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.

When you get ready to sign the contract for your equipment, they will offer you insurance on the equipment. 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.

Tags : Renting, Skiing Equipment, Snowboarding

The word Alaska brings to mind a sense of vastness and sheer open spaces, while being recognizing as a natural source of awe and mystery.
Many people believe that Alaska has some of the best skiing anywhere in the world. The Alyeska Resort is located in Girdwood, Alaska, approximately 50 miles from the city of Anchorage. With a top elevation of 2751 feet and a vertical drop of 2501 feet, the ski area enjoys an average of 631 inches of snow every year.

Although Alaska boasts some of the best skiing in the world, you won’t find the slopes particularly crowded and there are no long lift lines. There are nine lifts, including six chair lifts and two surface lifts and one cable car line. There are 68 trails. Mount Alyeska is a fairly challenging mountain, and has a much higher percentage of advanced and expert runs, compared to most other mountain resorts in North America. It has a small section for the novice, but the rest of the mountain is almost entirely for the intermediate and the advanced skiers.

The season begins at the Alyeska Resort in mid-November and runs through mid-April. This area of Alaska boasts the longest daytime areas in the United States, with approximately sixteen hours of daylight each day during April. During December, however, there are only about seven hours of daylight – which will be broadly in line with European resorts.

If tubing interests you, then visiting the Glacier Tubing Park is an absolute must! Featuring two lanes of terrain and a surface lift, everyone in the family will enjoy spending time at the tubing park. The Alyeska Terrain Park is a must for snowboarding enthusiasts. Other winter activities that can be enjoyed in and around the Alyeska Resort include flight seeing, heli-skiing, ocean cruising tours, dog sledding, ice climbing, back country skiing, mountaineering, and polar bear viewing.

Tags : Alaska, Experience, Ski Vacation