You Drive Three Hours to See a Bootfitter!?!

[Near Nyquist]

I'm guessing heat moldable boot shells and heat moldable liners will put many a bootfitter out of business.

Nope
They generate more business
But the great ones are far too busy anyways

 

[Ski&ride]

I'm guessing heat moldable boot shells and heat moldable liners will put many a bootfitter out of business.

They’ll probably put many of the mediocre ones out of business.

 

[François Pugh]

I'm guessing heat moldable boot shells and heat moldable liners will put many a bootfitter out of business.

I haven't tried the heat moldable boot shells, but the heat moldable liners don't even come close to custom foamed liners.

 

[James]

I'm guessing heat moldable boot shells and heat moldable liners will put many a bootfitter out of business.

Hasn't happened.
Likely it'll make for worse fitters over time.

 

[L&AirC]

I'm guessing heat moldable boot shells and heat moldable liners will put many a bootfitter out of business.

No way! The only thing a moldable liner and/or shell does is conform to your foot. That means more comfortable. You will still have alignment issues, need a neutral ankle, fore/aft problems and all the rest. Modables do ZERO to improve your skiing unless your only issue is pain. I suppose by going to a moldable, since you can go down a size you would have a better fit and that should give you quicker response time.

Fitters use moldables but I would guess that for them it means a few less tweaks they'll have to make. They used to do the same thing the moldables do by modifying the boot/liner - punch here, grind there etc., but all of that was/is done AFTER the alignment and other issues are addressed that I mentioned earlier. That isn't a complete list either. Now they can mold the liner or shell to do some of that providing your boot setup has that option; not all do.

You need to also consider that each time something is molded, you suck out a little bit of it's life/strength. Some of this will happen anyways because of how boots are treated and the environment they are in. During the season they usually go from 70* to below freezing on a regular basis. During storage that can be flipped depending where they are stored. At work we temperature cycle product to prove it's durability. Once it is "qualified", we do a minimum amount of temperature cycling because the product is to last around 40 years. If across those 40 years it needs a couple repairs and we temperature cycle it again to prove compliance, a little more life is sucked out. The 800 pound brains at works let us know how many times each product can have that done to it and we track it for the life of the product to make sure nothing goes out that will put the customer at risk. Granted the product at work has to perform in the most extreme climates and our ski boots wouldn't last one temperature cycle of what we put our product through, but the same rules apply even though it is scaled down.

I think this will be good business for the boot manufacturers because DIYers (who I identify with) will buy moldable boots and some will eff it up so bad they need new boots; kaching! There is also the possibility where someone who always bought size 26.5, will buy the same size in a moldable, only to find out that with molding, they should have bought a 25.5. The idea behind moldables is to have your foot press things out; they don't usually suck things in closer, though the Fischer vacuum boot does but it requires specialized equipment.

Hasn't happened.
Likely it'll make for worse fitters over time.

The real fitters will always be there because the skiers that know the difference will always go to them and not get sucked in to marketing hype. I would expect that at the general public ski shops that focus on comfort instead of performance, they might have some improvements in customer feedback but no skiing performance improvements. The blessing for those ski shops is their demographic doesn't know the difference and what is possible.

I'm not trying to belittle skiers that don't get fitted or even the shops that cater to them. That would be like saying a person that drives a Camry sucks as a driver because they aren't driving a Porsche. The drivers might have the same ability but the cars don't and only the driver that has driven both cars will know the difference and will always prefer the Porsche (politics, environment and economics aside).

Think of all the tools available to Surgeons nowadays. Are today's surgeons better or worse than those of yesteryear? If you needed surgery, would you want to go back in time to get it done? Moldables should just be another tool in the fitters tool box to give them more options.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Unless of course Otto chimes in and proves me wrong again

Ken

 

[no edge]

GMOL, Bill Haight... 1 hour from my house. He is exceptional
Garrick Dardani... 1/2 hr, The head coach at Jiminy Peak... exceptional.
Nick Blaylock... one hour from the house. He is at Mount Snow. He created the turning point in my skiing 15 years or so ago. Travelled with the US ski team (something like that). Exceptional

 

[no edge]

Does anyone know which boot lines GMOL carries?

When I was there, boot selection was sparse. This was a surprise to me.

 

[L&AirC]

When I was there, boot selection was sparse. This was a surprise to me.

I'm not sure but I would guess with his core work being boot fitting, he mostly caters to those serious about the sport and carries those boots and or has access to them. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was carrying when there last time but I know he carries Langes. At a previous fitting along with Langes he had Technica and for some reason, I'm remembering the green Dalbello race boot on his wall this past time. Not sure though.

 

[LiquidFeet]

When I was there, boot selection was sparse. This was a surprise to me.

Same here. It's a tiny "shop." Bill had Rossi and Lange boots on the wall when I went there a few years back, and maybe a couple of one more brand but not sure. He doesn't keep much stock so he may need to order your size, as was the case for me. He did order Dale boots for a friend, and took them back with a full refund when they didn't fit. I got a pair of Rossi Heroes from Bill that I had to wait for and come back to buy. They didn't work out, caused great pain, and had to be replaced the next year. Those replacement boots were Tecnicas. They do fit, but I got them from a different bootfitter elsewhere, who is my go-to guy now.

Bill teaches a two-day boot fitting course to PSIA instructors. He knows his stuff. I took that two day course and learned a lot. My point: not all bootfitters work out for all customers, no matter what their reputation.

 

[James]

I'm not sure but I would guess with his core work being boot fitting, he mostly caters to those serious about the sport and carries those boots and or has access to them. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was carrying when there last time but I know he carries Langes. At a previous fitting along with Langes he had Technica and for some reason, I'm remembering the green Dalbello race boot on his wall this past time. Not sure though.

Don't know what he caters to. Several years ago I talked to him about plug boots. Couldn't get them. I moved on.

 

[KingGrump]

Often the boot inventory comes down to cash flow and deep pockets. Greg Hoffman started GMOL way back up at First Run ski shop up at the Stratton village. Visited him up at the loft often. He had a good selection of boots on display. My feeling was First Run fronted the boots and he provided the sales and service. A good formula without much cash outlay and risk. Greg moved on to Vail somewhere down the line. Don't really know who took over GMMOL. Then GMOL moved across the walkway to Equipe Sport. Still a good selection of boots. Probably similar setup in terms of inventory and service.

Haven't keep track of GMOL since Greg left. Over the years,I have seen signage for GMOL over at Bromley. Now, they are back on route 30 off the Stratton access road. Haven't been inside.

Inventory and cash flow are tough nuts to crack for small business. Lots of competition for services around Stratton.

 

[Tony S]

Interesting thread. I got new boots last fall and they've basically been working well but I need to go back for a tweak after 40 days or so.

On one side especially I'm getting a lot of Achilles area discomfort when I pressure the front of the boot/ski. I'm the opposite of you, @L&AirC ; I have LOTS of dorsiflexion range. At the Taos gathering @Near Nyquist was the third fitter to confirm this. I wonder how these observations relate. If you benefited from a heel lift, I wonder if my guy will year or a toe lift.

 

[David]

I drove 24 hours to my boot fitter and a flight with a weekend stay for my second fitting! Worth every penny and cost!
We drive 3 hour to ski!

 

[EricG]

I’m dreading getting new boots this year. I had a set of BD Foam liners made last September fir the boots I used all last winter and they were perfect.....

But my PT has suggested I move into a stiffer shell, which means starting over again. After using BD Foam liners I’m not sure I want to go back to stock liners in a new boot. I guess I start prepping the checkbook now for boots + liners.

 

[lvlcrank]

I flew to Europe, so no judgement on a 3 hr drive

 

[crgildart]

Pffft, I often drive three hours to ski for two hours.... each way three hours so 6 hours of driving for a 2 hour ski session.

 

[EricG]

Pffft, I often drive three hours to ski for two hours.... each way three hours so 6 hours of driving for a 2 hour ski session.

I guess I need not complain about the 10 min drive from my office to my boot guy or going out the back door to walk 250’ to the lift. Lol.

 

[Brian Finch]

3 hours? That’s not crazy- putting a boot shop in you’re basement?!

I’ll be skiing Stratton more next season & will have to check out GMOL again.

 

[crgildart]

It's 3D printed boot shells and liners from perfect scans of your feet that will put boot fitters out of business.. That and when the DIN standard finally changes over to a wider footprint universally. When the bottom of ski boots are shaped more like the bottom of snowboard boots instead of being up on a 64 mm plank the overall comfort of ski boots will increase dramatically. And, it will happen when more people are skiing wider skis. When racers are skiing on 80mm waist skis boot DIN will probably finally change.

 

[David]

It's 3D printed boot shells and liners from perfect scans of your feet that will put boot fitters out of business.. That and when the DIN standard finally changes over to a wider footprint universally. When the bottom of ski boots are shaped more like the bottom of snowboard boots instead of being up on a 64 mm plank the overall comfort of ski boots will increase dramatically. And, it will happen when more people are skiing wider skis. When racers are skiing on 80mm waist skis boot DIN will probably finally change.

So what's wrong with DIN?