The way I would approach such a question is to put it into equations.
My first equation would be 16x+19y=478 which represents $16 on ski's per person and $19 on snowboards must add up to $478
My second would be x+y=28 because the number of skis and snowboards rented must add up to 28 so each person has one item.
Next you solve them simultaniously. Gonna use elimination
16x+19y=478 (1)
x+y=28 (2)
16x+16y=448 (3 = equation 2 * 16)
(1)-(3) => 3y=30 y = 10.
So now we know that 10 people rented snow boards. Just sub that into eq (2) and get x = 18. So 10 people got snow boards and 18 ski's.
To check, 10x19 = 190
16x18= 228
190+228=478 which works out perfectly!
