has anyone ever shipped thier skiis ahead of time to vail or any other resort. what is the best way to do this, is there a company that will box them up or provide the boxes? I'm going to florida to drop off my baby first and don't want to lug the skiis around. thanks

There is a company called Luggage Express in the US which doesdeliveries of luggage from your house to your arrival airport. Take a look at http://www.usxpluggageexpress.com/. I don't know anything about them or whether they are reliable. They needs 7-10 days to ensure delivery on time. I don't think they provide wrapping; however just buy a ski bag from your sports store and you can ship them in that. Airlines accept ski bags. I don't think you will be able to lock it due to security rules, but Luggage Express may be able to arrange to have it locked after they have taken it through security.

You may also want to call one of those Pac-Mail facilities..they state they can ship anything anywhere and they make up the boxes to fit the items..

For the cost of shipping rent top of the line skis at the slope.

Ditto Gretchen's suggestion. Save yourself the hassle and rent in Vail. You can demo some top of the line equipment and even purchase at some great savings.

Haven't used them myself, but I've heard of www.sportsexpress.com for this service. Seems pretty pricey, though.

Renting top of the line skis at the slopes is about $40 per day; just did this in Aspen a few weeks ago to try some new equipment, and a quick glance at Vail Sports shows you won't get away cheaper there. And, they might not have the ski you want in the length you want. You can get away cheaper on lower end gear; my sister-in-law rented an intermediate package (boots, skis, poles) for about $160 for 6 days, but this was not nice stuff, in my opinion.

Unless maybe it is near the end of the season, I'd make sure you know what you are getting if you try to buy skis at a 'bargain' price at the resort. Even with the shop deducting 2 days ($80) of demos for us to purchase a pair of skis we liked, we found the same skis for less at our lame local ski shops in the Midwest AND online. (Thank goodness we waited until we got home to buy!) So, if you think you might buy at the resort, do you research first on pricing! (That said, we did have a friend get a good deal on a snowboard at a resort area once, but do your homework!)

Cheapest - lug the skis with you the whole trip. Otherwise, shipping before hand and renting both seem like pricey options.....

My parents used to do this all the time. They simply went to Mailboxes, etc. and made sure to give themselves plenty of time. It can get pricey though.

When traveling to ski - I take my boots and rent skis and poles. I am able to try out different skis and not worrying about shipping, damage, security, etc. Unless you're flying with your skis, I'm guessing shipping prices will be close to renting. If you're set on shipping, I'd try a Mailboxes etc, UPS store.

But then you have to get bindings to "match" your boots or do they adjust them for you??

Ski rental places can easily adjust bindings to your boots because they put very adjustable bindings on their skis.

We found a good selection of high end demo skis at Vail, mid-mountain.