Should I bring my own equipment for skiing vacation Europe? Definitely, bring your own boots. Your own boots conform to your feet and your feet conform to your boots. Skiing in bad fitting boots might ruin your dream vacation. I heard that some people even recommend against checking them in. In case of a delayed luggage, you’ll have your boots and can rent the rest. Also, boots can be easily brought onboard but will take lots of space in your checked in bag.

Whether or not to bring skis is a more difficult question. I’ve been bringing my own skis and I probably won’t do it anymore. It is very easy and cheap to rent latest model skis. When you rent, you’ll get a freshly waxed pair with sharp edges. In case of a low snow cover, you don’t have to worry about making dents or scratches. If conditions change and your rented skis don’t work anymore, you can always trade them for a different model. For instance, during the last trip I brought my all-mountain skis (Volkl AC50) and I ended up scratching them on the first week, so I had to pay for a tune up. After the huge dump, I rented fat skis (Rossignol Soul 7) and stayed on them all week. On top of all of these, Delta charged $100 for an extra ski bag.

Another consideration is how you’ll be getting from the airport to the resort. If you’re renting a car and have more than 2 people in it, definitely don’t bring your own skis/boards. You will end up having to get a larger car, pay extra money and not having enough space in it anyway.

Just a few of stores which rent skis. Some other popular shops are Sport 2000 and Ski-Republic.

This is the walk-in price at Ski-Republic. They have discounts for people staying at the same hotel, people who reserved in advance, 2-for-1 coupons, etc..

Our car was really cramped with all the ski bags.

Another benefit of renting is that there is no extra cost in trying a different sport. (Still need to pay for different boots though).