Below are rental articles from our SAM archives...

January 2014

Rental Gear 2014

Manufacturers on both the Alpine and snowboard sides continue to find ways to make the rental process easier and guests happier.

July 2013

What Renters Want

From self-service boot selection to reformatted shops, see how these resorts have successfully upped their rental game.

January 2012

Rocking the Rental World

Areas are actually making rental shops a positive part of the guest experience.

January 2011

Creating Space

As rental operations expand, clever storage solutions can maximize your available space.

January 2009

Rentals on the Rise

The economic slowdown could fuel an uptick in rentals.

September 2008

High-Tech Renting

Software programs can speed the rental process and boost the bottom line for a wide range of operations.

January 2008

The Ultimate Treehouse

Aspen/Snowmass started from scratch and created the ideal children's center.

March 2007

The Rental Shop of the Future

A picture tour of some of the best rental shops in the world.

September 2006

Time To Train

Effectively training rental shop staff is key to a safe and successful business.

March 2006

So Many Questions, So Few Answers

A Rental Roundtable at the SIA Show kicked off a much-needed discussion on rental practices.

November 2005

Champagne Taste

A slow but monumental change is shifting the balance away from basic fleet rentals toward demo and high performance gear.

May 2005

Controlling Quality

Here's a checklist to help serve up the best rental experience.

November 2004

Tuning Out

Rental gear is only as good as its tune, as these managers learned.

September 2004

Measuring the Growth Model

With the industry's new mandate to convert new skiers and snowboarders, here's a look at some successful programs.

November 2002

Between a Helmet and a Hard Place

With the popularity of helmets on the rise, more ski areas are looking into including the lids in the rental program. Is it worth it?

Rental Shop

In-Season Quality Control. Sample your rental stock to make sure it remains up to snuff.

September 2002

Tune Up Your Rental Gear

Pre-season maintenance helps ensure that your rental fleet is ready to roll when the snow flies.

November 2001

From the Streets to the Slopes

A look at the next generation of snow toys including snowdecks, bicycles on skis or boards, and steerable tubes.

May 2001

Making a Good First Impression

Smart layout in the rental shop can help customer flow, alleviate anxiety and generate happy guests.

Strength in Numbers

How Midwest ski areas formed a buying group to get better rental equipment. The buying muscle presented by a group helped bring about some changes to make new shaped gear stand up to abuse while processing orders earlier.

March 2001

Piling on the Extras

This piece is about a Learn To Ski/Ride program at Pats Peak, N.H., where extra income is generated by lesson programs run for local schools. It brings together meals, rentals, lessons, retail purchases intoan a la carte menu for parents who save money and generate income for the ski area.

January 2001

Seth Says: The Marketing Wisdom of Marshall Tito

Seth takes a look at how the disconnect between ski school, rentals and ticketing works to frustrate visitors and lead to losses of regular customers.

Thoughts on our 40th Year

A brief salute to our readers and our advertisers for their support over a period of 40 years.

Rental Equipment in the Spotlight/SAMMY Time

The memo highlights the "Rental Equipment Handbook 2002" supplement in the issue and tells readers about the Renmtal Alley showcase scheduled for Las Vegas; the second part discusses the upcoming SAMMY awards to be presented at the NSAA May convention and points out the nomination form bound into the issue.

November 2000

Stay Tuned

The article highlights the practices and the importance of keeping rental fleets tuned for customers. Contains a sidebar on backshop tips.

July 2000

Keeping Track of Inventory

This is a roundup of the software packages available to automate and simplify keeping track of all the info on rental and retail inventory. These systems keep track of maintenance, calculate returns and warn shop personnel when its time to tune a pair of skis.

May 2000

Intrawest: A Rental Profile

Intrawest is revising its rental shops for better margins and service through the use of "Pods" where customers sit and shop personnel bring gear for fitting. The rental shops also include a retail segment for better profit margins. The piece also includes a sidebar on the building of a temporary base villageÑthe Phoenix ProjectÑat Mountain Creek, N.J. after its base lodge burned to the ground in October of 1999.

January 2000

Rental Mania in the Millennium; I Want My SAMMY

Two pieces: The first introducing our Rental Equipment Roundup and our role at SIA (showcases); the second soliciting SAMMY Award nominations.

May 1999

Binding Indemnification Programs

This article outlines how a rental shop should go about joining a manufacturer's indemnification program to hedge against the possibility of future lawsuits. It explains compliance with programs is easy and outlines the steps necessary for a shop to join a program that handles claims in case of trouble.

November 1998

Battling Inadequate Rentals

Though ski area managers have been working to upgrade rental condominiums over the last few years, eradicating the worst might take a few more. The attempt has been to maintain and improve the the integrity of resort rental programs, and thereby improve the integrity of the resorts themselves. This report is an update of the situation around the country.

September 1998

One Stop: Step In, Step Out

Ski Liberty, Pa.'s, snowboard rental shop has one of the largest inventories in the east and redesigned their new shop to make sure it was a model of efficiency. Their decision to use more step-in bindings also meant they could increase inventory in the same space.

March 1998

Rental Ski Roundup 1998-99

The market is heating up, with increased resort investment and a boom in demo programs tempting new suppliers into the rental arena. HereÕs a rundown of next seasonÕs offerings from the major manufacturers.

Demos Driving Rentals

SAM interviews Bill Irwin of Elan Ski and Snowboards to evaluate the changing nature of the rental market.

January 1998

1998 Snowboard Rental Roundup

Manufacturers are meeting a growing demand for rental snowboards with rental-specific product. Here's a roundup of offerings for the 1998-99 season

November 1996

Renting Super Sidecuts

Now that consumers seem to have enthusiastically accepted the concept of super sidecuts, rental managers need to train staff in this area, specifically regarding length selection, tuning, returns and retail.

May 1996

More Rental Super-Sidecuts Available

Though availability is no longer a problem as most ski factories now build shaped skis for rental use, the bad news is that few are set up to build them at rental prices.