Buy or rent equipment?

[Factskier]

Hey guys,

I am a skier from Europe, from London to be exact and I have been skiing for quite some time now. Since I always ski in the winter and in different locations (Italy, France, Austria or Germany) I always rent my equipment. For some time now, I have been thinking about the possibility of buying my own equipment and start owning my own stuff. There are various possibilities, as I know you can buy equipment in some shops after you rent it (at least in some places), or you can buy it from some sites or even new equipment. But I always had my doubts, as if I should do it or not (I usually go skiing in the winter season for 1 week only).
There is another variable, as I might move to Munich (Germany) in the new future for a job, and here I would be much closer to the mountains... Would you recommend in this situation to buy the equipment?

By equipment, I mean: skis, poles and boots.

Kind regards

 

[Philpug]

If you are going to buy, start with boots. @cem is a bootfitter in your country and I would start with him. Boots are the most imprortant piece of gear and actaully pretty easy to travel with and a properly fit boot is the foundation of a great skiing experience. With the rental options of gear, I wouldn't say you need to buy skis until you start skiing more than 10-12 days a season.

 

[François Pugh]

What @Philpug said. Buy your boots. For one week per year you're better off renting skis. Well fitting, well set-up boots are need though.

 

[Jilly]

Boots...marry your boots, date your skis!!

 

[ARL67]

There is a UK Ski forum called Snow-Heads. It is not up to the PugSki standards of look & feel, but it has been around a long time and active membership.

Ski Club 2.0 , snowHeads ski forum

snowheads.com

For service, though in the UK but not exactly close to you, is The Piste Office

The Piste Office - Welcome

Quality Ski Equipment and Services

www.thepisteoffice.com

Check in at SnowHeads for other local recommendations.

Definitely get fitted for and buy proper boots. No point ever renting ill-fitting boots.

Travelling/Flying with skis is a nuisance. Fortunately Europe is very well setup for rentals with quality offerings, at least from what I have seen in Austria, Germany, and Zermatt.

If you are moving to Munich, then definitely consider buying skis as you will have a variety of great skiing that is within an easy drive or train ride.

For shops in Germany, I like Sport Conrad as they have a large selection and good sales when the season ends.

Your Online Shop for Ski, Touring & Outdoor Equipment | Sport Conrad

Sport Conrad Online Shop. Find the perfect ski, touring and outdoor equipment for your next adventure. ✓ Order safe and easy now ✓ Fast delivery

www.sport-conrad.com

In downtown Munich is Sport Schuster, which is quite the mega sports store and lots of ski and softgoods

https://www.sport-schuster.de/

For more freeride specific, there is a smaller shop in Munich called Blacksheep Sports

blacksheepsports | Freeride-Ski Shop

Freeride-Ski Online Shop - versandkostenfrei online und lokal im Skishop kaufen. Jetzt Freeride-Ski und Skibekleidung online kaufen

blacksheepsports.de

 

[Factskier]

There is a UK Ski forum called Snow-Heads. It is not up to the PugSki standards of look & feel, but it has been around a long time and active membership.

Ski Club 2.0 , snowHeads ski forum

snowheads.com

For service, though in the UK but not exactly close to you, is The Piste Office

The Piste Office - Welcome

Quality Ski Equipment and Services

www.thepisteoffice.com

Check in at SnowHeads for other local recommendations.

Definitely get fitted for and buy proper boots. No point ever renting ill-fitting boots.

Travelling/Flying with skis is a nuisance. Fortunately Europe is very well setup for rentals with quality offerings, at least from what I have seen in Austria, Germany, and Zermatt.

If you are moving to Munich, then definitely consider buying skis as you will have a variety of great skiing that is within an easy drive or train ride.

For shops in Germany, I like Sport Conrad as they have a large selection and good sales when the season ends.

Your Online Shop for Ski, Touring & Outdoor Equipment | Sport Conrad

Sport Conrad Online Shop. Find the perfect ski, touring and outdoor equipment for your next adventure. ✓ Order safe and easy now ✓ Fast delivery

www.sport-conrad.com

In downtown Munich is Sport Schuster, which is quite the mega sports store and lots of ski and softgoods

https://www.sport-schuster.de/

For more freeride specific, there is a smaller shop in Munich called Blacksheep Sports

blacksheepsports | Freeride-Ski Shop

Freeride-Ski Online Shop - versandkostenfrei online und lokal im Skishop kaufen. Jetzt Freeride-Ski und Skibekleidung online kaufen

blacksheepsports.de

Thank you for the advice. One question regarding the boots (as it seems the first thing you should buy). Would you recommend renting boots at some rental shop and then buy them directly there if they fit and I like them? I know there are some shops that allow this and have been researching those sites to know if they are any good. And if I rent them and buy them afterwards, at least I have tried them on wile using them...

 

[Uncle-A]

Thank you for the advice. One question regarding the boots (as it seems the first thing you should buy). Would you recommend renting boots at some rental shop and then buy them directly there if they fit and I like them? I know there are some shops that allow this and have been researching those sites to know if they are any good. And if I rent them and buy them afterwards, at least I have tried them on wile using them...

I wouldn't buy a rental boot for the first pair of boots. Your own first pair of boots should take you to the next level of performance. Get them from a good boot fitter as already said and from a reputable dear. Your rentals are probably too big for you anyway, read some of the boot threads here and learn what you can so you don't go shopping without having some idea of what you need.

 

[rocdoc]

Don’t rent boots, and don’t buy rental boots. You need your own, properly fitted, and don’t try to save money on them.
then you can explore, rent, demo, whatever, for the rest of your equipment, mainly skis. And on this, you can bargain shop all you want. But not for the boots. Future you will thank you.

 

[Seldomski]

@Factskier -- proper fitted boots are basically a prosthetic that adapts a ski to your leg. The more you know before you buy boots, the better off you will be. There is a lot of good info on this forum about the bootfitting process.

Quick and Dirty "101 Level" Boot Selection Guide

As always, our first recommendation is to go to a reputable bootfitter and get a proper fit. This is the best way to ensure that you'll be set up for success. However, we realize that some skiers don't live near a good fitter or do have a budget that requires them to shop at a ski swap. We...

www.pugski.com

The most important thing is to do a 'shell fit.' This involves putting on the boot with the liner removed. There should be ~1 finger gap between your heel and the back of the boot when your toes are touching the front. If the boot fitter does not do this during the fitting process, you need to find another boot fitter. Essentially you want a shell that is as close to your foot as possible with the liner removed. It may even be touching in several spots. The boot fitter can go in and push the shell out where the shell touches bones in your feet.

There is a lot of other nuance in the process I am not qualified to explain properly....

In general, most people buying boots the first time buy too big. A proper fitted boot will be very loosely buckled and still very tight the first several days. Eventually, the foam in the liner will compress (called "packing out") and you will be able to tighten the buckles a little more.

 

[Mike Rogers]

I feel like if you are plan on taking on skiing as a hobby, and skiing a few days each year, you really should buy boots.

Personally, I will only add a new ski to my quiver if I am confident that it will see at least 10 days on snow each year. I expect use a ski 100 to 200 days, and I really don't want to be on the same ski 10-20 years from now.

Nothing scientific about my approach, but if I only skied 5 days a year, I would probably rent skis.

You want personal boots though.

 

[jseeski]

Thank you for the advice. One question regarding the boots (as it seems the first thing you should buy). Would you recommend renting boots at some rental shop and then buy them directly there if they fit and I like them? I know there are some shops that allow this and have been researching those sites to know if they are any good. And if I rent them and buy them afterwards, at least I have tried them on wile using them...

Rental shops are rarely, if ever, equipped to fit boots correctly. Fitting a ski boot well is much more than just getting the correct length. As mentioned in a previous post, a shell fit is essential, but a good fitter will consider additional factors beyond just getting one finger between the heel and the shell with your toes touching the front. Among these are the height of the instep, the size and shape of the cuff when buckled, the width of the last, etc. If you start with a shell that has at least some resemblance to the shape of your foot and lower leg, it is much easier to get an effective fit.

It is my opinion (others are free to disagree) that it is difficult to obtain a correct fit without a footbed built for you and you alone. In North America, this might be done by a trained pedorthist. Factory insoles are generally worthless, and prepackaged footbeds are not much better. Without the support provided by a correct footbed, your foot will get both longer and wider when you put weight on it. This may cause you to choose a boot that is too large, and yet ends up hurting anyway because you overbuckle it in an attempt to get your foot to stop moving around inside the boot.

A correctly custom-fitted boot will be very tight initially, and possibly difficult to get on and off, but it will also be a pleasure for years as it transmits your movements accurately to the ski. Spend the time (it may take more than one day of tweaking and tuning) and money and never look back.

 

[TonyPlush]

Hey guys,

I am a skier from Europe, from London to be exact and I have been skiing for quite some time now. Since I always ski in the winter and in different locations (Italy, France, Austria or Germany) I always rent my equipment. For some time now, I have been thinking about the possibility of buying my own equipment and start owning my own stuff. There are various possibilities, as I know you can buy equipment in some shops after you rent it (at least in some places), or you can buy it from some sites or even new equipment. But I always had my doubts, as if I should do it or not (I usually go skiing in the winter season for 1 week only).
There is another variable, as I might move to Munich (Germany) in the new future for a job, and here I would be much closer to the mountains... Would you recommend in this situation to buy the equipment?

By equipment, I mean: skis, poles and boots.

Kind regards

Others on this forum have already chimed in with good info (and are much more knowledgeable than me on the subject of equipment anyway) but I'll contribute my 2 cents, from somebody who was in your spot a few years ago. (I was a 1-2 week a year skier, wondering if it was worth it to get my own stuff.)

A pair of good fitting ski boots is one of the best purchases I've ever made. And the better skier I become, the more I appreciate them. Everything in skiing starts with your feet, and those loose, lousy rental boots are handicapping your ability to ski correctly. When I put on my first good pair of boots, I was absolutely amazed at the difference.

Buying skis was also worth it to me, to a lesser extent. The "marry your boots, date your skis" advance has some truth to it. In deep powder, my all mountain skis aren't the best, and likewise there's times when I'm ripping groomers that I wonder if I should just rent some groomer skis. But I never, ever question my boot purchase.

 

[djetok]

Thank you for the advice. One question regarding the boots (as it seems the first thing you should buy). Would you recommend renting boots at some rental shop and then buy them directly there if they fit and I like them? I know there are some shops that allow this and have been researching those sites to know if they are any good. And if I rent them and buy them afterwards, at least I have tried them on wile using them...

When I purchased my first pair of boots in the early 2000's, I had no idea of how important the boots were. I knew that the rental boots always hurt my feet, so I was out for a deal. I went to sun and ski in tulsa, ok , it was 105 that day. I found a pair of Salomon Performa 8.0 in my size. I put them on and stated they were not super comfortable. The guy said well we have to mold the liner "after the purchase" . I should have stopped right there, but didn't . I thought this is better than the rental boots that are halfway molded to 30 to 50 of the other feet that had been in the rental and the price was right. WRONG, I used those boots with moderate success, but it was not the right boot. Now that we are averaging 22 days a season and I have a proper boot that is comfortable, I am way better off. I can tell a huge difference in my fitter boot from my deal some, between the rental and fitted is a huge difference. There is a expense to it that's for sure.