Should I Buy My Own Ski Boots?

It depends, if you are someone going skiing for the first time, then no, you should rent boots from a ski location in the resort. If you have been skiing and decided it is something you want to carry on doing then, yes, you should buy your own pair of boots.

What are the benefits of owning my own pair of boots?

Buying your own pair of ski boots will fit you better, be more comfortable and help you improve your ability faster. Many beginners don’t realise that ski boots can be comfortable! Poorly fitted boots will be uncomfortable, can bruise, cause cold feet and ruin a trip. Yes, you can pop back to the shop the next day and change them for another pair, but if your feet are already bruised they can be painful for the rest of the week no matter what next pair of boots you choose.

Secondly rental boots are just that, designed for rental. They are cut back versions of what you can buy as a customer. They are designed to be worn my hundreds of different people over the season. To that end they are generally higher volume and wide boots designed to fit a myriad of foot shapes within one length. The padding in the boots is likely to be already compressed due to the amount of use they have received making them cold and hard. The shops don’t have time to be measuring foot width and volume when they have hundreds of customers turning up on a Saturday afternoon to hire boots for the week, so they are sold on shoe size and then a one size fits all strategy.

Conclusion

Yes it is a good idea to buy your own ski boots as soon as you decide that skiing is for you. They aren’t difficult to carry on planes, can fit in normal luggage and you can store things inside them which you might want to protect during the flight.