Bootfitter's Notes: Correctly Sizing Ski Boots

Occasionally we get a skier who is completely turned around on how best to find a great fitting pair of ski boots.

Often this person has skied a boot too big, through no malicious means - perhaps they were in a hurry, or there was a great sale, or the salesperson was relatively new to bootfitting, or didn’t have the time to invest in selecting the proper shell and inform you how it is supposed to fit.

By the time these poor folks end up in the Start Haus they are in so much pain and misery they are on the brink of giving up skiing and many times under no circumstances trust the next bootfitter who is going to try new boots on their feet, and for good reason; it hasn’t worked in the past.

This scenario is heartbreaking at the beginning but almost always has a very happy outcome.  Simply stated, skiing gives me almost more enjoyment than anything I have found in my life and I and all the staff at the Start Haus want to give you, dear consumer, the best chance at loving our sport the way we do.

Everyone needs a boot that fits the shape of their foot.  Whether the boot has been modified to fit or not, I’ll say it again, everyone needs a boot that fits the shape of the foot.  If your foot is skinny, guess what; you should have a skinny ski boot.

Same goes for width, instep* height, heel and ankle shape, everything that goes into the boot is expected to fit correctly. At the Start Haus we buy the boots we want from the manufacturers to fit different foot shapes specifically, and our trained boot fitters know how these boots fit and will offer the options that are closest to your foot.

I know I’m repeating myself, but sizing has to be correct.

The way we check size is to remove the liner put the foot in the boot, slide the toes to the front and check for the three reasonable fit sizes ¾ of an inch, for the recreational skier, ½ inch for the aggressive skier, and “holy cow that is tight” for the racer.

It is not uncommon for us to be taking someone down two sizes from their existing boot to the correct size. This takes a lot of trust on your part dear patron, and we love you for it.

However, in some cases the pendulum has swung too far, for example, someone was skiing a boot too big, and the rookie eager box store bootfitter fresh from a company meeting gets the customer in a shell too small, or one that is far too low on the instep, or doesn’t fit the foot in other ways.

Another scenario, and this is a personal favorite, starts with the client stating, “my friend is an expert skier and he tells me that my feet are supposed to hurt because his feet hurt, so I want a Tecnica in size 9.”

Your feet are not supposed to hurt.  Further, and feel free to think long and hard about this, is your friend really even that good, or just a blowhard? We want snug, not painful.

Being in the right size ski boot may take a little custom fitting to make it fit great with no hot spots or problems, but once you have a pair of boots in the right size and shape you will look forward to a great season with precise fitting ski boots, and comfort and performance to match.