Ski hire prices are the cost of renting ski equipment (skis or a snowboard, usually with boots and poles) for a set number of days from a rental shop in or near a ski resort. They vary more than most people expect: the same intermediate package that costs €80 for a week in France costs €189 in Switzerland.
Most price guides quote a shop’s list price. We wanted to show what people actually pay. So we looked at nearly 18,000 single-person rentals booked on alpy.com last season and took the median price for each package. The median is the middle value: half of customers paid less, half paid more.
Below you’ll find what ski hire costs per day and per week in Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany, how much more the better skis cost, what snowboard hire costs, and the extras that quietly add up at the rental counter.
How much does ski hire cost per day and per week?
For intermediate skis and boots (our Red/Silver category), our customers paid a median of €19–56 for one day and €80–189 for six days last season, depending on the country.
| Country | 1 day | 6 days | Per day on a 6-day rental |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | €19 | €80 | €13 |
| Germany | €24 | not enough data | – |
| Italy | €27 | €129 | €22 |
| Austria | €30 | €133 | €22 |
| Switzerland | €56 | €189 | €32 |
Median price paid per person on alpy.com last season. Intermediate (Red/Silver) skis with boots, including the booking service fee, excluding optional protection and helmets.
The biggest lesson in that table is the last column. A week costs far less than six single days. In Austria, six separate one-day rentals would add up to around €180, while a six-day package costs €133, about 26% less per day. In France the saving is 30%, in Italy 20%, and in Switzerland a remarkable 44%.
Alpy Tip: Even if you’re not sure you’ll ski every day, a six-day package usually costs less than four or five separate day rentals. Book the full stay and keep the flexibility.
How much more do better skis cost?
Rental skis come in grades, from soft, forgiving beginner skis to stiff, fast performance models. We sort them into Blue/Bronze (beginner), Red/Silver (intermediate), Black/Gold (good skier) and Platinum (excellent skier). If you’re not sure which one you are, our guide to what each ski rental grade really means explains it in plain terms.
Here’s what each grade cost for six days with boots in the two countries where we have the most bookings:
| Rental grade | Best for | Austria, 6 days | France, 6 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue/Bronze | Beginners, green and easy blue runs | €108 | €71 |
| Red/Silver | Intermediates on blues and reds | €133 | €80 |
| Black/Gold | Confident skiers on reds and blacks | €154 | €88 |
| Platinum | Fast, technical skiers | €170 | €104 |
Median price paid per person last season, skis with boots, same basis as the table above.
In Austria, going from beginner to top-grade skis adds about €62 for the week. In Italy, Black/Gold skis with boots cost €151 for six days, very close to Austria. The jump in each step is usually smaller than people fear, so it’s worth renting the grade that matches how you actually ski on the slopes. Skis that are too soft feel nervous at speed, and skis that are too stiff make every turn hard work.
How much does snowboard hire cost?
Snowboard hire costs almost exactly the same as ski rental. A mid-range snowboard with boots cost a median of €140 for six days in Austria and €82 in France last season, compared with €133 and €80 for intermediate skis. For a single day, a board and boots cost €33 in Austria and €19 in France.
So if you’re torn between skiing and snowboarding, price isn’t the deciding factor. How quickly you want to progress, and which one your group is doing, matter far more.
What else adds to the price of ski hire?
The package price is only part of the bill. Poles are normally included with skis at no extra cost, but these are the extras that most often change the total, with real figures from last season’s bookings:
- Boots. For six days of intermediate skis, boots added about €25 in France, €37 in Italy, €52 in Austria and €60 in Switzerland.
- A helmet. It’s the most important piece of safety kit on the slopes. Adding a helmet to a six-day ski and boot package cost €15 more in France, €18 in Austria and €21 in Italy.
- ALPINGUARANTY (breakage and theft waiver): 15% of the rental price. On a €133 week in Austria, that’s about €20. It covers skis, boards, boots, helmets and poles.
- ALPINSAFETY (personal injury and rescue cover): €1.35 per person per day, so €8.10 for a six-day trip.
- ALPINFLEXI (cancellation protection): 5% of the rental price. Every booking already includes free cancellation until the day before, so ALPINFLEXI matters most if plans might change at the last minute.
Whether the protection products are worth it depends on your trip. If you’re renting top-grade skis or travelling with kids who are hard on their gear, ALPINGUARANTY is the one we’d look at first.
Alpy Tip: Skip buying a helmet for a single ski week. You can add a properly fitted, certified helmet to your rental at most shops on alpy.com, and ALPINGUARANTY covers it too.
Why is ski hire cheaper in France than in Switzerland?
In our data, an intermediate ski and boot package for six days cost 40% less in France than in Austria, and less than half the Swiss price. A few things drive the gap.
The biggest factor is how much shops discount for booking online. Last season, the median discount off the in-store price was 41% in France, against 20% in Austria, 15% in Switzerland and 12% in Italy. French ski resorts are often large, purpose-built villages where many rental shops compete for the same skiers, and online prices reflect that. Switzerland is also more expensive across the board, with lift passes, food and accommodation priced higher too. Austria and Italy land in the middle, with very similar prices for the same grade of ski.
That doesn’t mean you should pick a country by ski hire alone. For most families, rental is a smaller cost than accommodation or lift passes. Our complete ski holiday budget guide shows how the whole trip adds up.
How can you pay less for ski hire?
Four things made the biggest difference to what our customers paid for renting ski equipment last season:
- Rent for the whole stay, not day by day. A six-day package cost 20–44% less per day than single-day rentals, depending on the country.
- Book in advance. The median discount off the shop’s in-store price was 26% for bookings made within two days of arrival, 30% for bookings two to four weeks ahead, and 32% for bookings 30 days or more ahead. Half of the customers who rented intermediate skis for a week booked nine days or less before arriving, so there’s an easy win here.
- Pick the right grade. Beginner skis cost about €25 less per week than intermediate skis in Austria. Don’t overpay for skis you can’t use, but don’t go too soft either.
- Look for free child offers. Many shops let a child ski free with a paying adult. When we last checked Sölden, 9 of the 12 partner shops listed there offered one free child package (up to age 10) with each paying adult.
Alpy Tip: Families save the most by combining a full-week booking with a shop that offers free child rental. Check the shop benefits listed under each shop when you compare.
How we calculated these prices
We used alpy.com booking data from last season. We included only confirmed bookings for one person and one ski or snowboard package, so group discounts and family bundles don’t distort the figures. Helmets and extras such as model changes are excluded unless stated. We only report a price where we had at least 40 bookings for that combination. Prices for the 2026/27 season will vary by shop, dates and resort.
FAQ
How much does it cost to hire skis for a week?
Intermediate skis and boots for six days cost a median of €80 in France, €129 in Italy, €133 in Austria and €189 in Switzerland, based on alpy.com bookings last season. Beginner skis cost less, and Platinum performance skis cost more, about €170 for six days in Austria.
How much does ski hire cost per day?
A single day of intermediate skis with boots cost a median of €19 in France, €24 in Germany, €27 in Italy, €30 in Austria and €56 in Switzerland last season. Renting for a full week is much cheaper per day, around €13 in France and €22 in Austria.
Is snowboard hire more expensive than ski hire?
No, it costs about the same. A mid-range snowboard with boots cost a median of €140 for six days in Austria and €82 in France last season, compared with €133 and €80 for intermediate skis with boots.
Does booking ski hire early save money?
Yes, a little. Last season the median discount off the in-store price was 26% for bookings made within two days of arrival and 32% for bookings made 30 days or more ahead. Booking early also means a better choice of shops and sizes.
Is ski hire cheaper in France or Austria?
France is cheaper. A six-day intermediate ski and boot package cost a median of €80 in France and €133 in Austria last season, about 40% less. Italy was close to Austria at €129, and Switzerland was the most expensive at €189.
What extras add to the cost of ski hire?
The main extras are boots, a helmet and protection. For six days, a helmet added €15–21 and boots added €25–60, depending on the country. ALPINGUARANTY costs 15% of the rental price, ALPINSAFETY €1.35 per person per day, and ALPINFLEXI 5% of the rental price.
Ski hire doesn’t have to be the expensive surprise at the end of a long travel day into the mountains. The numbers are clear: rent for your whole stay, book a few weeks ahead, choose the grade that matches how you ski, and look for shops that let kids ski free. Do that, and a week of intermediate skis and boots costs well under €150 in Austria and Italy, and around €80 in France. If you want more detail on the timing side, read whether it’s cheaper to pre-book ski hire.
Ready to sort your ski or snowboard hire? Compare partner shops and book your ski or snowboard rental now → Save up to 65% compared to walk-in resort prices, with free cancellation until the day before. Over 12,000 customers have rated alpy.com 4.7 stars on Trustpilot.
