Nervous, need advice, please help if you've got a second...

[MAB]

=8

Mind sharing who your local shop is that provides this service/

Teton Boot Lab in Jackson. Definitely the best experience I have had with a boot fitter.

 

[Ryan Dietrich]

@Ryan Dietrich as @Jilly just said, enough has been said already. You have the information you need. Spend the money for the best boot fitter you can find.

The following is my experience as someone who went from a "comfort" fit to spending 8 hours a day in boots and being on the hill 70 days a year.
For your own information measure your foot. This will give you a rough starting point for what size boot you may need. Stand on a piece of paper and draw an outline of you foot. Measure the length, toe to heel and measure the width across the ball of the foot; do this in centimeters. For me those measurements are 27.5 cm long by 92 mm wide; I wear a size 11A men's street shoe. From this you may think my boot size is a 27.5, wrong, I'm in a 26.5 Head 120 RS. Doing a shell fit with the 26.5 showed over 10 mm space in the shell length. The 120 RS is built on a 92 mm last so the width is close. I have one small punch in each boot for the "sixth toe". I have custom foot beds because I have flat feet. The boot soles are canted because I stand bow legged but I ski knock kneed; this means the cant is opposite of bow legged. I have a 1 mm shim under the left liner, on top of the boot board, because of a leg length issue. I'm not that good of a skier but yes I can feel the difference with the 1 mm ship. That's what it took to get the skis to glide flat. All of the above took several trips to the boot fitter. But, the result is I can spend 8 hours in boots and my feet don't hurt and their not cold, except when it get's below zero, then I wear a Boot Glove.
As a side note, my wife who wears a size 8 street shoe is in the same size boot. Her reason is she has a very high instep and it took that size to the the volume she needed.
Do a shell fit with your Superchargers. If you have over 15 mm space behind the heel, with the big toe just touching the shell, your boots are too big. Regardless of the liner packing out.

So, I really haven't added anything to the conversation. Just get thee to the best foot fitter you can find.

I disagree, I found all these stories fascinating and read your post aloud to my wife. I don't know what a "shell fit" is, but I plan on bringing my boots when ParkCityBootRoom gets back to us (the wife called and emailed, but no reply thus far).

 

[cantunamunch]

Just to give you a heads up, pretty much everyone in this thread expects you will

a) hear that your old shells are 1.5 to 2 sizes too big

b) feel that all the new shells are way too small and 'hit your toe'

c) feel that the new shells are much softer than your old ones, even though the flex numbers read to have similar values

d) be absolutely frustrated with your first time at the bootfiters' because you won't feel comfort in any of the recommended/tested boots.
(no one does - but those of us who've successfully been through the process don't expect to)

 

[Ryan Dietrich]

Just to give you a heads up, pretty much everyone in this thread expects you will

a) hear that your old shells are 1.5 to 2 sizes too big

I would not be surprised, just my boots "packing out" over the last couple years means my feet are probably "swimming" inside the boot.

b) feel that all the new shells are way too small and 'hit your toe'

Umm, yeah, that seems bad.

c) feel that the new shells are much softer than your old ones, even though the flex numbers read to have similar values

So, according to my boot, it has a flex rating of 80. That's bad, isn't it. I can't even remember my previous boots, so... I don't really understand the relationship between a flex rating and how it "feels"... So, ignorance is bliss?

d) be absolutely frustrated with your first time at the bootfiters' because you won't feel comfort in any of the recommended/tested boots.
(no one does - but those of us who've successfully been through the process don't expect to)

Well, here is where I hope you're wrong. If the bootfitters here in Utah are supposed to be the some of the best in the country, then they should be able to handle some nobody like me without too much trouble. I'm not some olympic racer. I ski blues and blacks at "acceptable" speeds, nothing too crazy. I just happen to do it far more than the average person.

 

[LiquidFeet]

b) feel that all the new shells are way too small and 'hit your toe'
Umm, yeah, that seems bad.

Ryan, when you've got your foot in that new boot with its liner installed, I'm talking about the snug the boot that you'll end up buying, your toes DO need to touch the front wall of the boot. When we walk, our toes move forward in our shoes as we propel ourselves forward. The foot bends at the ball-of-foot and the toes slide a little forward. So we need room in the front end of our street shoes for that forward slide of our toes. When we ski, our toes do not move forward in our boots because our foot never bends at the ball-of-foot. This is by design; we don't need that extra space up front.

So the feel of the fit relative to foot length will be different from regular shoes.

 

[cantunamunch]

Well, here is where I hope you're wrong. If the bootfitters here in Utah are supposed to be the some of the best in the country, then they should be able to handle some nobody like me without too much trouble. I'm not some olympic racer. I ski blues and blacks at "acceptable" speeds, nothing too crazy. I just happen to do it far more than the average person.

This part of your post is exactly why I brought up all the stuff above. It's really the other way 'round. A racer knows what they want and knows how to say it. People new to the process have far less idea of what to look for, what to ignore, what to bear with and what to complain about. That doesn't make them easy to work with.

All those points are cliche's - for very good reason.

 

[coops]

Don't be alarmed by the price of Zipfit liners if they're recommended/ a good fit for you and your feet and boots... the one off cost may be high, but their long life (and zero/negligible packing out issues) with phenomenal heel hold and minimal shell pressure needed to achieve control means they could be the best value skiing purchase you make along with seeing a good boot fitter.

 

[jmills115]

I disagree, I found all these stories fascinating and read your post aloud to my wife. I don't know what a "shell fit" is, but I plan on bringing my boots when ParkCityBootRoom gets back to us (the wife called and emailed, but no reply thus far).

Hello Ryan,
I'm in Salt Lake and just went to Brent at Park City Ski Boot. I took a few years off and before I even started to shop for boots felt like I did my research learning about what is being discussed here. I still blew it instead of going to a fitter I thought I could save money and bought a 28.5 when my foot measures 27.4. Did the same thing the second season and needed them punched out and used local ski shops in the Salt Lake Valley. I talked to a few people that had tried to adjust the 2nd boot and then called Brent.
Not only is the work he did on my new boots noticeably cleaner than what others had done on other boots, the way he checked my foot and how my foot fit in the new boot while it was on my foot was so much more thorough than others had. I am in a 26.5 now.
I will be taking my wife to him within the next few weeks as well. She skied two seasons in her boot thats too big.

 

[jmills115]

It was at Sports Den but I don't recall his name. Linnie doesn't either. I'm liking Gorsuch these days. Brian in particular. They have a scan machine that takes a 3D of your foot which can give them a clear picture of what's going on. It was really helpful for me.

Curtis at Sports Den is one I've talked to and would have been fine putting my feet in his hands .

 

[Philpug]

Curtis at Sports Den is one I've talked to and would have been fine putting my feet in his hands .

Yes it was Curtis that we dealt with.

 

[Ryan Dietrich]

Went to Ski 'n See's big sale yesterday. Resisted just "buying boots on sale", and got some other gear for my kids/wife. The most expensive mens boots they had were $500, and they looked like quite impressive.

 

[François Pugh]

Went to Ski 'n See's big sale yesterday. Resisted just "buying boots on sale", and got some other gear for my kids/wife. The most expensive mens boots they had were $500, and they looked like quite impressive.

You did the right thing! Keep it up!

 

[KingGrump]

Went to Ski 'n See's big sale yesterday. Resisted just "buying boots on sale", and got some other gear for my kids/wife. The most expensive mens boots they had were $500, and they looked like quite impressive.

Good going.
Looks can be deceiving. The graphic tech (flash and dash stuff) doesn't usually affect the fit and/or performance of the boot.
Most of the boot will be covered by your ski pants and/or snow anyway.

 

[cantunamunch]

Most of the boot will be covered by your ski pants and/or snow anyway.

This is why I always polished the mirrored toeplate on my Atomic Tritechs - blind 'em with the flash

(Worst boot for my foot ever and colder than anything, especially with the titanium sole bar. Walking in them was dangerous - they sucked so much heat out that they formed moisture on the sole, and moisture led to clump ice)

 

[jmills115]

Yes it was Curtis that we dealt with.

We went and saw Curtis today and bought mrsjmills boots from him. She was a pro comparing a heel pocket or toe box between the different boots or asking for more narrow options. She tried 2 boots in July and 5-7 today and decided the Atomic Prime 105 S W in a 25.5 was the right boot. It was a slight "correct sizing" fix after being in a 26.5 measuring 26 in both feet.

 

[Tricia]

Yesterday I had a customer come to the Labor Day Tent sale who wanted to buy skis and boots, because they were on sale.
I started the boot fitting process and saw his attention change in a big way. The first thing I asked is, how old his boots are and where he got them. The answers were, "I'm not sure and a ski swap"
I measured him, foot length, arch length, instep size and picked two boots for him.
The first thing he said was, "These are too small"
I asked him to bear with me and feel the boot after he settled in.
By the time he was done, he went down a size and was commenting on how he wished he'd done a proper boot fit a long time ago.

 

[Ryan Dietrich]

Hmm, no luck getting a hold of Park City Boot Room thus far. We'll keep trying :/

 

[NZRob]

Hmm, no luck getting a hold of Park City Boot Room thus far. We'll keep trying :/

Road trip time then. One Stop Ski Shop in Steamboat, ask for John and prepare to be pampered...in a Colorado cowboy kind of way (rugged, no-nonsense, "WTF have you been skiing in", *shakes head in bewilderment*, - just for clarity :p).

Outstanding boot fitters.

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

Road trip time then. One Stop Ski Shop in Steamboat, ask for John and prepare to be pampered...in a Colorado cowboy kind of way (rugged, no-nonsense, "WTF have you been skiing in", *shakes head in bewilderment*, - just for clarity :p).

Outstanding boot fitters.

John’s a great guy. You hit the nail on the head with the description. His brother Mike makes outstanding holsters. I was skiing with Mike a few years back when his pacemaker quit. We laugh about it now. Talented family.

 

[silverback]

Hmm, no luck getting a hold of Park City Boot Room thus far. We'll keep trying :/

Matt tends to prefer to work with racers, instructors, etc. and he is really busy getting the competition folks set up. As mentioned before, he doesn't stock or sell boots. Most of his customers get boots from their sponsors/reps.

I'd call Brent at Park City ski boot. He is really good and has a good variety of boots. I've used both shops and both are really good. Brent's shop is better equipped for recreational skiers.

My son's coach last year (ex-WC / Olympic skier) swore by Brent. This year's is a Schiller fan.