Ski Clothing for first (trial) ski trip

brooksy wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

brooksy wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

john987 wrote:Travel wash for socks, thermals, t shirts. Do it every day for your first three days if you got three pairs of socks and your sorted for the week. first pair will be dry by day four regardless of heating system in your accommodation. It does not take long. Take hand warmers with you a lot cheaper than in resorts. Would try to get balaclavas invade very cold.better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them.
Multi pack of mini chocs you can never go wrong!

Forget about three pairs of socks you will find you only need one !!!! pair that is :wink:

You & your one pair of socks are becoming notorious :evil:

Brooksy my feey don't sweat at minus temps, my pits get a bit sweaty though :wink:

Ian, that's your opinion & only yours also if they don't smell why did you say you would put them under my pillow, or was that just to keep them warm & the bacteria alive :shock:

Mind Games Brooksy ... Mind games :wink:

There is no need to spend a fortune on clothing. I reckon it is possible to kit yourself out for less than 150 quid a head even when buying new ski wear. (to put this into context, you could easily spend 1000 without skis or boots). You could save even more if you already have a non skiing specific jaket that is suitable.

For good quality good value ski wear, it is difficult to beat Decathlon. It is like the french tesco for sportswear. The have a few large superstores in the uk and it is usually worth making the effort to get to one. They do mostly own brand stuff. I have had a lot of their ski wear, especially gloves, salopettes, hats, scarves, base layers etc... over the years and it is generaly very good quality.

My top tip for gloves would be to focus less on the quality of the glove and instead buy some silk inner gloves (about 5 quid). It is by far the best value way of keeping your hands dry. This is especially important for beginners as you are likely to have your hands on the snow quite a bit.

I wouldn't be tempted to buy any boots or skis, secondhand or otherwise. You should rent for your firs season. This is actually where a good ski rental shop adds a huge amount of value. The best thing to do would be to ask your ski school to recommend a rental shop as they are likely to have a good relationship with the store. This is important should the instructor recognise that you need a different sized boot or ski length.

If you want to play as safe as possible in case of the very, very, very unlikely chance that you don't want to go skiing again... If you enjoy hiking anyway then you could by some water resistant, thinner isulated hiking trousers rather than salopettes and beef them up by wearing some leg-ins for extra warmth.

Another tip is not to get thick ski socks. Paradoxically, you are more likely to get cold feet due to lack of circulation. Thin and long wollen socks are fine.

A good place I have found for base layers and socks, in the past, has been uniqlo. The stuff is not specific to skiing but some of the winter season stuff is perfect for skiing, but also doubles as general winter clothing.

Hope you have a great time, where ever you go.

And another thing...

If you spend money in any area then spend it on goggles. You don't need to spend a fortune on the latest bole oakley smith ones that have all sorts of optical filters and coverings etc... However, try to spend a bit of time ensuring that they fit with a helmet on (assuming that you are planning to hire helmets - your choice either way - don' want to open that can of worms ). Idealy, you should at least get some with a double 'glazed' lense. Preferably with breathing gaps between the seal and the lense at the top of the lense. You should make sure that there is a good fit between the seal and your face, especialy around the bridge of your nose and beneath your eyes. If you don't do this tgen you run the risk of your breath getting inside and condensing ice on the inside of the lenses. End result = not being able to see where you are going. This can be a real pain so try to avoid it if possible.

Consider renting this time around. Especially as kids grow fast. Here are 2 UK companies that offer this...

http://www.snowco.co.uk/

http://www.skitogshire.co.uk/store/about.php

If you have the time to spend trawling Ebay you can get some bargains. It is time consuming though and a bargain can suddenly become quite expensive in a short space of time. Plus you may enter a bidding war as an item's about to close.

The best ski pants I've ever had I got ridiculously cheap on Ebay before my first time skiing.

looking for some new ski pants i found this site...seems very good value

http://www.outdoorclearance.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index

just a feedback on this company...emailed an enquiry about sizing and got an immediate response..ordered some soft shell pants on Friday .got them yesterday,,£16!! same one advertised at various outlets from £55 down...result

Don't spend a fortune. Stores like Aldi do decent quality stuff in the winter (people thumb their noses at the mention of it but it's cheap & durable). Skiwear4less is another option.

What do you need salopettes & ski jacket. 3 pairs of ski socks & two pairs of gloves - they get snow in them & sweaty & the kids will lose one!

What to wear underneath - synthetic t-shirt and a fleece (not too thick) If it's cold long johns - probably the kids may want them more than adults (personally never worn them).
Obviously you'll need at least 3 t-shirts (base layers in tech speak) unless you wish to stink by day 6! The fleeces shouldn't be thick - you can wear 2 if you are cold.

Goggles are useful but I prefer sunnies unless it's snowing. Don't get ones that are too dark - amber lenses for the goggles. As for the sunglasses again don't go too dark or you'll struggle if it's cloudy particularly late in the day when the light (described as flat) makes it hard to pick out the contours of the snow.
The kids will have less trouble as their eyes adapt better to low light.
One option is sunnies with inter-changable lenses dark for the day & amber/yellow for poor light. They are sold by the likes of Argos for cyclists.