about the typical case that I think most people think of.

	▲	ghaff 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		When I was downhill skiing, there were typically regular rentals and performance rentals. I'd usually bring my own boots but, if traveling by air, usually rent the skis.

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rr808 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Here in NY region seasonal rentals are pretty common too. Esp for kids who will upsize every year or two.

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amelius 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Obviously, the skiing is not what the article is about, really.

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taminka 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

it's cheaper to just buy your own pair at that point, not to mention that those skis are usually beat up, and mostly beginner/intermediate level...

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tempay 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

In Switzerland it varies. Many places will also offer expert hire where you get brand-new skis and at the end of the season you can choose to buy them for cost.

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Loic 4 days ago | parent [-]

FYI, the rental skis, even if they look the same as the same skis you could buy retail are not the same. They have bigger edges and a dicker base. The bindings are not the same.

This is because they are built to go through the machine after each rental. Good retails skis have less "robust" but faster, thinner base, they would be dead after 3 months of rental.

Source: I spend way too many hours each season in a ski shop taking care of a mix of rental and competitive hardware.

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poulsbohemian 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

>This is because they are built to go through the machine after each rental

What machine are you referring to here? It sounds like you are referring to some kind of waxing / edge sharpening / cleaning device, which would be extreme luxury compared to the rental shop at my local hill where they intake the rentals for the day and dump them back into a bucket for the next skier.

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bee_rider 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I’ve rented skis in the US for a weekend out skiing, and of course they are usually pretty beat up (to be expected), and I don’t expect any amazing performance (wasted on me anyway). But, they are taking about something that seems a bit different, renting skis for a whole season. Almost seems more like leasing a car vs renting one?

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rkomorn 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I always suspected my rental skis had dicker bases! (Sorry for typo-sniping for cheap laughs.)

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Loic 4 days ago | parent [-]

French living in Germany, sometimes I am mixing up things. What is interesting is that the Swiss person (probably German speaking) did not notice. Thank you for allowing to laugh after the fact :-D

	▲	rkomorn 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		This is a double bonus thread for me. I did not know (or remember from high school German 30 years ago...) that dicker meant thicker. :D

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bee_rider 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Renting for a whole season seems pretty different from renting for a weekend or whatever. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the more expensive option than buying—but you get brand new skis every year.

Maybe for us in the US, this is more equivalent to buying every year and then reselling? Haha.