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At the Start Haus there are a couple of different scenarios where we will stretch the toe area of a ski boot.

First, many of our athletes have a big toe that protrudes larger than on the normal foot.  In this instance the athlete will often downsize to get the same control felt by someone with a more squared of toe shape, and most likely a toe stretch will be necessary to make this fit viable many times before they even leave our shop.

We have several toe blocks that we have shaped to match different toe and foot shapes.

Another group who downsize are those with an extremely narrow foot, often feel no matter how low volume the boot is they still have too much room.

Top-level racers and other athletes at the elite level downsize to ensure there is no movement in the foot whatsoever, and hence no lost energy to the ski edge.

In this video Jim Schaffner demonstrates a punch for a Lange World Cup for an athletes who needs more toe room.

Jim makes sure the boot is protected from the toe and

As the Start Haus delves more deeply into the backcountry, we've taken a different tact when it comes to skis - instead of jumping on the latest and greatest ultralight, rando-racing inspired sticks - we've picked backcountry skis that actually ski as well as alpine skis.

That means skis from manufacturers with real experience in ski design - Armada, Atomic, Blizzard, Dynastar, K2, Line, Nordica, Rossignol, Salomon and Volkl - who have shaved weight from alpine skis to give you something that will make the down worth the up.

The truth is, the line between alpine and backcountry skis continues to blur, and just about any ski mounted with a Dynafit binding is going to be light enough, depending on your end goal. But the following skis stand out as great backcountry tools that don't skimp on the fun factor on the way down, each one making for a great in-bounds ski as well.

The Dalbello Lupo SP is a new boot with a burly hike-ski function and all the big mountain accouterments a manufacturer can pack into a ski boot.

Dalbello worked with one of their top athletes, Sean Pettit (hence the initials SP), to come up with a functioning narrow fit boot with durable rubber soles and an unlocking cuff for hiking terrain.

The Lupo is categorized as a 97 mm width ski boot, putting it in the narrow category. However, it’s a little roomier than others in the class once the Intuition liner is cooked to the foot.

Featuring a three-piece cabrio, design, the Lupo offers an alternative to the traditional two-piece four buckle boots which make up the majority of ski boots sold. The Lupo is all about performance on the whole mountain, and mostly for that matter off groomed trail.

Editor's note: We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled programing to take a look at a topic that's generated a lot of questions and some confusion - different aftermarket ski boot liners. James, who has been writing many of the Bootfitter's Notes blog posts, explains the differences between Injected Foam, Zipfit, World Cup and Intuition liners in this video:

Have any questions? Let us know in the comment section below, or send an email to Online@starthaus.com.

The Nordica Dobermann EDT 130 is one of the better boots in the test for the narrow-footed expert.  Nordica has redesigned the Dobermann to be slightly roomier toe box, and with more space along the sixth toe* than in previous versions - but it still has the same Italian power and precision we’ve grown to know and love.

To clarify, there are a couple of Dobermann boots. This post is reviewing the Pro EDT, not to be confused with the World Cup.  The World Cup uses a completely different mold and is for top level racers.

Tecnica has long been manufacturing some excellent expert caliber narrow fitting boots, and the R series is no different. The 9.8 has two flex options with Tecnica R9.8 130 and Tecnica R9.8 110.

The R9.8 can be categorized as a "race" boot - not a true FIS plug boot, but great for young racers and master racers alike - unlike the tighter true race boots with lasts between 93 and 95 mm.

The 130 flex option will be appropriate for expert men and charging women used to stiffer boots.  The 110 flex will be a smart choice for smaller or shorter men, and most expert female skiers.

See the 2015 Wide All Mountain Ski Comparison Here

For some years, there was a pretty significant trend among good skiers, especially in the west, to experiment with wider and wider skis as everyday choices.

As these skis proliferated and rocker started sprouting up on almost everything, this became more and more common, generated more and more hype, and the ski manufacturers poured out dozens of models every year.

Pretty soon, we were seeing folks out on the hill with 110-120mm wide skis on days when it hadn’t snowed in a week or more. Often, these skis would have pretty significant rocker and you could hear the tips flapping around from a hundred yards away.

Everyone seemed happy at first, and all was smiles and giggles but eventually, the trend started to reverse itself. Some of these skiers were (and still are) happy with “powder” skis for everyday use, but a pretty fair number came back to the store to buy an 88-98mm ski to go along with the big ones.

It didn’t take long for the market trend to slowly start to reverse and the ski manufacturers started knocking down the amounts of rocker and they put the brakes on introductions of new skis beyond the 118mm (or so) range.

Meanwhile, the sales of the 95-98mm skis had taken off, and the Volkl Mantra became the best selling ski in the US market a few years ago. There was soon plenty of competition as a number of really successful skis in that width range hit the market, and sure enough, sales shot up.

The folks that had a powder ski and a 95-98mm ski were pretty well set and as long as they were OK with multiple skis, it was all good. However, there were skiers that were just tired altogether of the really wide stuff, and others that only wanted one ski, but wanted a little more soft snow bias than what most of the 98s offered.

The ski makers have pounced on this trend and are now introducing a lot of new “all mountain” skis in the 103-108mm range, also called big mountain skis, or freeride skis. Many of these skis are highly useful for the skier who prioritizes soft conditions but still has to deal with packed snow from time to time. Most of these models have some rocker but usually not a lot of it.

Last week we got a request to review some of the boots for our hard-charging female skiers. First on the docket in the expert female category will be the Nordica La Nina.

The La Nina is a new boot from the ground up, replacing the popular Spitfire, which was an absolute go-to for a high-performance woman’s ski boot at the Start Haus.

Salomon and Atomic have done a major update on the STH binding series, and we're really impressed.

The Salomon STH2 13 and Salomon STH2 16, along with the Atomic STH 16 get WTR, or "Walk To Ride," adapting the toe height to backcountry ski boots for those who are looking to use a backcountry boot as a one ski boot quiver.

Here's Phil on all the new changes and features:

The Salomon X Max series from Salomon was new for the 2012-13 season, and at that time, consisted of men’s boots only.

For the 2013-14 season, the series has been expanded to include Women’s boots as well.

The X Max models are 98mm forefoot-lasted boots, and come in various flexes. We carry the Salomon X Max 130 and Salomon X Max 100 for men and the Salomon X Max 110 for women.

See the 2015 All Mountain Ski Comparison Here

Our most popular category at the Start Haus is all mountain skis around 98mm under foot, a generalist, daily driver or quiver of one for many western skiers.

There is a trend these days to say that the plus or minus 98mm skis are the perfect ski width for everyone in the west - and that is simply not the case.

There are plenty of skiers out west that are well served by frontside skis, and a lot more (maybe even most) that are best suited by the roughly 88mm skis in our skinny all mountain ski review.

Naturally a quiver of skis is the best of all, and more is always better. But, for the skier with one ski, roughly a 50/50 priority towards packed vs. soft snow usage, and the capabilities to ski that terrain, yes, the 98mm all mountain skis skis may be the one.

As always, this category is loaded with talent and also with differences. Those differences can range from relatively dramatic to very subtle - and generally not about the width. The 3mm width difference from the narrowest to the widest of the skis we’ll review here are not a deciding factor when picking between them.

For the last several years, we at the Start Haus have been very impressed by the close fit of the Head Raptor 130 RS and Head Raptor 115 RS for those in search of a narrow, performance-oriented ski boot.  Austrian-based Head is a premier brand in ski racing, taking hundreds of podiums in all disciplines of alpine ski racing.

As a boot fitter, I find many people are surprised when I pull a Head boot as a valid option instead of some of the more well-known Italian based boot companies.

If you are an expert skier with a narrow foot and are in search of a stiffer flexing boot, I would argue you owe it to yourself to try a Head ski boot from the Raptor family.