Ski and Snowboard – Hire or buy?
A recent look at assorted airlines’ ski baggage costs re-ignited the wider ‘buy your own skis or hire them’ debate. Both options have their pros and cons, some wouldn’t touch hire skis, while others have never owned a pair in their lives. The two sides usually come down to the financial cost/benefits of either buying skis/boards/boots etc outright versus hiring them in-resort.

Okay, so you buy your skis and have them for evermore, not a single penny has to be outlaid again… well apart from:

• Annual base wax/edge sharpen (‘wrong type of snow’).
• Occasional Base repair (‘bloody rocks’).
• Occasional Edge repair (‘damn skier / boarder’).
• Binding replacement/repair (‘blasted idiot rode straight over my skis/board’).

Then there’s all the other issues: threaded screws because you overtightened the bindings, awful graphics from 5 years ago, the camber that is no more, the snappyness that’s now sloppiness… Even missing a season can see the scourge that is rust start to eat into once perfect edges.

However, if you hire your preferred mode of snow sliding transport there are other worries: You’ve no idea what you’re getting, what condition are they in, will the size be right for you, are the models from a by-gone era, how much will the set-up actually cost? Alpine Elements, for one, guarantee that their hand picked hire shops provide the very best quality in the resort.

I must admit that, in the past I have preferred to own my skis, but did look enviously at those who waltzed through the airports unburdened. Also, come the unveiling of ‘next years models’ I also tended to doubt the abilities of my three year old skis, and wince at the lift-queue taunts. Sidecut, camber, nose/tail profiles, binding placement, weight distribution; they all change as styles, techniques and technology change.

A good pair of Advanced Intermediate orientated skis & bindings + the same level boots + poles (£450 + £240 + £30) will set you back just over £700. A pre-booked complete Advanced set-up with Alpine Elements comes in at £114 for 6 days hire. Using advanced mathematics, you could hire the latest skis, boots, bindings and poles for your week’s skiing for six years – and still have change! I’ve not even added in the cost of insurance, or waxing, tuning and repairing, or even the airline’s ski baggage costs.

You can also treat the hiring option as an in-depth test session. Using Alpine Elements Board/Ski and Boot hire option allows you the opportunity to try new boards and boots, and they do have the latest models. If you really get on with a set-up you may consider buying, if not, be happy knowing that you didn’t spend £450 on a dud! Money well spent.