"Alun Evans" wrote in message
...


On Wed 10 Nov '04 at 21:50 (NIALLBRUCE) wrote:

Any chat on whether the "premium" skis offered by most hire-shops are
worth
the extra? I know that it's not the most urgent topic of discussion but
it
affects everyone. On average, the "premium" skis demand a 40 pound
premium. I've read the sales pitch from the manufacturers and hire
companies
but would be interested to hear about someone's own experience.


So I'm one of the people who still hires skis, and I do go for the
"premium"
option these days, though given the total cost of the week's hire x 2, and
the
reliability factor, it is making me think I may buy my own skis this year.

Unless you ski a minimum of 2-3 weeks a year I can't see the economics in
this - you'd have to keep them for 3 or 4 years at least to make it
worthwhile. I bought a pair some years ago but only used them for 3 years
and frankly it was a waste of money. Nowadays I just rent good skis - you
get the latest models every time and if you don't like them you just go back
& get another pair. You don't have to carry them round airports (or pay
excess baggage charges) and you don't have to pay the annual servicing -
when you add that up over 3 or 4 years it can come to half as much again on
the cost of the skis. You also need a sensible place to store them. Many
people put them in the loft which is a really bad idea - they get much too
hot during the summer, dry out & suffer accordingly.

Skiing on "Planks" won't help you progress - but then again skiing on race
skiis won't help you much either if you arn't good enough to use them. There
are usually 3 or 4 different levels of ski in most hire shops in Europe &
you need to try & find the best level for your ability.

There is just no point in renting poor quality skis - having paid so much to
get to the snow in the first place it seems a false economy. As above,
neither is there much point in renting the highest spec skis if you don't
have the technique. Look at it this way, you are unlikely to be able to
throw a Ferrari into a four wheel drift at 100mph if you only passed your
driving test yesterday!

On a related but different not it is absolutely worth buying your own
boots - even if you ski only once a year.