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Good boot fitter?

eatskisleep

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Have a family member that bought new ski boots last season and is having a lot of problems with pressure points etc. I know some boot fitters can work magic, reheat boots to moguls the liners etc. willing to pay $$ to bring the boots someplace and work with someone for a proper fit. Can anyone recommend a place?

Thanks. And Happy Thanksgiving!
 

skiur

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Pretty much any reputable store by a ski area will have boot fitters that can do what you want. Go to the one by the hill u frequent.
 

prsboogie

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Aug 13, 2014
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Have a family member that bought new ski boots last season and is having a lot of problems with pressure points etc. I know some boot fitters can work magic, reheat boots to moguls the liners etc. willing to pay $$ to bring the boots someplace and work with someone for a proper fit. Can anyone recommend a place?

Thanks. And Happy Thanksgiving!
http://www.forums.alpinezone.com/showthread.php?t=132234

Boot Fitter (different than boot fit)

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deadheadskier

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Last year, I bought some heat moldable boots. I was told that they may not work for me as I have a pretty high instep. But previous boots were never really able to address this. I got the Saloman X-Pro 120. I noticed that the 2nd buckle from the toe could be moved, it had three positions, which enabled me to move the buckle slightly above the hot spot.
46521580_10217868955305367_4888639957943451648_n.jpg

You can see the metal plate with the extra hole in it, actually has 3 holes. Score one!!!! That was nice, being able to move the buckle off the hot spot.

Then I went in to have the boot heat molded. But before I went in, I took some foot bed orthotic material that I had bought some years ago from Jeff Bokum (now deceased). I wore the boots for an hour to raise some red marks on my feet, which I promptly outlined with a sharpie. I cut some of this material to match the outlines I had drawn. Then I headed over to my belt sander and sanded these down on the edges, essentially making a little .... "mountain" or rounded pyramid that I could tape over the hot spot for molding purposes. We are talking about a quarter inch of slightly compressible material over the hot spot, tapered to nothing on the edges, about the size of a quarter or half dollar.

Then at the shop, while they heated up the boots, I duct taped the material to match the sharpie outlines, then rolled my socks up over my feet. Strap the boots on and assumed the position. Extra uncomfortable with the extra material in there, but the next day, it was kinda nice having that area of relief, if ever so slightly.

I had one area on the outside of my foot that needed just a little extra room. so I put my foot in the boot, and waited until I could feel it, then marked it with little dots from a sharpie. Took off the boot and removed the liner. Took a heat gun on low to the boot to soften it up, then from the inside, I took a 3/4" socket and rubbed it against the inside of the boot, slightly bowing out the boot, where I had put the black dots. Not much, just a tiny bit, enough for the final amount of relief.

When Jeff Bokum fitted my boots years ago, he was plenty talkative and explained how he did what he did. Biggest thing was he did just tiny amounts of adjustment. Being handy with my hands, I said to myself, I could do this stuff.

I am now sold on the heat moldable boots. I am also sold on the moveable buckle. I find it interesting that it happens often enough that Salomon felt the need to engineer it into their boots. This year, the outer shell is also heat moldable, not just the inner liner. Any boots I buy form here on in will likely be Salomon or similar heat moldable with the moveable buckle. Sure, they cost a little more, but you can get these boots to fit right in the shop that you buy them at. Without paying for the boot fitting service. A net balance equal. Many shops provide this as part of the service anyways. Buy a better boot with the features your foot needs, you'll be much happier.

Just sharing my experience.
What makes Richelsons so great is his method of measuring your feet and his database of boot measurements. He doesn't just take the limited data provided by the manufacturer. He gets in many different models from each major company and hand measures them in several locations inside the boot to feed all that information into his database. He has essentially a mathematical system for finding the best boot matches for every foot shape. By doing this he knows exactly what boot models will work for such things as high instep like you have.

He can also stretch, fill and do just about anything to customize shells, liners and foot beds to work with your current boots. However, it's always best to start with the closest to perfect boot that you can get. He can get you in such a boot without you ever even trying a pair on. In fact, you don't try on any boots when you visit him. He is not a ski boots retailer. You get sent away with a list of 8-10 models. He then sends you off to try them whether at a shop or ordering online. Then you go back to fine tune the fit.

It's a long process, but I'm unaware of other boot fitters that have such a precise method as he has.

Also interesting about Paul. He believes heat moldable liners and shells are mostly a gimmick.

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bizarrefaith

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Feb 12, 2019
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Paul is of the same mindset. I always went down 1 shell size. Paul sized me down 2 shell sizes. Professional racers often go down three!

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+3 for Paul and Richelson's.
The great thing about Paul is he thinks only about your feet and your skiing needs, and doesn't adhere strictly to any hard and fast rules about sizing. I'd always sized down 1-2 sizes (as many do), and I'd always suffered. Paul measured my feet and was very straight forward with me- "Look, you can size down if all you care about is performance but your feet will always be hamburger because your forefoot is so wide, we won't be able to stretch a sized down boot enough to make it comfortable" and let me make the decision. Not "You have to size down" or "We can make it work" -- just the facts and your actual options.
 
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