Rental Skis Question

Which is exactly the reason why you should own your own skis ( at least 2 pairs) :twisted:

I've been told that hire skis are specifically made for, well, hiring. Though they may appear the same as any you would buy in store, the materials used are very different. The core and coating of the skis are much tougher as they are used nearly every week of the season so need to be a hell of a lot more hard wearing than your average ski.

Because of this the performance is affected. The flex of a hire ski is much more rigid than that of a pair you would go and buy. For a beginner this really isn't going to make much of a difference, but after a couple of seasons, and when you want to start used your edges more, the flex and general quality of the ski makes a massive difference.

If you see yourself skiing for the next 4 or 5 seasons, I'd look at getting your own kit. Snow and Rock had a brilliant package this season, Skis, poles and boots for £299. The skis themselves retailed at £400 in some stores!!

Some skis are made specifically for the hire market (I'm going to guess lower end ones), others aren't. Everyone knows you should get boots properly fitted which means the boots included in the S & R package probably won't suit everyone ;)

I would hope that all skis that I would be buying are made to be used every week of the season, it is durability I would expect form any pair.

Point taken, and I'm no expert believe me, just passing on info I've heard. But I would assume it's the equivalent of hiring a suit. It all looks the same, but the hire suit quality just isn't as good. Hire suites are warn probably 100's of times a year and quality is compromised for durability.

Well,
I'm quite sure the skis and boots I hired were very good quality - but then I paid quite a bit to hire them, from a very good hire shop in one of the top resorts.

I can tell you where I did find some really rubbishy boots though, and that was in Swansea at Christmas, where we hired some ice skates for the council's temporary rink. The quality was incredibly bad - they looked like something out of a Christmas cracker and they really hurt your feet, but we only paid £5 for 50 minutes and they did actually skate okay, and we had a lot of fun :D.

Ally

ha-ha :lol: