What are the benefits of buying your own skis vs hiring?

We’ll here’s a breakdown of the cost and some reasons to think about.

Firstly, the all-important cost:
Hiring skis, on average for one week across Europe from Intersport (Dec 20 to Feb 21) is going to be approximately £165 - £195, I’ve just checked on their web site. There may be an additional insurance cost normally £20 based on one week. You can get cheaper packager approximately £85 upwards but these are normally aimed at the learner skier or school’s market, they have seen better days.  

Buying skis on average cost £450 to £500 depending on the type and style, I’m only talking about on-piste at the moment. For a good intermediate skier (that’s someone with 3 to 4 weeks ski experience) you might look at something like the Head V4 series (£430) (link) or from Salomon the S Force 9 (£530) (link), take a look after you’ve read this.

When buying skis there’s a few points to consider so I’ll do another blog shortly but for now the basic mistake people make is buying something too good for them, for an intermediate keep to that £450 > £550 price point, that’s at full retail.

Now is a great time to buy skis many shops like ours have some of last season’s stock left here’s a link to our range, SALE SKIS any questions just email us at info@coyoti.com

So buying the skis is the first point, you have some additional cost like getting them to and from resort, this coming season EasyJet charge £45 each way, but this is for a 20kg bag you’ll easily get two pairs of skis and poles in one bag, so share the cost with a friend or partner. If you drive as many people will do this coming season for obvious reasons, (check my previous blog on this) then just put your skis in or on the car and that’s it. Another options, if you book a package holiday many companies will offer you FREE ski transport ask when you book.

Don’t forget the ongoing maintenance cost we charge £20 for a wax and edge, bet to do this every year this does what it says on the tin. Here’s link to our ski and snowboard servicing page if you want to find out more. (link)

Now you have the information lets compare just the cost of hiring ski vs buying, we suggest you keep your skis for a least 5 years or 5 trips if you are lucky enough to be able to go more than once a year, based on this let break it down.

After 5 years you will still have your skis, and if you’ve looked after them they will be worth on average £200 so total cost for 5 years skiing is £605.

Compare this to hiring if we take the average price of hire as £175, that’s £875 minimum but if you have to pay for insurance you might have to add a further £100 to your budget.

In conclusion:
If you buy ski and sell them after 5 years or 5 ski trips you could save yourself £270 to £370. Suddenly buying your own skis doesn’t seem so expensive and is actually quite cost-effective. But it’s not just the money you can save, there are in my opinion bigger things to consider.

Talking to your local independent ski retailer, like us.  Someone who has actually spent time on the ski’s they sell and you buy a pair of skis recommended for you, considering not just your ability but also your personal skiing style, likes and dislikes, you future skiing goals, and something else to consider when you have your own skis you will learn and progress much quicker.

BUT THINK!:  

Safety:
Ski bindings are not just for connecting your ski boots and skis together, they are a very important piece of safety equipment. The bindings will be adjusted correctly and set for you, they should take into consideration your ability, your personal ski boot size, your weight and your age, yes, your age is important. The release values DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung) in English (German Institute for Standardization) is the snow sports standard scale. This setting calculates the factors just mentioned, if set too high your ski won't release when you fall, but set too low and your skis can release while you’re just skiing along. Both should be avoided as can lead to injuries.

In the past few years ski bindings have been re-engineered, they are safer, more reliable and lighter, there is no real way of telling if an old ski binding has been subject to corrosion or excessive wear. If you ski in a group everyone has a storey when a hire ski either came off to easily or didn’t release when it should have.

Something else to think about, how well do the ski technicians in the hire shop check your binding? Can you remember being in the hire shop on the first day of your holiday last season, everyone is rushing around trying to get people on to the mountain as quickly as possible, do they have the time to spend checking and double-checking your ski bindings? Possibly not! We all lead busy live who wants to have an accident on holiday?

They are lighter:
There’s a significant difference in construction, a rental ski is built to take the abuse an average skier will put them thought, we’ve all seen that person ski across a road. In order for rental ski to last for a hole season they are made with durability in mind. Built with thicker base, thicker edges, some skis manufactures add a thicker graphic top sheet to protect them from scratched. All of this is extra weight makes rental skis considerably heavier than ones you might buy, the extra weight means the skis won’t offer the same performance, they won’t flex or respond as well on the slopes, they are harder to carry, this might be a factor especially if you have a large family with kids. Most ladies in our shop love the fact that’s new skis are lighter it gives them more independence.

Easier to control:
In the past few years the average ski size has come down 10cm to 15 cm in length, while the average waist width has increased by 5mm. You still have the same ski’s surface area touching the snow just in a smaller size, this makes them easier to turn while still maintaining their performance.

With improvements in the skis design and construction new skis have a much shorter turn radius or (R) meaning your ski’s take less effort to be placed on their edges, less effort means it’s easier to ski or you can ski for longer if you wis, ski faster if you prefer. The increased waist width combined with an increase in the average tip and tail width means a new skis effective edge or grip has increased quite substantially this translates to a ski that feels more predictable under foot, you feel safer on the hill.

So, considering all the points I’ve raised the cost, the safety, the performance and the ease of use, having your own skis makes sense. Avoided the hire shop on your first morning, you don’t want to be waiting around to be served in the hire shop, and have to rush off the mountain on your last day either to take your hire skis back before the rental shop closes. Instead take your own ski with you, ski early on your first day, go straight onto the slopes, avoid the crush and waiting around in the hire shop, you could have a relaxing breakfast. On your last day ski until the last lift closes, enjoy that last drink in the mountains side bar, simply put you will get more time to enjoy when you own your own skis, now who doesn’t wouldn't want that.