Guide On: How to Buy Ski Boots

so im a guy whos like 6 foot and weigh about 150-160 pounds, and im looking for a new freestyle boot to suit me, ive got a high arch and a medium width foot and i mostly ski park

which boot would be best for me?

i was kinda lookin at the new spk's and spk pro's as well as the dalbello krypton rampage or somethin like it
 
Why are you looking at SPK's AND Kryptons. SPK's are relatively wide, while Kryptons are rather narrow. Its impossible for both boots to fit you.

Its very hard to reccomend boots on the net. Try Foils, Scratch, Guns, or Mojo's. Those are all pretty everage fitting boots.
 
So I have some narrow feet and chicken legs. The other day I picked up a pair of Dalbello Il Moro's for a sick price. I love them, they feel great on my feet and I love the flex. The only thing that bothers me is there is one small pressure point on the top of my right shin, it's not there on my left at all. But it sometimes it will hurt quite a bit while flexing forwards.

I have some pretty fucked up shins, mostly from running, which has led to a lot of shin problems. I think these might help out alot with the new innovative design. Any thing I could try that might help relieve that small pressure on the top of my shin?
 
Try to get back to your shop. They should be able to pin-point the problem, and grind it down for you.
 
Ya I have to still get them heat molded. It's really annoying because other than that little pressure point, they are amazing and I love them. I think it is also probably just me, I was on the verge of stress fracturing my shins a few years ago from over running like I said and of the 4 stress fractures I've had none of them have healed to completion. It's an annoying problem that has plagued me every season with terrible shin bang. We'll see what they say at the shop I guess.
 
When you buy a boot, the liner will be very thick and fluffy. After a while, it "Packs" down. Imagine a matress. When you first buy it, its fluffy and soft, yet, as time goes on, it becomes harder and more firm.
 
Thanks, this guide helped me a lot in going into a boot fitting. Now I have to choose if I want to buy a park boot or boot more focused on actual "skiing".
 
what are teh stiffest boots that you guys know of ?

Technica Diablo Magma's from about 4 years ago. Ridiculously stiff. But from boots that are out right now, pretty much everyone hit it on the head with Lange. Their WC 120 is very stiff.
 
first off, great thread guys, really good to know.

i'm in the market for some new boots and im going to get them custom fitted.

i,ve got really bad circulation in my feet especially and am therefore looking into getting the soles that become heated, has anyone heard about them, or know anything about them, they are quite expensive but worth the money in my opinion.

shed some light
 
get the Thermic heaters.

definately pricey but then again, what are warm feet worth to you? i'm getting a set this year because i sit on a judges' stand every now and again so i want my feet to be warm and i hate riding on the back of a sled to get there.

 
yep i have the atomic race tec 150 for racing, got those last year its fuckin stiff.

i also just bought technica the agent 120 for freeriding.

i dont race anymore, but i might like 3 yrs from now so im going to keep the atomic for now...
 
good call. i ride either an Atomic X-130 or a Lange Freeride 120.

both rock for pretty much anything now that i've tricked the Atomic with boosters and shock absorbers

 
i have a 2 year old pair of nordica beasts that i had customed fitted just like you recommended (i actually read the ski magazines not just look at the pictures). anyway, even with this knowledge i feel that i should have shopped better. The boots fitting better allowed my skiing to progress but now i wish i would have been more aggressive with my fit. i went for comfort and probably paid the price with power transfer now that these bad boys have packed out to the fullest. so here's my question...

can i breathe new life into the shells which were fitted well i think/flex is ok/etc with some custom liners? if so, any pointers on going through that process? can i take my footbeds into the new liners (they were custom cork too)? any ballpark on price? or should bite the bullet and go for a whole new setup (which i dont really want to do?

thanks for your time, info, and wisdom.
 
Can anyone name the best bootfitter(s) in Aspen village, or just outside (I'll be staying in Basalt). I'm sure I could probably ask someone when I got there, but then what would I talk about on the forums?

To the dude who had his boots fitted badly and now has deformed feet, I feel your pain. I had some X Wave 8s fitted badly a few years ago, and had pressure points just behind my little toe on the outside of both feet - they got inflamed and grew into bony knobs. I probably left it too long to eventually get the points blown out and get custom footbeds, but when I did, it was well worth it. When they were at their worst, they looked like a 6th toe wanting to grow out of my foot or something (I'm only exaggerating a bit). They stopped getting swollen and have shrunk over time, but they're still there and I'll probably never get rid of them.
 
be careful when going to surefoot. they know their stuff but you're going to pay a lot of money for smoke and mirrors.

ask a local you ride up the chair with where they get their stuff done.

i don't know about lyndon but i think i may take some time off next fall and do the masterfit course when it's in vermont. i don't work in a ski shop full time anymore since i took my rep job but it's definately an investment that can come back 10 fold if you want a higher paying shop job abroad
 
Im still in Highschool right now, but Im planning on being a history teacher at the highschool level. I would like to open my own shop, or to work in one, but it just doesnt seem to be the career for me. I want something a little more stable, and hell, with summers off, I could easily look into starting my own business.

I dont work in a shop either, and have had minimal fitting experience. Ive picked up alot of wisdom from local shop owners here, and from others on NS. Im by no means an expert fitter, but I have a pretty good idea what going on with ski boots.

And no, I have not, nor have the intention on taking the masterfit course. For now, Im going to concentrate on getting into university and getting my BA in Arts and Education.
 
NIce write-up, but as far as shell fitting goes you may want to add that it's easy to guestimate that inch of space (1.5 inches seems a bit much) but using your fingers. If you can slid two fingers behing your heel (stacked on top of eachother, not side by side) that's about an inch, and that's a comfy fit. If you want a snug fit, a little more than one finger will provide that for you.

Also, if you're going with head mold liners, go with Intuition. Also note that not all Intuition liners are the same. For example, Scarpa makes a Universal Intuition liner that is not the same as the liner that comes in a Spirit 4 boot. Same goes with Dalbello, they have their Gold/Silver etc. liners. Be sure to get the best liner you can, and fit your boot SNUG and get them heated up and make sure your boot fitter has you wearing foam or plastic toe cups over your toes.

I've fitted quite a few pairs of Scarpa and Dalbello boots with Intuition liners, and I'm not a boot fitter, but my customers love the fit of their boots. From what I've tried on myself, too, Dalbello boots are extremely comfortable with the Gold Intuition liner, and I'd recommend them to anyone who wants a pair of boots that'll last them for years.
 
If you are going to get intuition liners make sure they are moulded by someone that knows what they are doing - its VERY easy to screw that process up and waste a shitload of money.

And, Lyndon - I hadn't read this thread until now, but great work.
 
Intuition liners are actually really hard to screw up unless of course you burn them in the heating process.

the best liner on the market by far is the foam injected liner from conformable. now those are really easy to screw up.

calvin, any shop that sells high end product should be good for footbeds.

 
Oh yeah foam is a different story. I went to a conformab'le tech night and they showed the process and i'm defnitely not comfortable taking someones money to do that for them just yet!

With the intuitions, yeah you can do them at home wihtout much of a problem!

I was really meaning that someone with experience fitting them will know how to get the right fit. An inexperienced tech probably won't do things like making a little extra room in the toe box, making a good heel cup, avoid getting creases etc and of course there is the heating issue - Although they can be remoulded plenty of times - for the amount of $ you spend on them, you would want to get done right.
 
I think I do need new boots, as my feet kind of move around in my current ones. although they were bad to begin with and I bought them at sport chek.

also what is the difference between the walk setting and the ski setting? like what changes does it make in the boot? I can't tell any significant difference.. I just assumed it was a feature on cheap boots that does nothing.
 
you my dear are correct!

ski/walk features for the most part are nothing but gimmicks to make old people buy boots. some work but must don't.

if you're moving around in your boot it's time for new ones. for the love of god do not go to sport chek! you're in Vancouver so go see the guys at Snowcovers. they'll get you all set up proper

 
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the silver buckle can be moved towards the vertical part of the boot. this puts more pressure closer to you ankle, I found this helped a lot with locking my ankle in. Use this in conjunction with the instep buckle back placement,
 
I can totally attest to getting a good ski sock. Last year I forgot socks and ended up buying some X-Socks at the mountain for $40... I swore I'd never pay that much for a sock, EVER.

Holy crap was I wrong, these socks rule and now I want another pair (cause I ski 3 times a week).

So now the only problem is that I have to convince myself that I should spend $40 again.
 
X-socks are great but imo the price is a little high. look at getting a wool ski-d sock from DeFeet. they're a lot less than a pair of x-socks and i can honestly say you wont be disapointed.

 
I live in London Ontario for the moment and have a pair of salomon foils

Does anyone know a shop where I can go get these custom fitted? Every now and then my boots start to hurt the top of my feet on the middle-outside area. I think its something in the boot shell or a tab on the liner that is causing the uncomfortableness. However it only happens when I am skiing the steeps, never in the park.
 
I know it's alittle off topic, but how do you store your boots for a long period of time?(unbuckled fully, partially buckled, buckled to where you usually buckle them to, fully buckled, etc)
 
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