We are new to skiing, and are really looking forward to a few years in Zug. I cant find details on ski rental and boot rental costs. Should we just bring some new ones in our shipment from the US? Thanks, in advance.

simple answer is yes, they will be way cheaper in the US then from here.

renting at the resort is eye wateringly expensive too

I guess I should have assumed.

Would skiing or snowboarding be more accepted, or are both pretty common now?

both common here

Sport XX, Athleticum and Ochsner Sport all rent skiis and boots. I think to rent for the whole season your looking at about CHF 350 for the skis on average.

About three weeks ago I bought some skis from Ochsner Sport, which were reduced by 50% because they were last seasons model. Might be worth seeing what else they have left over...

Bring your skis with you....bloody expensive here.

For kids that are still growing: Rent
For everything else: Buy in the States

I went to rent ski's last year and eneded up buying a cracking pair of last season Salomon X-wings with bindings for 279chf. That was 70% off and they have been brilliant. Went back this year to get mx (sadly now ex) girlfriend a pair and managed to get her a great pair of Head's for 50% off and accidently bought myself another pair for 60% off so now have some lovely K2 freestyle ski's too.

Where did i go? Nowhere special, just Athleticum in Dietlikon. Staff are pretty young but also willing to speak English which really helps me.

Now why dont we have places like that in the UK?

I'd suggest if you dont know what you want kit wise to go see their stock, they have pretty much everything and if you dont care if you have the latest edition you'll find a bargain i'm sure. CH isnt as expensive as you think if you shop about a bit and buy smart.

Now all we need is some decent snow....

If you are new to skiing some considerations.

Boots: Adults buy your boots from the start they need to be comfortable, Kids rent as the cost of buying and saving will be lost in needing a replacement pair in a year.

Skis: Adults probably best to rent for first season till you know if you like it and they can be set up correctly for you. Kids rent as above.

Places to rent: Atletikum are pretty decent and if you go for last seasons instead of new the are about 100CHF cheaper. Based on the attached flier a beginner would only need allround skis so you should find something close to 250CHF gets you started however there is insurance to add 10%

http://www.athleticum.ch/fileadmin/d...lflyer_Web.pdf

The various threads in this post are probably all correct in that yes most gear is cheaper in the USA however there are plenty of bargains to be had here if you shop arround and are a little flexible, its not as expensive as some people make out. As an example a few seasons back I purchased a set of Volkl all mountain skis for 450CHF and got the daughter an entry set for 200CHF. You can however easily spend well over 1000CHF if you aren't careful. Other options include crossing into Germany or Austria where things are generally cheaper

For skis, we have found Europe (UK, Germany) cheaper than US. CH might be an exception...

For boots, I would buy locally to where you will ski. Most boots require some tweaks / adjustments to be really comfortable, which is much easier if you can return to the boot shop. (most boot shops will do tweaks on boots they did not sell, but will charge). You can also get boots with a comfort guarantee...again, only useful if you can return to the shop for tweaks / replacement.

There are also some shops that do a hire arrangement for the season where typically new equipment is hired to you and then at the end of the season you can choose to return, continue to hire for next season, buy . I know many people who do this at a shop in Laufen (Basel land www.sportshopkarrer.ch ) and they reckon this is the best way. As a novice adult skier you may opt for a boot that is less performance and more comfort orientated, as you progress in skiing you may choose stiffer or closer fitting boots. By doing the season rental you are not tied in to having bought boots that you may out-perform after 2 seasons but you also benefit from fitting guarantees and beign able to change boots.

In Zurich, I believe this store near Hubertus tramstop will rent skis and snowboards for the season: www.skirental-zueri.ch There are probably other shops that have this arrangement too.