Renting ski gear and clothing lets you pack light and travel smoothly.
Photo credit: Shannon Entin
When it comes to a ski vacation, packing light can seem nearly impossible. Even if you rent skis/boards and boots at your destination, ski jackets, pants, helmets, and goggles for the family can fill up an entire suitcase with their bulkiness. Renting ski gear and clothing is a smart way to travel light.
I pride myself on packing light. My family of four spent six days in Orlando and I packed just one carry-on suitcase and three backpack-type bags. But for our road trip to ski in Lake Tahoe, Calif., our car was filled to overflowing. Packing that much stuff into the car was dangerous, as it impeded our rear view.
A packed-to-the-brim car can impede the driver’s view and cause safety issues.
Photo credit: Shannon Entin
During our visit to Lake Tahoe, I realized that rental shops offer the option to rent jackets, snow pants, goggles, gloves and helmets. This isn’t common on the East coast (though not unheard of), so I was intrigued. I talked with Lindsay Thayer of Tahoe Dave’s Skis & Boards, who offered this list of reasons why renting clothing is a wise idea for vacationers:
- If you only ski/snowboard once a year and are from somewhere warm where you don’t need cold weather gear, it’s cheaper than buying and less of a hassle to travel without it.
- It’s your first time skiing and you don’t own any gear yet.
- Your child is growing and you’re not ready to invest in gear they’ll just grow out of.
- You forgot an item and instead of investing in new, you can simply rent.
- The airline lost your luggage and you need something to get you through until your gear arrives.
A good ski shop offers much more than ski, board, and boot rentals.
Photo credit: Shannon Entin
There are other occasions when renting cold-weather gear can be really useful. Maybe you don’t ski, but you want to go snowmobiling, or showshoeing, for a couple of hours or the kids want to sled or play in the snow. Is it really worth it to pack snow clothing if you’ll only want to use it for a few hours? Renting is the way to go.
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According to Lindsay, all the jackets and pants at Tahoe Dave’s are high-quality and have Gortex, making them much more waterproof than those jeans! Upon return, every item gets washed thoroughly with Nikwax Techwash, which maintains the waterproofing.
Next time you’re headed to a cold-weather location for vacation, whether it’s skiing, snowmobiling, or just enjoying the mountain scenery, find out what’s available for rent. It could save you time, money, and lots of packing hassles.
Hi, The other thing we did once my kids owned equipment, was to ship the equipment, helmets, various other cold weather gear to the destination, and have a return UPS label and packing tape w/ me in my carry-on. Then, all ready to ship in same box back home. So easy w/ some advance planning, and then just carry-ons for all, and no waiting at baggage carousel for the large items.
Hi Shannon,
This is a great suggestion, even if you don’t have kids! I find my car trips and getting squishier and squishier with everyone’s gear. Helmets especially take up a lot of room. Thanks!
Thanks for this great post! I actually also built a buy vs. rent calculator to help folks understand the financial worth of buying: http://www.lastmingear.com/protips/buy_vs_rent.
If you’re departing from San Francisco area, you can also rent from http://www.lastmingear.com. The good thing about Last Minute Gear is that you can rent up to 1 hour before your departure, so… good for last minute needs! Also that way you avoid the issue of getting to Tahoe, and finding out one of the few stores that do clothing rentals have run out =)