Ski hire in Albiez-Montrond: the four shops and how to pay less

Albiez-Montrond has four ski hire shops, split between the resort's two sectors: two at the foot of the slopes in the Mollard, 250 m from the apartment, and two in the Chef-lieu, the historic village. All of them offer a discount if you book online before you arrive. Here is what each one covers.

On the Mollard snow front (250 m from the apartment)

Sport 2000 Aux Deux Frères — the one we use

This is where we hire our own equipment, and it is the one we recommend first. Good advice, a good welcome, and everything sorted on the spot without going further into the resort.

135 m² of hire, servicing and retail space (equipment, accessories, clothing). The catalogue is broad — alpine skis, freeride skis, touring skis, cross-country skis, snowboards, snowshoes, boots, adult sledges, snowscoots, child carriers.

This is the address to remember if you are after something slightly unusual, or if you need to kit out a whole group with differing needs.

Mustang 1650 — Skiset

The former Ski Attitude shop, taken over by Mustang, right at the foot of the slopes and open all year round. Ski and snowboard hire and sales, boot fitting with a 3D scanner (Bootdoc), servicing workshop: sharpening, waxing, adjustments. Discount when you book online.

This is also where Mustang's outings are booked: snowmobiling, igloo and trapper evenings, the Sunset Ride on e-mountain bikes down the pistes. The details are in our article on snowmobiling and igloo evenings.

In the Chef-lieu (2 km)

Mustang 1550 — Skimium

The resort's largest sports shop, open all year round since 1980, near place Opinel. Ski and snowboard hire and sales, ski and bike workshop, mountain bike and e-mountain bike hire. It works hand in hand with Mustang 1650: same outings, same team.

Skiset — Albiez Sports

A 100 m² retail space, ski hire and servicing. It is also the shop to know in summer: BMX bikes, e-scooters and guided rides.

Booking online: the one real tip

All four shops apply a discount to bookings made online before arrival. Over a week for four to six people, the gap is not trivial — and the benefit is twofold:

• The price, lower in every case.
• The time: on the first day of a holiday, the queue in the hire shop is the worst moment of the week. Equipment reserved means a quick stop for boot fitting and nothing more.

The hire shops often launch online promotions as early as autumn, well before the ski area opens, often reserved for registered customers: create an account on their website to receive them. It is the best time to book a school-holiday week. The order to follow between lessons, equipment and lift pass is in our article booking ahead.

The same logic applies to lift passes: they can be bought together with ski lessons, or ordered online and posted to you, which avoids the first-morning scramble. If you come back several times in the winter, see when the season pass pays off.

What genuinely has to be decided in person

The only things that really need the shop are boots — one fitting beats any size chart — and binding settings, which need your weight and your level. Allow twenty minutes, not a morning.

See also: skiing Albiez from the Mollard sector and the winter page.