Rent or buy skis? A comparison for families and occasional skiers

There is no single right answer to this question, and we won't claim that renting always works out better. For some people renting makes sense, for others owning skis, and many families land somewhere in between. See where you fit.

When renting makes sense

Renting is a sensible choice mainly in these situations:

• You only ski a few days each winter, for example one week in the mountains or a few weekends.
• You are a beginner. You don't know yet which skis suit you, and your skiing style usually keeps developing during the first seasons.
• You have growing children, who have often outgrown their skis and boots by the next winter.
• You have nowhere to store skis at home or no way to carry them, for example when you travel to the mountains without a car.
• You want to find out what suits you first and only then spend money on your own gear.

Another advantage is that you don't have to look after rental equipment. Here at the rental shop we check, sharpen and wax every item after it comes back. We choose the ski length according to your height, weight and experience, and we adjust the bindings for you. For children, we just need to know their age, height and shoe size.

When your own skis pay off

To put it plainly: if you ski a lot, having your own equipment often makes sense. Typically if you:

• ski many days every winter, say almost every free weekend,
• have a settled skiing style and know which skis and which length you want,
• have somewhere to store your skis and a way to transport them,
• want to ski on the same skis all the time, ones you have got used to.

Owning skis also means maintenance, binding adjustment and storage space. Below we go through what to expect. If you decide to buy, we will be glad to look after your skis in our service workshop. The work is done by Jiří Honců: he sharpens edges by hand, cleans the base, waxes, polishes and adjusts bindings.

Ski and snowboard service in Vrchlabí

Middle ground: your own boots, rented skis

Between renting and buying a full set there is a practical middle way: buy only ski boots and rent the skis. Boots are the most personal part of your gear. Every foot is different, and a boot that pinches, or one your foot slides around in, can spoil a whole day on the slopes.

Boots also fit in a bag, while skis take up space in the car and at home. With us you can rent just the skis to go with your own boots, and it costs less than a full set. Bring your boots along so we can set the bindings to them.

Season-long rental: a whole winter without buying

Another option is to rent equipment for the whole season. You keep it at home all winter, ski whenever you like and return it after the season. You don't have to buy it, sell it or work out where to keep it over the summer.

This is especially handy for children. Your child gets equipment that fits now, and next winter you can rent a bigger size. That way you avoid buying things for them to grow into. If you do buy boots for children, the usual advice is at most one size bigger. In boots that are much too big, a child finds it harder to learn the correct stance on skis.

We rent downhill skis, snowboards and cross-country skis for the whole season. You will find the prices in our price list.

What people forget about owning skis

The shop price is not the only cost. If you own skis, you look after them yourself, and it pays to factor that in from the start.

Servicing

The bare minimum is a wax before the season and a storage wax for the summer. A sensible approach is a full service once a year and minor maintenance during the season. Exactly how often depends on how many days you ski and on what kind of snow. Every service removes a little material, though, so more is not always better.

Binding adjustment

Binding settings depend on weight, height, age, skier type and the sole length of the boot. It is recommended to have them checked and adjusted by a professional before every season. Keep this in mind also when you buy new boots or take over skis from someone else.

Storage and transport

Skis need space at home and on the road: a dry cellar or storeroom, and in the car a roof box, a ski rack or enough luggage space. Dry them after skiing, otherwise the edges can rust. Over the summer they belong in a dry place with storage wax on the base.

Rent or buy skis: work it out yourself

General tables won't tell you much. You will get a clearer answer from your own numbers:

• Estimate how many days you realistically ski each winter. Not how many you would like to, but how many you actually skied in recent seasons.
• Check the price list to see what renting for that many days costs and what a season-long rental costs.
• Find out the price of the skis with bindings, boots and poles you would buy.
• Add servicing for each season to the purchase and consider how many winters you will really use the gear. With growing children this is usually a shorter time than with adults.
• Don't forget the things that are harder to measure in money either: space at home, transport and time for maintenance.

Open the rental and service price list