[Closed] Skiing kit

I think it's been a poor year this year for sales so you should see loads of stuff in the sales soon. I would hire skis, as the learning curve is so fast that the short, soft skis you need to learn on will be too short after about 3 weeks. I would go on a couple of holidays before you commit to buying skis.

TKmax is good for ski clothing. Ebay is good too if you are willing to take a chance on size. Boots are the most important thing as ones that don't fit well are really, really uncomfortable. You might get lucky on ebay otherwise its a trip to a proper ski shop with a wad of cash. I usually recommend renting as you'll need different skis as you progress. If you really think you will use the snow dome frequently then it might be cost effective to buy. You'll want beginners (more flexible, easier to turn) carvers long enough to stand up to your chin height (ish). There are loads of old straight skis going cheap, don't buy these! You want a nice curved edge.

If you've not been before I'd advise booking some lessons for while you're out there.

We went for the first time last year and did just that - did our own lessons in the morning and met up with the others in the afternoon.

It meant I could learn properly with people of similar ability, the experienced people could do harder stuff in the morning and we did easier stuff together in the afternoon.

My skiing came on leaps and bounds with the lessons then practising it with the faster skiers. I found that having a MTB background helped a lot on the faster stuff as you're used to being bumped around at speed and on the edge on control. The only odd thing was on skis you lean down hill to keep control and back on a bike.

Enjoy.

I'd also say (after 30 odd years of skiing) that your boots are probably key to enjoying your holiday, if you get an uncomfortable pair from a hire shop it can spoil the rest of the week. Boots are the expensive bit though and range from £100 in the sales to £6-700 for a bling pair. As other people have said your skis will change as you progress however as my folks weren't well off when I learnt I had to make do with what they could buy in the sales or second hand off friends (one who was in the British ski team whose skis were like skiing on iron girders!). You will adapt to the ski, it is just easier to learn on shorter softer skis. Whatever you do, enjoy it, I don't know if I can say this on singletrack but skiing is the best sport ever and the best way to get down a hill! 😀

Ive just been through this. I ended up borrowing clothing and renting kit (which does cost a fortune) as I wasnt sure if I would actually enjoy it. Turns out its ace and I loved it, so will now be looking for some clothing and boots of my own - echo whats said above re boots - get them professionally fitted. I had 4 different hire pairs of boots in 10 days before I found some that I really liked.
I decided on private lessons - rather than ski school, but only took 2 and after that I was away. In total cost me less than ski school and got private tuition.

Loads of good info on this thread about buying clothing and gear

http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=22621

Great idea to get competent first, it will help maximise your enjoyment of the holiday once you get away. Good choice on the skiing too, nothing wrong with boarding in the right conditions but there haven't been many days this year in Europe that would be considered such days 😉

As for buying skis: If you're going to to *loads* of skiing abroad, or ski snowdomes at a reasonable level, then yes, consider your own skis. If you're doing one week or maybe two, and will only be using snowdomes occasionally, the just rent. The surface at the snowdomes is not great and I wouldn't take my skis there personally. I would reconsider that if I ever got into racing, as the skis provided aren't great, but for learning to ski they're fine. Plus, as a beginner, you will improve dramatically over the next season or two and your needs froma ski will change as your skillset changes

I'd normally recommend getting boots fitted by a good bootfitter, but as a beginner I'm not sure that you'd get the benefit - as above, your skillset and thus requirements may well change. Are you near a Decathlon? If so, try them for ski boots. Remember that you need to try the boots in the skiing position, whihc is not bent over at the waist - rather it's like sagging down so your shins press into the tongue of the boots - think of a weight lifter about to go for the lift in the snatch and jerk and your legs should be similar, albeit closer together

I think as a beginner, the bext investment yo ucan make is lessons, you can bumble along and just follow your mates but you will be far smoother and less tired (and thus able to ski more) if you have god technique

ENjoy 🙂

clothes on sale here
http://www.extremepie.com/mens/snowboard-clothing-etc-412

Some nice stuff on that link with the exception of the jacket below, which has to be the moist hideous garment I've ever seen 😯

Definitely try and borrow the clothing if you can so that you know if you are going to like it before you splash out. Your mates will probably have loads of extra gear you can borrow. Also, hire ski's and boots are a much better standard than they used to be and allow you the option of changing/upgrading as the week goes on. Enjoy!

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I agree with Woody, other than on his choice of garment. My garment is moister and more hideous than his one.

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Oh, maybe buy a helmet, cos boarders will slam into you until you can go fast enough - renting a helmet is nasty.

I would buy some gloves, jacket and trousers from Decathlon and/or TK Maxx in the end of season sails. You'll need a hat or helmet (I would suggest the latter) which you can pick up cheaply as well. Use the base layers you have for cycling, you won't need anything ski specific.

I would not buy skis, hiring is a much better option IMO unless you are doing 3+ weeks a year. Boots are worth buying but do cost lots if you have them from a fitter, you can easily budget £350 for these. However, do you want to spend that much on something you may not enjoy? Again, I would hire and make sure you like it before throwing that much money at the problem.

As people said, hire skis out there - pre-booking can bring the cost down but it is probably better to go to a decent shop and let the guy recommend a ski - skis have been developing fast and predicting the right length of ski can be difficult. If you find them a bit cumbersome you can normally change them over easily.

Boots are very important...

Clothing brands that are reasonably priced and good are Columbia and Helly Hansen. Decathlon are French (aren't they?) so they may have something decent as well. TK Maxx don't seem so well stocked with decent stuff anymore.

However you can also use a goretex or similair shell jacket and layer up with a fleece and base layer to save cost. As a beginner you will probably expend a fair amount of energy so will keep warm anyway. A trekking jacket in Yellow/Black or Red/Black won't look out of place on the slopes.

Decent but also dexterous gloves are important.

Lessons over here, even on a dry slope, are worth it as you will develop much faster over there. When I started I had three dry slope lessons, got out there on Saturday and messed around in the afternoon, and then put "competant snow-plougher" on the ESF form and ended up with a load of people on their second year skiing. Much better.

Go to the snow dome for a taster lesson. If you like it then look at buying some new boots as they will make the biggest difference to your holiday. No need to buy skis if you are only going once a year.

Buy gear from TK Maxx or Decathlon type places, dont buy abroad its just as expensive these days. The only real skiing specific bits of kit you will need are goggles. Hats are good too as is suncream in March.

Personally I wouldnt pay the high costs of lessons in the UK.

You will learn much quicker and get much better value for money if you learn whilst your out there. snow slopes ski the same all the time, real snow is different all the time. Lesson also tend to be held in the mornings so you can meet up/ski with mates in the afternoon.

I went skiing for my honeymoon having not skiied before.

I learnt on the local dry slope (7 x 2-3hr sessions) to avoid 'wasting' time at the resort learning. I'm really glad I did it this way.

I then went skiing (Breckenridge) and found real snow much easier than the dryslope. Was doing reds on my first day and did a few blacks after about 8 days.

Kit - hire it in resort - easier for travel and if you look around online there are some great deals.

Ski pass - similar - buy before you go to get the best deals. IIRC worldski.com was where I got it.

Clothing - I got mine from TK Maxx - much cheaper

How much did your 7 2-3 hour lessons cost though?

If you learn on in the resort you should be on to blues and reds within 3 days...unless your a bit soft.

er looking at the site, actually it was only 5 lessons... felt longer 🙂

It costs £100 now

And it meant I was skiing with my wife straight away. worked for me. YMMV but I'd rather arrive at a skiing holiday already able to ski.

the bunk

I bow to your superior taste (or lack of) - I didn't know there was a market for 'cut-n-shut' jackets 8)

Decathlon will soon be (if not is) selling off all their ski kit as knock down prices - most of it is normal brands eg Solomon boots etc. I picked up all my stuff there in a sale and got it all for 1/2 price.

As others have said above, if yuo're going to spend money on anything, make it your boots! I just bought a new pair at the weekend (Salomon Impact 10CS if you're interested) from Slush and Rubble in Kensington. Excellent service all round, and really comfy boots (Have a custom fotobed in there which really tops it off! Tried a couple of different boots before settling on the Impacts, trying to get te best possible fit andthey are just so comfy now that I can't wait to try them out!

After boots, the next thing not to skimp on is gloves. Sounds odd, I know, but if you have cold hands, you'll feel rubbish and really not enjoy the slopes!

As others have said, you can get some pretty decent stuff frmo TK Maxx, my spare pair of ski trousers came from there as did one of my jackets. A lot of the ski shops in London seem to ahve sales on already, so perhaps worth a look in your area as well.

Not sure where in the country you are but if you want some boots I would suggest a trip to see Colin at Solutions4feet in Bicester. He is a podiatrist rather than a shoe salesman and will get you the right boots for your feet rather than the boots that feel nicest in the shop.

Don't expect it to be cheap but IMO it is worth the money.

Don't buy any boots it skies as a complete beginner as you'll have to compromise way too much to make it worthwhile. A soft beginner boot will be great at first but you may well outperform it quickly, a stiffer boot could ruin a lot of the learning experience - making things harder to pick up and possibly just damn painful.

Also, new boots will take at least 15hrs of use (not sitting on the couch) to break in. You DO NOT want to be doing this on holiday!

Tk maxx is a good call for cheap clothing

that's my 2p