Ski Theft

So is ski theft still the problem it used to be?

I haven't had shiny new gear in so long that I forgot what it's like to get gear stolen. I had my brand new, skied on once, Rossi Stratos stolen at Crotched Mountain in 1977. They were brand new top of the line Rossis with high end bindings. Poof.. gone. Came out after lunch and they were gone. Matching poles too. sigh.. Cops laughed at me when I asked if I'd get them back, of course I never did. My home insurance covered some of it, I had a deductible. The whole experience *ucked.

So, now I have one of those small cable locks and the other day I go to Okemo with my buddy and he has brand new Atomic Supercross something or others.. and he isn't locking his skis. I'm astounded! I'm like.. "Waaa??? you don't lock those skis???? !!!" ..and he says, "nah! if they want them that bad, they can have them." ...and I'm astounded. So I lock his to mine and mine to the ski stand. Realizing full well that a small set of wire cutters could prolly cut through that cable in a millie-second. But hey, better than nothing.

What do you guys do? One of my friends is a amputee.. and he had his SINGLE ski stolen up WaWa a couple years ago!! A single ski! Who would want a single ski?! Disappeared... never returned.

So what gives? Is theft still the BIG problem that it has been in the past? Or have we fried a few of the SOBs and thrown away the key and thats been a deterrent to new theives. Or maybe there's just a better resale on laptops and the targets have changed. ..maybe it's snowboards. I dunno..

time to get some eggnog!

In 10+ years of skiing, I've never had a problem, or known anyone too. Could be due to the fact that my first few sets of skis were pretty crappy. I used to lock my skis, but no longer. Be careful where you leave them, i.e. don't prop them along the side of the lodge where someone can grab them on the way out. I try to keep mine amongst many other skis on a rack as far from the base area exits as possible.

I used to lock my skis but they are old now so I don't. I have new snowboard setup that was pretty expensive, I lock that up when I leave it outside. I've not heard of anyone having stuff stollen recently except a friend that left his ski's out for a few days and they ended up missing. Not sure they were really stollen. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Then again if you have expensive new gear, it's not worth taking the chance.

always always always lock my skis. even at more rugged less theft prone areas such as MRG, burke, magic, etc. my view is this: $10 and a 10 second investment to cover the value of a $500 pair of skis... a cheap lifetime investment on an insurance policy that can cover all my skis for years. a great value compared to my other insurance policies which have proven essentially worthless and rediculously costly throughout the years.

i'm not a fan of the "splitting the skis" routine. i've watching countless people do this from the base lodge as i look out the window. if someone is gonna make a grab on skis, they would be studying and watching people and wouldn't hesitate to grab both of those nice 6*s once they've identified the pair and the owner going to the restroom. a cable through the bindings is the only way to go for skis that you care about.

if you have skis 5+ years older then it becomes less of an issue for two reasons: chances are older and beat up skis won't get lifted when they are on the rack next to the latest and greatest. also, if someone stole 5+ year old skis... they might actually be doing you a favor in many cases! :lol:

any ways, it's not a huge problem but it is out there. didnt' they bust up a ring at killington recently?

Ski theft

It's prolly snowboards, more than skis these days. I do know that it's the high-end gear they like. They are not going to take your midrange stuff, or last years models when the Volkl Superstars are sitting right next to them and the owner is in the bar.

Actually I don't think they even check to know where the owner is. if someone picks up a set of skis and no one tackles them in 10 seconds, they're off free. if someone says something, they just pretend they got mixed up and say "sorry.. looked just like mine."

I don't know that the cable locks are that secure, but if you got to use wire cutters, it's going to cause some attention. I hope.

I'll keep locking mine.

Wachusett has a ski corral that you check your skis into. They give you a plastic card with a necklace to turn in to claim them. It's a good service and I always tip the guys at the end of the day.

You have to be really careful, particularly at WAWA if there is a school group there. If reported immediately, however, they do search the buses before they are allowed to leave. Last year, being a school group, I was on a bus that was checked. They wanted to match every piece of geer to a person, including the adults. The group leader was asked to have everyone get out of the bus and get their geer and wanted to know who the renters were. We were clean, thankfully! They did question a couple kids about their boards (same model as stolen ones), but we verified that they were indeed theirs.

Do yourself a favor, get a lock. The only problem, a lot of the locks are not long enough for the new racks(short skis, tall racks), but if you look you will find a place to securely lock them. WAWA and several other places have ski checks. They are usually fine to use, as long as you don't lose your ticket.

I would have to add if you have newer, desirable gear lock it up. If you are on older less "name" gear then it is not so imperative. for example I don't lock my 5 year old elan's but certainly would lock any top of the line new gear especially Atomic's, rossi's and Soloman's.

A few years back I heard a person complaining to security at Mount Snow that he never thought anything would be stolen in Vermont but that he would expect it to be back home in New York. Security's comment back was that most of the people skiing were from New York.

There are quite a few sets of skis/boards stolen every year, including organized groups. Last year there was a story in the papers about a kid from New Hampshire? who was stealing gear and then selling it on ebay. He was caught when one victum purchased his stolen skis and went to police with the evidence. I believe the thief had sold about $9000 of stolen stuff.

Of course I will lock my Volkl 6*'s , but I also lock my older Rossi Bandit x's and even the ELANS when I take them. NOTHING is beyond being stolen. Different people like different things. Over the holiday I heard of a pair of older (straight) skis being stolen. My nephew took his old skis with him on Tuesday when he went skiing because of the conditions. He locked them.

The best bet, regardless of the age of the ski, is to lock it! Although they are old, if they are your only pair, or if they are the only pair you have with you, it's a real bummer to come out and find them gone.

Right!!

it's a real bummer to come out and find them gone.

You are the Mistress of understatement!!

My experience: never had anything stolen at a ski area. But then again, I never have the latest equipment.

yup I lock em with a cable or I have them in full view of where I am eating in the lodge. I carry a 38 special. Anyone tries to steal them they get shot though the lodge window. Nah just kiding. I would run out side first and then shoot the ba...rd. :wink: For you ski theves out there makes you kind of wonder heh.

Those days of shoot em up are long gone years ago in steamboat springs. The truth is I carry a pocket high pixel digital camera now with a zoom lens. I am the fastest camera shooter in the west. Within 5 seconds I can have your picture taken and plastered all over the internet the next day. :beer:

After buying my first pair of good skis three years ago, I felt uneasy leaving them at a busy ski area unlocked. I ended up buying several different locks and even did a pseudo review on them. The small cable locks can't be beat for their size, but a standard cable bike lock does the trick nicely. But, I figure most thefts are "convieneance thefts" in that if the thief sees locked skis, they move to an unlocked pair.

I read that a couple dozen single skis were found in a small gully near a ski area one spring. They guessed that they might have been lifted for pure spite. I have also "put together" split pairs in less than a minute so I'm leary of splitting to thwart theft.

Depending on the ski rack I often have to turn the skis upside down so they can be locked. Early and late season I usually don't feel the need to lock. It also depends on the area too, although this has no basis in reality- skis can get stolen anywhere.

One idea :idea: I had was to get some flourescent pink paint and spray the tips. Who would even want to steal them? But, then again, who would want to be seen skiing on them? haha

This is now changing, but I've been hoping that a ski thief would skip over my skis because they couldn't figure out what kind of boot fits into those strange, archaic looking Diamir Titanal II bindings.

Tele skiers- Is ski theft about the same problem as it is for Alpine gear?

Jimme

I once saw this strange looking older woman at Sunday River watching people very intensely while they locked their skis. Almost seemed as if she was trying to see the combination.

But has anyone ever had this happen? You lock your skis, then you come out and find out they're not there. After throwing a major fit, you realize that they were hidden behind someone's snowboard!

jimme said:

Depending on the ski rack I often have to turn the skis upside down so they can be locked.

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i never thought of doing that!!! that tip will help me tremendously on certain racks when space is short! usually, i can find a spot on the end of the rack for easy locking though.

I can never afford the latest equipment, but I do not lock them either. I usually keep the together. I always try to find a rack that has better skiis then mine.