Tips for renting gear

So, you’re planning a skiing or snowboarding trip. You have your travel and lodging plans all set up, but have you gotten your equipment yet? While buying your own equipment may be more convenient, it’s also a lot more expensive. If you have never been skiing before, you may want to consider renting in case you find you don’t like it. You can always buy equipment the next time you go. Renting also makes it affordable for people who can’t spend hundreds of dollars to buy equipment. Plus, you won’t have to lug all the extra baggage on the plane or in the car. If you have children, you know how quickly kids can grow out of their clothes. When you rent, you don’t have to buy your kids new equipment every year or two when they grow out of the old stuff.

Once you’ve decided to rent equipment, you should make sure to reserve it well before you take your trip. This is especially important if you’re going during peak season. If you wait until you get there, you may have to do a lot of searching to find appropriate sizes and equipment. You definitely want to make reservations if you’re renting snowboarding equipment. Snowboarding has greatly increased in popularity and many stores haven’t caught up with demand.

You will probably have a choice of renting equipment at the mountain, or from other stores in the area. At certain resorts where there’s not much of a town you should probably rent at the mountain. At other resorts, you may have many other rental options. The benefit of renting elsewhere is that you’ll probably get a better price. If you’re only renting for one day, the mountain will probably be more convenient because you won’t have to carry equipment as far.

If you decide to rent at the mountain, you should arrive an hour before you plan to ski or snowboard. This will give you time to get your equipment and get fitted. If you rent elsewhere, it’s best to get the equipment the day before you go out. This way, you’ll be able to find other accommodations if they do not have the appropriate equipment. When you get there, you should be ready ahead of time with everyone’s shoe sizes, heights, and weights. While some people may want to fudge on their weight, you should be honest. The type of equipment you need depends on your weight. If you give the wrong weight, you may be risking your own safety. If you have a very large shoe size, you should make sure the shop you rent from has the right size boots. If not, you should buy equipment online before you show up. You should ask the shop before you do this; you may be able to buy boots that fit their equipment.

When you get ready to sign the contract for your equipment, they will offer you insurance on the equipment. SAY YES! While your chance damaging the equipment is probably fairly low, it’s still a great idea. Cost for insurance is generally about a dollar a day. That’s 3 or 4 dollars per trip. Compare this to the hundreds of dollars you could pay to fix damage to skis or a snowboard. And that’s nothing compared to the cost if you completely ruin the equipment. You should also remember that it doesn’t take that much to damage equipment. A mountain is covered in snow when you ski on it, but under that snow are rocks and branches. If the snow cover is thin on a mountain, you risk hitting these objects and you generally can’t see them to avoid them.

Hopefully these tips will help you get the right equipment and get you to the mountain. Have a great trip!

An introduction to snowboarding

Do you love winter? Or, more importantly, do you love spending time in the cold winter weather? If so, and you are looking for a great new activity to try this winter, consider snowboarding.

For many people, the idea of snowboarding sounds dangerous, like it was only for crazy teenage boys. The idea of skiing down a large hill or mountain sounds scary enough and the idea of doing it with a snowboard sounds too hard to be tried. If these are your thoughts, you should think again. Whether you have been skiing for years or if you have never made it down a winter mountain, snowboarding can be a great way to spend winter days.

If you have been a skier and are thinking of branching out into the world of snowboarding, congratulations. The best advice I can give you is to be patient. Because snowboarding is similar to skiing and yet very different, some people who ski well will find that snowboarding comes naturally and quickly while others will find the learning process grueling and frustrating. Stick with it because eventually the tricks of snowboarding can come to almost anyone.

If you have never been a skier, have no fear. Having a skiing background is not always necessary or even beneficial in learning snowboarding skills. You, a non-ski expert, may actually pick up the techniques of snowboarding much easier than your skier friends. After some time you may find that snowboarding fits you like a glove.

Allow me to offer a couple of words of advice to anyone, ski expert or not, that desires to enter the world of snowboarding. First, do not expect to jump on a board and pick up the skill all on your own. Most people will benefit greatly from taking snowboarding lessons at least to learn the basics of the sport. So do not hesitate to sign yourself up for a lesson or two before you head out to the slopes.

A second and perhaps more important piece of advice is simple: rent. Resist that temptation to run out and buy the latest board and snowboarding gear just to look like a seasoned pro on the slopes. On your first few times out you should rent equipment and take the time to learn what kinds of boards best meet your needs. By renting you can avoid making a costly mistake that will leave you frustrated later.

So, whether you have been skiing for years or not, when winter comes around again make the choice to learn a new skill. Who knows, snowboarding could fast become your favorite source of winter fun.