Pros and Boot Sponsors

Ben.

Ben.

Active member
This has always made me wonder. Obviously, every persons foot simply does not fit every boot. So what happens when _____ pro gets offered a sponsorship by say Salomon boots, but has a ridiculously narrow foot. Do they turn it down for boots that do fit? or just have a ton of bootwork done?

haha i realize this really doesnt matter, its just something ive wondered
 
most boot companies have multiple boot lines that fit different feet so even though they probably cant get a perfect fit im sure they can get close and custom work can do the rest.
 
They get the shell customised so it fits their foot... I think onenerdykid said he used to do some of the fulltilt riders who didn't fit fulltilt boots generally.
 
I think they do just a ton of boot work if it can make the boot fit.

As for bindings, if one of their sponsors has connections to a binding manufacturer, then they usually use them. Otherwise, they use whatever they are comfortable with.

When 4FRNT used vist for their bindings, Hoji wouldnt use them, he used Salomon S916s
 
their boots in general tend to be wider though. i realize all companies make a variety of boots. but fulltilts are generally narrow. sollys are generally wide. etc.
 
i remember seeing sammy C wearing the ghost boot and im pretty sure thats cause it fits his foot better. i wear fulltilts but i really like the salomon ghost aswell
 
i hav the spk's and its a narrow boot by far... i hav a wide foot and a normal width in a boot wouldnt do to much to me but i had to do liek 4 hours of boot work and lots of trial and error to make it fit right
 
I have wide feet, the spk fits me greatm you must have Huge feet, why by the boot if it needs four hours of work to make it fit? why not buy something that is wider in the first place? i tried on boots to small and boots too big, im sure you could of found one that fir your right
 
i've wondered the binding thing too. are there any pros/semi-pros/well known skiers that actually pay for their own bindings?
 
even if they arent spanced (lol) they still dont pay for them im sure. knowing reps and what not.

but the other thing with bindings is you have big groups of companies that are together.

anyone on rossi/technica/dynastar/coreupt is gonna be on looks

solly/atomic are combined.

so i think unless you are like hoj and refuse to ride a binding (when deadbolts were the VIST) i think you pretty much just ride the binder assigned with your ski sponsor
 
Technica? If they are on technica they are going to use marker because technica/marker/volkl are all sister brands.
 
well lets ask asian allen..i believe he used to use spks. now im pretty sure hes with fulltilt?
 
Technica is actually with with Blizzard and Marker just makes their binding systems even though Marker is with K2. this whole parent company thing is actually pretty confusing and convoluted and should probably just be avoided all together.
 
they get a boot that fits. for example ive heard tanner doesnt ride the stock version of his ilmoro, but he rides a kryptonpro?, with ilmoro graphic. i have kryptons with the ilmoro graphic and blaster buckles.
 
i have been stating this for ages but everyone says "o they are custom boots". bullshit maybe salomon but def not a small company like full tilt. when everyone asked them to make a wider boot they werent able to make a wider version of the flexon mold so they settled for rebranding some cheap boots. maybe they get your shells punched and the liners fitted but its not gonna change the boots that much. i guarantee you unless your a major pro like tanner, simon, pep, bentchetler, pollard your gonna get the same boots as everyone else with minimal work not major custom shit companys like full tilt just cant afford that
 
SPK's are one of the highest volume boots on the market...

And Salomon has the Falcon line, along with the Ghost which are pretty low volume, not plug status, but low volume. Salomon also has the Impact line which is medium volume, and the new touring line based off of the Impact shell.

 
I was talking with my friend about this other day. Like in my case I have wide feet, which is clearly why I'm not currently sponsored by full tilt
 
exactly...

these... are not wide.. at all.

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aren't you the back country weenie who was hating on tucks? Yet you aren't aware that salomon makes just about every last boot possible from like 98 to 105.

Full tilt is a good example of your question though, in which case boot work, although there are definitely people that couldn't rock full tilts with any amount of boot work. that would be annoying.
 
good thing about salomon is they have the custom shell! ah ha but, boots all have different fits. and alot of brands cary intuition which is a little easier to deal with foot shape
 
I know a boot fitter in Aspen who does boot work for a lot of high profile skiers. Some of the boots I've seen him punch out are nothing short of reconstructed sculptures.
 
thanks for all the responses. i wasnt specifically talking about solly boots. just boots in general. i suppose someone like fulltilt wouldve been a better example but even with solly their park boots are all really wide, yet you see most of their park riders on them.
 
It depends on the boot sponsor I suppose. A boot company like Full Tilt has boots that are very customizable and next year FT has boots that are specified for a wider foot. FT FTW!
 
Salomon boots can range from extremely narrow (X3, Ghost) to narrow (Shogun, Falcon) to midrange (Impact) to wider (Mission). I assume that if someone was a big enough name to be worth putting in Salomon boots (the whole point of sponsorship is to expose your products) Salomon, or whichever company, would definitely make either a custom or graphically modified boot for them. For the most part, though, a boot company is going to have boots that will fit or near-enough fit a skier.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't FullTilts only go down to 98mm?
 
Full Tilt boots are very costomizable if you like breaking plastic. You can't do as much work on their boots as you can on say a lange RX 130. Nordica Enforcer, Salomon Shogun, Salomon Quest 12, list goes on.

next year fulltilt has put their name on a boot that has been used as a rental/intermediate boot in euroland for years.

FT for the sucks balls since K2 won't invest any r&d money into the program so they are left with the exact same boots (and plastic) that existed 20 years ago.

 
Theyre not that wide. wide sure, 102mm is pretty high volume, but really fucking wide is a stretch I think.

I have wondered this too, I just kinda figured if you really want a rider on your team you'll do some custom work to make it fit. It is tough to make a boot narrower, but if you can make a custom last, and only need it once a season for that person then it probably is more cost and time efficient to do that than lose the rider to another company. But in reality, maybe it is just magic, and any foot can actually fit in any boot.
 
OP poses a very good question. I think Vanular answered it best. I just got custom boots for the first time this year, Lange Banshee Pro's, and I am amazed at the amount of work they (Surefoot) can do on a boot shell. I have blowouts all over the boot, including blowing the toe out an extra half inch and widening both boots in two different spots. They literally went from feeling like medival torture devices but skiing great, to feeling great and skiing great. Highly reccomended, best money I've ever spent.
 
waaaaaay off. boot molds/lasts cost sooo much money per shell size. that's why they only make half sizes. to make a specific last for one single rider would be so so pricey. most companys make a wider offering for freeriders (SPK) and a narrower, often times stiffer high performance one (Falcon/Ghost). Chances are, mind you with a good amount of boot work, a team rider will be able to make one of those offerings work real well.
 
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