Iconic Ski Shop Enters ‘Affordable’ Summer Gear Rentals

Christy Sports, which started as a single-location ski shop in Lakewood, Colo., has grown to a network of over 60 stores in 5 states. For 64 years, it has only offered ski, snowboard, and winter boot rentals. Not anymore.

Christy Sports has hit the ground running this July with a stellar and easy-on-the-wallet summer gear rental program.

Walk into a Christy Sports in winter, and you’ll be able to rent some skis and poles or, say, buy a new pair of heat-molded ski boots and get them fitted right there.

Walk into a Christy Sports store in spring or summer, and you’ll see what you see in a lot of gear shops: walls and walls of retail items like bikes, skis, backpacks, hydration bladders, jackets, and a plethora of outdoor accessories to satisfy an adventure outside.

But this July, walk into a Christy Sports store and you’ll see an entire section dedicated to something new: summer rentals.

What’s available, you may be wondering? Everything from a daypack to a child-carrier backpack, from inclement weather apparel to safety essentials.

We took a quick jaunt over to Summit County, Colo., to check out all the program has to offer for outdoorsy travelers just passing through.

Christy Sports Summer Rentals

“New season. Same great service,” read the sign on the mountain-town store. If you didn’t already know about Christy’s hike and bike rentals before walking in, you did now.

Gear That’s Up for Grabs

The hallmark items of the shop’s new summer gear rental program are a full hiking package (think daypack, trekking poles, etc.), a full apparel package, and even things many outdoor folks traveling wouldn’t think to pack — like a first-aid kit and bear bell or bear spray.

Forgot your headlamp? No problem — Christy Sports thought of that too for the early-riser and late-night adventurers.

Packages & Pricing

The summer rental packages include:

• Hiking Essentials Package: Daypack, first-aid kit, headlamp, trekking poles, bear bell
• Family Hiking Package: Adult daypack, kids’ daypack, child backpack, headlamp x2, trekking poles x2, first-aid kit
• Rain Apparel Package: Rainshell, insulating layer, rain pants

The Hiking Essentials Package costs just $40. Or, you can grab daypacks a la carte for $19 for kids and $26 for adults.

A child-carrier backpack — let’s be honest — something I’ve rarely seen parents travel with (especially via airline travel) is a steal at $31 per day.

But the best deal of all may be the rain apparel package (three layers included) for $20 per day.

And the following a la carte rentals are available:

• Adult Daypack Rental
• Kids’ Daypack Rental
• Child Carrier Rental
• Trekking Pole Rental

But wait, there’s more! Just like how you can either rent or buy skis from a ski shop in the winter, so you can in the summer with bikes — including e-bikes — at Christy Sports.

Bike rental options include:

• Full-suspension mountain bike
• Downhill mountain bike
• Downhill mountain e-bike
• Path e-bike
• Path bike
• Kids’ downhill mountain bike
• Kids’ bike
• Bike trailer add-on

Bike rentals vary in price range from $40 to $55 per day for kids’ models and $85 to $130 per day for adult models. Thinking about investing in a new bike? What better way to try before you buy than taking a trial spin on demo bikes for $115 per day.

Where to Rent at Christy Sports

Out of Christy Sports’ 60-some locations nationwide, 22 locations across Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico have kicked off with the summer gear rental program. Most locations provide both hike and bike rentals, but note that some only provide one category of rentals. Find a store near you (or near your next summer hiking destination).

So far, according to one Christy Sports shop manager, the hot-ticket items have been bikes and e-bikes, along with baby-carrier hiking backpacks for families.

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