Hi guys, great content! It's so hard to find quality skiing content (other than park riding) so yours is especially appreciated. Hope you can keep the content coming during summer to scratch my skiing itch. My tip 8 for boots: remember to clip your toenails.
I have all my own snowboarding equipment but myself and the family do rent all our ski equipment on our annual ski trip - I split my time 50/50 between boarding and skiing. We are all knowledgeable enough now to know what is and isn't a good ski boot fit (within rental limits) and even the kids are not shy to ask for something different/better. My wife has custom footbeds and brings those on holiday with her as well. My tip is just to ask for another boot - and keep asking. Be polite is all it takes.
Rent until you make a decision on whether or not you are going to keep it up as a sport/hobby. If you are going to go more than 3-4 times a year you will probably want to buy your own equipment. Rental rates have gotten pretty out of control now to where if you want to go somewhere and ski for 3-4 days you're looking at spending $200-300+ just for your rental boots and skis. Wait until the end of season toward end of January and February before you buy as well, you can either get the prior year equipment on deep discount or good deals on the new year stuff. Right now you can get decent skis with bindings and boots for $400-500, which pays for itself after a few trips if you decide skiing is something you want to do long term.
One question, rent or buy? how did you waffle for 30 minutes about socks without giving a single point in favour of either answer? just some advice try and keep your conversation relevant to answering the question rather than trying to make up 5 random tips for the ski hire shop
Another thing regarding rental books is how many pairs of feet has the boots seen before it meets yours? Which is why as I'm now retired, and am single, I'm hoping to return to skiing -beginner - next season or the season after. I'm purchasing my own boots, - Snow + Rock : Manchester - prior, and just renting the ski's. After my first holiday, if nothing bad happens, and I have enjoyed it I'll consider if it is cost effective for me to purchase my own beginner ski's, so I don't have to get used to strange ski's like rental boot, have been on multiple boots before they meet mine, every time I go on holiday. I'll be going to S+R [Manchester] next Wednesday to ask what prices I'll be looking at, and to see what's available.
Great stuff. Wish I’d had this sort of advice a long time ago, before I had to find out all these things for myself. Often painfully! Andy mentioned a podcast about ski sock design. Do you have a link to this?
I paid online to rent a top end snowboard, because carriage was too expensive. Worst experience ever. They didn't have what I paid for, when I got there and they gave me what turned out to be a woman's board. Luckily I took my own boots with me and also managed to swap the board, once I went back to the hire show and showed the guy the review on Google
Snowboard equipment rental is utterly garbage in my opinion. The boots and strap bindings just don't hold up to misuse in the same way as ski boots and they never carry a decent range of boards.
