Where to get cheap but decent ski clothing?

notagame

I'm a ski newbie, going to a ski place NJ in January with friends. I have no idea how to ski, and have no ski clothings. Where can I get basic necessary ski cloths without bankrupting myself? I live in NYC, if possible I would like to buy it in a store instead of online so I can try the stuff on.

RUNN1NGMAN

Probably any Sports Authority/Dick's type of place and look for no-name brands. You don't have anything you can improvise with, do you? Warmup pants layered over thermals and any sort of insulated waterproof jacket will do, especially if you're only skiing in NJ. Can't imagine it gets too cold on whatever they call a ski hill.

notagame

I think I have a pair of wool underpants, that might work. But it was from a couple years ago I might not fit in it now.

Pure Din

I assume you are going to Mountain Creek? They have helmet rentals for only $10, do that for sure. For nearly 10 years I begged my parents to wear their helmets, finally a few years ago my mother was skiing on an easy trail, and a snowboarder hit her from behind, gave her a concussion, knocked her glasses off her face, and then ran over her glasses.

Goggles are also very important, because the sun reflects off the white snow in every direction, and will make it hard to see, also you want to protect your eyes. Unless you have a weird shaped face, you can get decent enough goggles from Smith or Bolle or whatever for $10-20 online, stores are usually a lot more expensive. I know you don't want to spend a lot of money, but your head and your eyes you don't want to screw around with.

Skiing in NJ isn't really that cold, but it is wet. Don't want to wear jeans or anything that is cotton or not waterproof on bottom, or you'll be miserable as soon as you sit on a chair lift. The right socks are also important, but you should be able to borrow those from your friends. Maybe you could also find some cheap stuff on craigslist, I recently lost weight and put some of my old ski clothes for sale there. Track pants aren't going to be waterproof enough, trust me I know.

strakha_7

You need the following things without fail:

If you are going for the "i know what the current style is look:"

long johns, top and bottom
thermal socks (if you are snowboarding, hiking socks can cut the mustard)
good insulating layer. NOT COTTON FOR GODS SAKE. Any kind of fleece is best. The colder it is, the more of these layers you need. You don't want to pillsbury boy it though.
weatherproof layer. The perfect one is breathable, especially the coat (thus popularity of goretex coats). For Eastern conditions you want a waterproof one too.

And mitts/gloves. Again, weatherproof. Not the mitts your mom knit for you last christmas if you know what I mean. Goggles and a good warm hat that covers your ears and the back of your neck, and a scarf or neck warmer. Goggles are key as well, you want orange or yellow (uncracked) lenses. there are lots of choices.

Now the downside is that these things are *expensive* if you buy them all new. Value Village and other similar used places have always been a good place to go for these things used I've found. Also your friends probably have some extra of this gear hanging around. community churches and their can also have this stuff, though my experience has been in towns where skiing is a popular activity so there was more of hte stuff in general floating around.

get in contact with ski resorts now - they are usually selling last year's rental equipment (skis, boots, bindings, poles) on the cheap, and it will tend to be exactly what you need. get your friends to help you out with this - you want a bendy, forgiving ski that's not longer than you are tall (I am 6-4 and 190 pounds, expert skiier, my skis are only 178cms long but very stiff, for comparison)

I have been teaching in Canada full time for four years, send me a message if you need help with anything, especially equipment-wise (best thing is to try on boots though).

Boutros

You don't really need full on waterproof gear unless it is raining. Softshell jacket, gloves, and pants are fine for most conditions. Goggles are nice to have but sunglasses work fine too. Don't buy skis, rent. Consider renting telemark gear if they have it. It is slower, harder to learn, and you will fall more often than on alpine gear, but it is more fun. Also the bindings are usually not releasable.

Basar

Do you guys have Tschibo in the US? http://www.tchibo.de

RUNN1NGMAN

Basar wrote: »

Do you guys have Tschibo in the US? http://www.tchibo.de

Haha...this website makes me laugh for some reason. That looks kind of like Target.

life3

Places like Marshall's and TJ Maxx always have good deals on last season's ski gear. You'll get name brands at good prices.

strakha_7

Boutros wrote: »

You don't really need full on waterproof gear unless it is raining. Softshell jacket, gloves, and pants are fine for most conditions. Goggles are nice to have but sunglasses work fine too. Don't buy skis, rent. Consider renting telemark gear if they have it. It is slower, harder to learn, and you will fall more often than on alpine gear, but it is more fun. Also the bindings are usually not releasable.

That's a strong negative point for someone just starting. You want the bindings to release easily. I've never been telemarking though, so maybe there are some DIN settings to play around with. I will say that Telemark is way harder than alpine skiing on the quads, this from friends who do both on a high level. It's also a lot harder to find someone able to teach it.

I say you want waterproof gear because as a rookie you will more than likely end up hugging the snow a couple of times. A softshell if you keep falling and it's anywhere near the freezing point (say -3 or up) will get soaked and you will "have a bad time, ok?" </southpark>

And I still recommend goggles, if it's windy at all you'll be glad you have them. This is one of those things a friend of yours is very likely to have an extra pair of though, so ask them.

notagame

Thanks for the suggestion guys. I'm going to go around the sports stores and see if I can find some end of year deals.

corcorigan

My sister got some once-worn stuff for practically nothing following an ad in a local paper. She also got a whole pile of designer clothing from the same woman, again for practically nothing.

Rich people trying to clear out wardrobe space (especially when they happen to be exactly your size) = good.

Cimmerii

If you are small (or medium) look in the children's department. It's much cheaper, and children seem to be getting bigger every year.

I got an excellent boys winter coat a few years ago for 20$ at the end of the season when a crappy coat in my size (small womens) cost 80$

I also got my aunt and uncle warm fuzzy jackets from the big kids department this year. The XL fit my uncle quite well, and he's a pretty average build.

Gdiguy

strakha_7 wrote: »

Boutros wrote: »

You don't really need full on waterproof gear unless it is raining. Softshell jacket, gloves, and pants are fine for most conditions. Goggles are nice to have but sunglasses work fine too. Don't buy skis, rent. Consider renting telemark gear if they have it. It is slower, harder to learn, and you will fall more often than on alpine gear, but it is more fun. Also the bindings are usually not releasable.

That's a strong negative point for someone just starting. You want the bindings to release easily. I've never been telemarking though, so maybe there are some DIN settings to play around with. I will say that Telemark is way harder than alpine skiing on the quads, this from friends who do both on a high level. It's also a lot harder to find someone able to teach it.

I totally agree with this re: bindings; furthermore, even some of the expert skiiers I know (including an ex-gf's grandmother, who used to teach the olympic ski team in... Switzerland I think?) like to set their bindings on the loose side. Yeah, it might pop off once or twice when you don't want it to, but their view was it's a question of whether you'd rather lose a ski or twist your knee in half.

and yeah, I wouldn't do telemark gear; 'more fun' is very debatable, and as it's much harder to learn there's not really a good reason to do it on your first time out. Just rent a crappy pair of skiis from the slope if you have to, or a ski shop if you can (will usually be significantly cheaper)

I say you want waterproof gear because as a rookie you will more than likely end up hugging the snow a couple of times. A softshell if you keep falling and it's anywhere near the freezing point (say -3 or up) will get soaked and you will "have a bad time, ok?" </southpark>

And I still recommend goggles, if it's windy at all you'll be glad you have them. This is one of those things a friend of yours is very likely to have an extra pair of though, so ask them.

I agree with this too; it depends a bit on where you're going, but especially in NJ (where it's likely to be very near freezing with wet snow), non-waterproof stuff will get very wet. Even if it doesn't freeze up afterwards and become terrible, wet is not what you want to be as a new skiier.

Boutros

Gdiguy wrote: »

and yeah, I wouldn't do telemark gear; 'more fun' is very debatable, and as it's much harder to learn there's not really a good reason to do it on your first time out. Just rent a crappy pair of skiis from the slope if you have to, or a ski shop if you can (will usually be significantly cheaper)

So many lies. It is absolutely more fun, and there is a damn good reason to do it your first time out: you won't build up bad alpine habits that will impair your ability to learn the turn later on. And as a first timer, it's no harder to snowplow on tele bindings. But I'll concede that tele isn't for everyone. People who hate fun, for instance, might not like it.

Sam

if i may cut in here, i am going to crested butte on friday, what should i get, what tips do you have for being on the slopes first time, what should i expect from myself, etc.

Mojo_Jojo

I've not been skiing for about ten years and I'm going to give it another whirl in February. However, I'm having a goggle issue as I now wear glasses. Do any ski goggles fit over glasses or will I have to ski blind?

LavaKnight

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

I've not been skiing for about ten years and I'm going to give it another whirl in February. However, I'm having a goggle issue as I now wear glasses. Do any ski goggles fit over glasses or will I have to ski blind?

Yeah, some do. I usually wear my contacts to make it easier, but if you wore your glasses while trying on pairs of goggles, you should find a pair that fits.

mts

boutros does make a valid point about learning to telemark first but ithink starting off alpine has its merits and can instill edge control among other things.
they do have releasable tele bindings now, most notably the new NTN system or the CRB system. the CRB system is not really like a typical DIN system and only has one way of release, the NTN is better in that regard but its new and is not the same release as an alpine binding.

whether you should go tele or alpine as a beginner is dependent on your general athleticism. if you have good coordination and balance, tele could work.

However its all a moot point really. you are going to a ski resort in NJ, mountain creek probably. the few times i have been there, it seems the last place you might find tele gear to rent. the other point was even if you did find tele gear to rent, you would likely just spend the entire day in a snowplow anyway

in terms of clothing.

find a walmart or similar store and buy some polypro stuff. no cotton. next step. periodically check out tramdock.com
then go to campmor in paramus, nj. that store is great for finding awesome deals or clothes. they sell their mail-order returns for wicked cheap

more than likely the conditions will be dry, icey and windy. i personally hate sking with goggles, usually ski in sunglasses

Shazkar Shadowstorm

just a thing to point out, despite you probably not having the time or desire to buy online... but... I got all my gear from either of these three sites:

http://www.steepandcheap.com/
http://www.whiskeymilitia.com/
http://www.tramdock.com/

Great deals if you are not in a rush and can wait for things to pop up that you like.

notagame

Are all the ski pants sized the same? So if a size S Northface pant is a perfect fit for me, a size S pant from any other companies would be about the same? If so then I can probably try to buy online, if no I will have to physically go to a store to try them on to see if it fits.

Boutros

The various brands generally don't size the same. I wear a medium in Mountain Hardwear and Patagonia, but a large in REI brand and Arc'teryx. But they don't all fit the same, those are just the sizes that seem to fit me best from each line. Most online places will let you send stuff back if it doesn't fit but probably not SAC or Tramdock. Each company's website will probably list the dimensions like inseam and waist size of their various sizes though.

mts

well its probably a good bet that within the same brand you should have the same size, but its going to depend on the cut. but other than patagonia, i am the same size for pretty much every brand. just go by your measurement.
if you go up a size in ski clothing it won't be the end of the world

if you are buying stuff try and get multifunction things if possible

return policy of the backcountry.com stuff is top-nothch , this includes www.steapandcheap.com www.tramdock.com and www.whiskeymilitia.com. the first two are you best bet, whiskey militia is more skte oirentated

notagame

I've been looking at the generic thermal long underwears, most of them are either pricey or in the case of the generic stuff from walt mart, made with cotton. Any suggestions on where I can get some cheap generic long thermal underwears?

mts

try campmor. target carries champion brand stuff which is pretty cheap

also if its not something you are sure you will like, maybe just get some fleeces and stuff from old navy