Bootfitters in slc?

[ColoradoDogfart]

anybody got recommendations for boot fitters in slc or surrounding areas? would like to still keep them on somewhat of a budget but would def be willing to spend a little more to get nice boots from mofos that actually know what their doing if it means I don't wanna bite into a brick every time I have to wear them

 

[GayWolf420]

L9 seems like a good "on a budget" place to get fitted. Lots of decent inventory too (but I'm not sure how it is now with changeover occurring and people starting to buy gear). That's all I got though. If you want to really ball-out, take a drive up to PC and visit PC Ski Boot. Those guys are wizards.

 

[NutsToRail]

Disclaimer: I got weird feet. high arch, different lengths/width, pronation, and stupid wide last. Not everyone will have the same issues I had.

That being said, I would heavily advise against level 9. They did a one size fits all type fitting, (worked for my girlfriend who has more normal feet) while happily running up my tab making adjustments but not doing any measurements; except for when I asked her to she pulled out a tape measure and measured my last. Turns out she was about 6mm too narrow and fucked my feet for half a season.

Next I went to Sports Den, the old dog I worked with initially seemed very knowledgeable, and helped fix the pisspoor footbed level 9 had done. They did a digital scan which was far more detailed than anything level 9 did, but still felt inconsistent bc I had different measurements each time I did the scan. When I went in for new boots, they had a fleet of high schoolers doing fittings and modifications and it definitely felt far less knowledgeable, so if you go to Sports Den, only work with the old dogs as they actually have experience and know whats up.

Due to the poor experience with the 16 year old when I went to sports den, boots still hurt like a bitch when I skied so I said fuck it and spent the extra cash (that I should have spent initially) and went to Gorsuch in Park City. The guy there has been fitting ski boots for 35 years, so he explained in immense detail what he was changing and why. Not only was he knowledgeable, but he 3D scanned my feet and digitally put them in to 3D models of the boots he wanted to try. Their software highlights the areas where it would need stretched and told him how far to mold the shell, resulting in a way more precise fitment than "where do you feel pressure? okay ill stretch around that area and we will keep trying"

Again, maybe I had a unique shitshow of an experience, but after dropping $1500+ on 2 pairs of boots and many fitting sessions, I wish I went to Gorsuch and did the expensive fitting the first time. Mine came out to about $1150 for the 2023 boots and fitting

**This post was edited on Oct 6th 2022 at 10:58:12pm

 

[b00mSkis]

deep power house alta

 

[Schoess]

If you can't afford to have someone fit you, this guide is really good and I have had amazing success with it. Just don't be in a rush, buy a temp gun from Harbor Freight and make sure to measure the temp of multiple parts of the boot.

As long as you don't massively overheat the boot, you really shouldn't be able to screw it up too bad. Also also when your foot is in the boot molding it, try not to shift your weight like crazy, and if you want a bigger tow box, cut up a bunch of sock toes and put them over your toes, but under the ski sock to create that space during molding.

Last tip would be to find a cardboard box that's not much bigger than the boot, but that the entire boot fits into. That way you can buy a shitload of frozen peas and when you stand in the boot while it cools down, the bags are encasing the boot evenly, without you having to do anything. You can get a small block to stand on with your bare foot like a scrap piece of 2x4 or something. This will even out your hips and legs and make the molding of the boot more true to how you'll actually be wearing it and skiing in it.

If you don't feel comfortable doing it then bring it to a shop and have them do it like you originally planned but just know that this is an option.

 

[Denseclouds]

Disclaimer: I got weird feet. high arch, different lengths/width, pronation, and stupid wide last. Not everyone will have the same issues I had.

That being said, I would heavily advise against level 9. They did a one size fits all type fitting, (worked for my girlfriend who has more normal feet) while happily running up my tab making adjustments but not doing any measurements; except for when I asked her to she pulled out a tape measure and measured my last. Turns out she was about 6mm too narrow and fucked my feet for half a season.

Next I went to Sports Den, the old dog I worked with initially seemed very knowledgeable, and helped fix the pisspoor footbed level 9 had done. They did a digital scan which was far more detailed than anything level 9 did, but still felt inconsistent bc I had different measurements each time I did the scan. When I went in for new boots, they had a fleet of high schoolers doing fittings and modifications and it definitely felt far less knowledgeable, so if you go to Sports Den, only work with the old dogs as they actually have experience and know whats up.

Due to the poor experience with the 16 year old when I went to sports den, boots still hurt like a bitch when I skied so I said fuck it and spent the extra cash (that I should have spent initially) and went to Gorsuch in Park City. The guy there has been fitting ski boots for 35 years, so he explained in immense detail what he was changing and why. Not only was he knowledgeable, but he 3D scanned my feet and digitally put them in to 3D models of the boots he wanted to try. Their software highlights the areas where it would need stretched and told him how far to mold the shell, resulting in a way more precise fitment than "where do you feel pressure? okay ill stretch around that area and we will keep trying"

Again, maybe I had a unique shitshow of an experience, but after dropping $1500+ on 2 pairs of boots and many fitting sessions, I wish I went to Gorsuch and did the expensive fitting the first time. Mine came out to about $1150 for the 2023 boots and fitting

**This post was edited on Oct 6th 2022 at 10:58:12pm

This is all extremely relevant and true.

That being said, if you want a place that literally specializes in bootfitting, check out the sports LOFT in Holladay. My homie Derek and his Dad are some of the best in the game in fittings/bootwork/custom footbeds.. All that being said, you will being paying for the experience/quality of work.

 

[kvan]

Go see either Brent Amesbury at Park City Ski Boot or Matt Schiller at Park City Boot Room.

I understand you're on a budget but spend what it takes to get fit properly. Sure beats having a shitty season due to ill fitting boots.

 

[Skibumsmith]

Did Inkline go out of business?

 

[PacificRimJob]

he 3D scanned my feet and digitally put them in to 3D models of the boots he wanted to try. Their software highlights the areas where it would need stretched and told him how far to mold the shell, resulting in a way more precise fitment than "where do you feel pressure? okay ill stretch around that area and we will keep trying"

Personally, I don't think any of these 3D scanners are anything but a waste of time for 99% of cases and is more of a means of fluffing the customer who's addicted to looking at a screen (which, I guess to some dorks out there, customer experience of seeing their foot laid out in a bitmap is enough to give them added trust in their fit?)

Anyone with a fair amount of training should be able to analyze what's going on with your foot in half the time (I tell people these '3D scanners' are more analogous to sending a probe to Mars - it works, but it takes a lot more time than having a scientist do it - and more time in the shop means less time skiing)

As for its precision in terms of where to stretch the shell, I find that highly fucking speculative. The variation of boot shells and feet and how the foot rests inside of the shell once it's supported by a correctly built footbed, the way the liner sits and whether it has the flexibility to stretch accurately along with the shell, and the varying degrees of how much of a pretty pretty princess someone can be about any amount of pressure on their foot is pretty damn difficult to build into a software programme lol. An experienced set of eyes with half a brain between them should be downright superior in this regard.

In any case, I'm super glad you found a good fit, but I have a really really hard time believing it was because of some magic 3D gizmo after seeing how these things work first-hand. Image scanners and pressure plates can assist in certain things, but they dont compare in the slightest to hands-on boot diagnostics and analysis of the foot...

Personally, I also suggest going to some shops up the way in PC.. I've heard good things about Boot Room... the guy who runs that does a lot of fits for racers and he's really technical and far nerdier than I am about boots and feet.

I'm really surprised SLC proper doesn't have a really world-renowned boot shop. Seems like the absolute place for it.

 

[BearsOnKetamine]

bro def go to surefoot and say ur a kid

 

[ColoradoDogfart]

L9 seems like a good "on a budget" place to get fitted. Lots of decent inventory too (but I'm not sure how it is now with changeover occurring and people starting to buy gear). That's all I got though. If you want to really ball-out, take a drive up to PC and visit PC Ski Boot. Those guys are wizards.

Disclaimer: I got weird feet. high arch, different lengths/width, pronation, and stupid wide last. Not everyone will have the same issues I had.

Again, maybe I had a unique shitshow of an experience, but after dropping $1500+ on 2 pairs of boots and many fitting sessions, I wish I went to Gorsuch and did the expensive fitting the first time. Mine came out to about $1150 for the 2023 boots and fitting

**This post was edited on Oct 6th 2022 at 10:58:12pm

This is all extremely relevant and true.

That being said, if you want a place that literally specializes in bootfitting, check out the sports LOFT in Holladay. My homie Derek and his Dad are some of the best in the game in fittings/bootwork/custom footbeds.. All that being said, you will being paying for the experience/quality of work.

Just replying to a few I saw relevant,

I do got lowkey fucked feet (bad pronation and super flat feet) so I def want somebody who knows the mechanics of a foot. My only problem is that I don't got 1k to spend on boots so PC is out of the question. Ik shops have some sales rn from last years boots, would I be able to go in get suggestions and maybe find a better deal online and then pay directly for them to be fit and get footbeds? if so how much does this usually run just for the work. Im unfortunately skeptical of boot fitting because my last 2 pairs have been "fitted"( granted they were from epic mountain gear) and have only given me issues while the ones prior that I used to just get from a jr program or ones I copped used from rei on a whim never really gave me issues with 0 adjustment of footbeds haha. thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Skiblade420]

 

[Denseclouds]

Just replying to a few I saw relevant,

I do got lowkey fucked feet (bad pronation and super flat feet) so I def want somebody who knows the mechanics of a foot. My only problem is that I don't got 1k to spend on boots so PC is out of the question. Ik shops have some sales rn from last years boots, would I be able to go in get suggestions and maybe find a better deal online and then pay directly for them to be fit and get footbeds? if so how much does this usually run just for the work. Im unfortunately skeptical of boot fitting because my last 2 pairs have been "fitted"( granted they were from epic mountain gear) and have only given me issues while the ones prior that I used to just get from a jr program or ones I copped used from rei on a whim never really gave me issues with 0 adjustment of footbeds haha. thanks for the suggestions!

Assuming you got the boots for half off (around 450 bucks) you'd then pay about 250-350 for custom footbeds and a canting/alignment other adjustments that might be needed.. In the end its just better to pay the extra cash up front and let a REPUTABLE boot fitter completely fit you - because if they do, they'll tell you exactly what shell is right for your foot, and then should include all other adjustments for free ie. The services mentioned above