Online ski hire is a new concept to many of us. How can you hire skis online if you need to pick them up in person? But after you've tried it once, you'll never want to go back to the traditional way. Online ski hire lets you beat the queue and pick up your skis in a flash, giving you more time on the slopes. What's not to love?
It's finally time for your ski holidays! After a painless flight and a breeze of a bus transfer, you've arrived in your chosen resort and you're ready to hit the slopes. There's just one thing looming between you and all that fresh powder snow: the queue at the ski rental shop. Your blood pressure mounts as you watch the clock ticking 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30... and suddenly half your ski day is gone. What went wrong?
It's a ski holiday tradition, and we've all been through it at least once. But that doesn't make ski hire any more appealing - some traditions can be done without! Since ski hire shops have understood that there's nothing more frustrating than spending a bluebird day waiting in a stuffy ski hire shop, they're doing their best to make it easier for us. By filling in all your details and selecting your preferred ski/snowboard/boots/helmet models online, you can save yourself (and everybody else in the shop) loads of time on the first day of your ski holiday. One company that's leading the way in online ski hire is Skiset.
Skiset shops are popping up all over the Alps in France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy - you might have already noticed one or two in your favourite ski resort. Skiset makes it easy to pre-book your rental gear so all you have to do is pick it up when you get to the station. Just fill in your dates and your preferred Skiset location, enter a couple of details about your skiing level and your body type, create an account and you're ready to go. You can also choose to get the optional breakage/theft guarantee to protect yourself against accidents. And most of the time, you'll even get a small discount off your ski hire!
Renting equipment can be convenient and it's a wonderful way to try out different ski or snowboard models, but for some of us, there's just something really reassuring about having our own ski boots. No fitting nightmares, no hold-ups at the ski rental shop, no agonising pressure points that you only notice when you're already halfway up the lift... If you've already got all your own gear and you don't mind lugging it halfway across the continent for your ski holiday, then all this talk about ski hire might be a moot point for you. That being said, absolutely check out our article on the best airlines for flying with ski equipment to avoid the nasty checked luggage fees that can accompany skis and snowboards.
Born and raised in the ski paradise of Vancouver, Canada, I learned to ski before I can remember, balancing precariously on my parents’ skis as they sailed down the hill. I started snowboarding in my teens and am now delighted to be exploring everything Europe’s ski scene has to offer!
