If you’re considering getting your kids skiing this winter, now’s the time to look for seasonal rentals. We seized the day off from school last week to go to Goldstock’s to get ours. Update: I forgot to link before, but Sandra at Albany Kid wrote a review of Goldstock’s last year.
Last year we went, gosh, in late October or early November, and they were almost out of equipment. This year we were early, which meant we got skis that also happened to be pretty.
The girls were thrilled.
Most seasonal rentals run about $99 to $110, which is a far better deal than renting by the day, with tends to be about $30. Most places will provide bigger sizes for growing kids or make binding adjustments as kids improve. But most of all, having the equipment already just makes you so much more likely to ski more, because it’s less hassle and less money each and every time. Here are a few places in the area that sell skis, and most do rentals as well:
- Alpine Sport Shop in Saratoga Springs
- Goldstock’s in Scotia
- High Adventure in Latham
- Plaine and Son in Schenectady & Albany
- Steiner’s in Hudson, Valatie, & Glenmont
You can also always try for something used at Play it Again Sports in Latham, but that’s sort of like a treasure hunt.
And then, if you go for the seasonal ski rental and you’ve got beginning skiers, you should think about getting season passes at Maple Ski Ridge. They have regular season passes and special passes that let you choose a single day during midweek to visit. I reviewed Maple Ski Ridge last year, and it’s a convenient spot with great trails for beginners. Halfway through last winter, Cute W and I both wished that we’d just bought season passes. The girls improved so much, though, that I think we’ll be exploring some new spots this year. In any case, most resorts have discounts for season passes if you purchase early, so if you want to look into it, here’s last year’s post on skiing day trips.
