OldZag Posted October 30, 2019 Report Share Posted October 30, 2019 I am going to Zermatt this February and have not been able to find any shop that rents alpine gear. I don't want to travel with my board and boots. I have been thinking about just taking my bindings and then renting ski boots and a softboot board and switching out the bindings and go. What do you think? Are the binding patterns and spacing the same on an alpine board and freestyle board? Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapos Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 Hi Zag, I would be suprised if you could not try an Oxess or Kessler in the country of manufacture. I was looking at Kessler dealears list and there is one in Zermatt and a few dealears close by: http://www.kessler-swiss.com/en-US/dealer check the list and get in touch with one of the dealers, dont waste your time on softboots , especially if you get a chance to test Oxess or Kessler. If you wanna try Oxess get in touch with Heinz Rigaux if you have facebook - I am sure he will try to help. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldZag Posted October 31, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 Slapos, Dziekuje! I will contact the Kessler dealer in Zermatt and/or Heinz. Our second week of the trip we are going to Jasna, Slovakia and to get there we are flying through and staying in Krakow, my first time to Poland! Thank you again for the reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapos Posted October 31, 2019 Report Share Posted October 31, 2019 If you are coming to Poland why don't you pay me a visit in Szczyrk? Bring your boots I got ton of gear I can lend you. I live 100 km from Krakow in the Beskidy mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted November 4, 2019 Report Share Posted November 4, 2019 I did a winter trip to Europe about 5 years ago that combined some visits to my wife's family with 5 days of snowboarding. I definitely didn't want to carry a board, and I couldn't arrange a demo even though there was an alpine board maker pretty close to where I was going to be riding in the Dolomites. In the end, I solved the problem by buying a board on German eBay and having it shipped to my hotel in Frankfurt where I stayed my first night in Europe. It was an Oxygen Proton with some cheapie F2 binding clones, and I paid something like 150 euros shipped. It was so cheap that I felt pretty good about selling it to the staff in a base area ski shop for like 25 euros when I left town. I did bring my own boots and bindings...I thought it was worth it for those pieces, but YMMV. So that's one possibility if you can't get the demo that you're looking for. Seems like there's lots of old alpine gear floating around in Europe, and popularity has declined to where there isn't that much demand for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.a Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 I think Swoard has some sort of demo program available in Switzerland, like Zinal is literally the next valley. The Pure Boarding guys also might also help you out, I think theyre like 20 min outside of Zurich. If anything Id concentrate on Purr Boarding as theyre a real board shop, Id think they have an array of boards if their style/board shape isnt your style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eboot Posted November 14, 2019 Report Share Posted November 14, 2019 On 10/30/2019 at 7:02 PM, OldZag said: I am going to Zermatt this February I was supposed to be there this year but could not make it i have friends that own an apartment in a village nearby (Graechen). If you need a shipping address I could possibly help. enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 Did you have any luck with the Kessler or Oxess dealers near Zermatt? I am probably going to head that way over the holidays and would also like to demo for a few days if possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted December 15, 2019 Report Share Posted December 15, 2019 There was a show with Alpine gear in Zermatt the last time I rode there... but it was last century so that probably doesn't help. Yeah the binding patterns are the same. You could just use soft gear of course. I doubt you'll find hard boot rentals, so you'd need your own boots & bindings. Boards are less of a problem, hard boots work fine on soft boot boards, although you need to make sure your angles match the board width. That is, don't try riding a wide board on hard pack with a 60-degree stance because you'll not get it on edge. I'm sure there'll be someone along who lives there who can point you where you need to be, or try the Frozen Backside forum (there's an English section, although it's quiet). Another approach is just buy a Kessler over here - they're easy to find - and then take it back home and forget to pay the taxes and you've got something you can sell for more than you paid for it. Of course that assumes you don't fall in love with it. But this means you have to pretty much travel with some gear, so doesn't answer the OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted December 16, 2019 Report Share Posted December 16, 2019 Thanks. I'll give Frozen Backside a try. I also emailed Kessler and Oxess directly. Maybe they'll point me somewhere that works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauleleven Posted December 17, 2019 Report Share Posted December 17, 2019 I've been to Zermatt, there is a dealer for Kessler (Bayard Sport) there but as far as I know no demo, you'd need to contact them in advance, try to get them to order a demo. A better option I think, both given the snow type and crowdedness there, is to go to Julen Sports and rent/demo Jones or Nitro Quiver boards, bring your favorite soft setup (or rent there). They also have this amazing Japanese Powder board maker called Gentemstick, but no demo and very very expensive. Last time I demoed a Kessler in Switzerland, the dealer literally had the office mail it to my hotel, I rode a few days, then mailed it back. It was supposed to be stupid expensive to rent/demo (100+ chf), but I know the dealer well enough and he was just kinda like, yeah it's whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekdut Posted December 18, 2019 Report Share Posted December 18, 2019 Kessler got back to me via email and told me that they didn't know of any option to demo their boards in the Zermatt area. Which Kessler dealer was able to do the mail order demo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauleleven Posted December 29, 2019 Report Share Posted December 29, 2019 On 12/19/2019 at 2:30 AM, nekdut said: Kessler got back to me via email and told me that they didn't know of any option to demo their boards in the Zermatt area. Which Kessler dealer was able to do the mail order demo? It was a shop in Luzern named Number One Board&Bikes, the guy in charge there is American and has been in Switzerland forever, great guy to have a lengthy chat with. I do recommend soft setups still tho, Zermatt pistes in the afternoon are quite bumpy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldZag Posted September 5, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2020 So, I realized that I had never reported on the outcome of my trip. I will be brief, but a lot went down. Not so much snowboarding however. I got a day in in Zermatt, but could not find any alpine gear, so rented some decent softboot gear and made the best of it. My legs were beat the next day, so my wife hired a guide and went skiing. An untimely accident left her with a torn ACL and MCL. All plans canceled, (CH, Krakow, Slovakia). Emergency business class ticket for her home. (I rode baggage). She is on the mend after surgery and just got released to ride her new e-bike. Switzerland is beautiful. I like hard boots better. Can't wait for this winter. Fall is in the air. Thanks to all who offered advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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