Ski/Snow hols

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alpenrose Feb 2018 10:50pm, 21 Feb 2018 31,917 posts	0 alpenrose I "did" the Mooserwirt once, many years ago now.
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2018 11:52am, 22 Feb 2018 28,354 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Yay, I'm going to Glenshee at least for a day's skiing. Next Wed. Fingers crossed for decent weather. They've got snow cover just now, the temp is dropping and bit more snow forecast for Mon-Tue. Right, next question - I've never owned skis. I hate buying stuff that I won't use. Happy to rent for the once a year or once every 2 years that I go. But, like a gym membership, if I've paid for it already, I'm more likely to use it! So, I'd like cheapest I can get. I'm not a great skier, so really doesn't matter about performance. Just comfortable and as easy as poss. I ski mostly on piste, no tricks, so prob just beginner skis would be fine. Are the cheapy ones from Decathlon any good? Or would second hand be any use? Otherwise, minimum for basic skis, boots and poles looks like £500 minimum? The only other thing I would love to be able to do is ski-touring (by which I mean walking in skis or walking carrying skis, then ski down somewhere). But I've looked at that kit and it's v. expensive and also much less common obviously. G
Velociraptor Feb 2018 11:59am, 22 Feb 2018 37,812 posts	0 Velociraptor If you know your size and are happy to do a bit of internet research about the technical stuff, you can get good second hand skis out of season on eBay for a really good price, and even if you think you're not a very good skier the difference between budget skis and mid/top of the range skis is very noticeable. I'm a safe but untalented recreational skier, and bought my own skis after getting fed up being given marshmallows by the ski hire shops. For boots, try on loads, get what gives you the right balance between comfort and support. I learned to ski at Glenshee, a very long time ago. Never been tempted to go back unless I could be helicoptered on to the slopes in the morning and lifted off at sunset.
Velociraptor Feb 2018 12:01pm, 22 Feb 2018 37,813 posts	0 Velociraptor [I have ski envy. Next winter, we ARE going to go skiing. It's been too long.]
Meglet Feb 2018 1:25pm, 22 Feb 2018 19,050 posts	0 Meglet I suggest getting your own boots, definitely, but hiring skis if it’s only a week or two a year. If you have your own you’ll need to pay extra on the flights and get them serviced, and they’ll be out of date very quickly. By hiring you can hire appropriate to the conditions at the time and always have the newest skis (which is why it’s worth going for the more expansive hire package). Plus have you got somewhere to keep them for the rest of the year-I evicted a pair of my XH’s old skis from my loft before I moved last year. They had probably been up there 10y
larkim Feb 2018 1:42pm, 22 Feb 2018 3,963 posts	0 larkim +1 for owning your own boots. Paid for in a couple of seaons of hire, and will last (and most importantly be comfortable!) for many more seasons. Agree with Meglet about skis. We've been skiing about 10-12 times, and skis have changed so much that we'd never have got good value out of a set by buying. And whilst second hand might be good, cost of transport and maintenance makes them uneconomical I think for most unless you ski 3-4 times a season. I can recommend alpinresorts.com for ski hire as an aggregation site - very good value, access many stores in resorts and with the SNOWBALL discount code (check that - its the Snowheads one) the savings are quite substantial. My only concern ever when hiring skis is that when you turn up at the shop its very difficult to determine whether you are genuinely getting the "category" of ski that you have paid for (e.g. some do Silver, Gold, Platinum levels etc). We always pay for the top or second top option, as we are confident red / black skiers, but aren't au fait with the hierarchy of the various skis / brands and with 6 of us to get fitted with skis when the shop is busy on arrival, it can be stressful trying to suggest you don't like the skis you've been given. Though that may just be my classically British outlook of not wanting to make a fuss. When we got home last time, we checked out the skis that we'd been hired, and it turned out that one of the sets was at least 5 seasons old, and whilst it wasn't terrible as a ski, our eldest had not really liked it during the week (but wasn't interested in spending time in the shop mid-week to swap out). I contacted aplinresorts when we got back, sent them the evidence and they provided a partial refund in compensation, which I was very happy with as we could have done more in resort to solve it for ourselves, with hindsight.
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2018 1:42pm, 22 Feb 2018 28,355 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Yes Meglet, those are reasons I've not bothered in past. And in Norway, the skis are really good I'm told. They update them very regularly and keep them in good shape during the season. Norwegians are really fussy with their skis and wouldn't tolerate bad kit! And the ski rental was really close. It's more for home really. Renting skis when you're only going for a day is a pain. And the conditions are so rubbish it really doesn't matter how bad / old they are. I'm thinking of doing this ski touring stuff that we have conditions for in Scotland for quite a lot of the winter - prob Nov-March at least. So then I'd get use from them. Thanks V'rap, good suggestion re ebay. I'll have a look. G
larkim Feb 2018 1:43pm, 22 Feb 2018 3,964 posts	0 larkim Of course, all that advice may be nonsense if you're skiing in Scotland!
HappyG(rrr) Feb 2018 1:46pm, 22 Feb 2018 28,356 posts	0 HappyG(rrr) Larks, again, I've been really lucky in Norway. My mate has skis like we have bikes. About 6 of his own, each of his kids have 3 or 4 pairs and his wife too. We were just given stuff. If we rented, kit was good. If we wanted to try different, just swap out, right in main area by main chair. I swapped types of skis, swapped to and from snowboard etc. in a week. No charge! G
Angus Clydesdale Feb 2018 2:13pm, 22 Feb 2018 13,192 posts	0 Angus Clydesdale That’s the Norway I remember and love! Ski touring gear makes a lot of sense in Scotland. Half the time you can’t get close to the "resorts" because the roads are closed (and by the time they’re clear the snow's gone from the runs too!). For renting up here there’s a new shop near Bridge of Cally apparently which is on your road up from the South anyway and has really good/new gear. Friends of ours are part of Grampian Performance Squad and we’re talking about it last weekend. I’ll see if I can get the name of it. I bought my own skis a few years ago. There hasn’t really been huge developments in technology (in my view) since the mid-90s. Yes there are fads and crazes and the wheel keeps being reinvented, but the fact is that I had an utterly brilliant week of super-fast skiing on my 'old' skis and the ski carriage was *significantly* cheaper than renting top level skis in resort. I’ve also had my own boots for 25 years now; they were the first things I bought when I realised I loved skiing.