cydwhitAnd that's why I haven't ever even tried to get into that side of things.... But now that I have a little more time to experiment and learn I figured I might as well try to become the obnoxious photog that everyone hate to wait for.
Buy good, dependable gear then. Don't cheap out in order to get more gear, you'll end up replacing it all if you do anyways. On the other hand, fancy things end up being more delicate and that sucks too. What is fun is lighting photos, what is not fun is gear crapping out on you.
I suggest Alienbees, the lightweight packs, and Pocketwizard triggers... but get the PlusX or PlusIII. I've never had a problem with these, but I know people who wrestle with the pricier stuff all the time.
Alienbees aren't the best, but I have had mine for 6 years. They have been dropped, flown with me multiple times, fallen over in wind, been caked in snow, and still work great. I've played with plenty of other gear, I've never had a time when I was like "damn wish I had some profoto shit right now" (at least not for skiing, and almost never for anything else either).
Some people who shoot more skiing and need different gear might tell you about the benefits of that gear, if there's someone out there I would love to hear their take on whatever they are using, as well as a crit of the bees. But You can get that setup I described above for probably around 1300(?) which is pretty damn good for two dependable strobes, set up with remotes and batteries.