So like everyone else I've always had boot problems. It is extremely frustrating because they can affect your skiing in such a large way. I've left the mountain around 1 or 2 some days because my feet hurt so bad. I would like to stay till closing generally. So after coming on here you always hear about seeing a bootfitter. Unfortunately, most stores don't have anyone that deserves the title bootfitter. Even in ski towns like Tahoe. I've been to stores where guys ask my shoe size and just throw me a boot. Thats it. Others are halfway there where they improperly measure you and kind of guess what boot to fit you in but they still let you choose your boot in the end. Finally I'd had enough. I researched and found....
Starthaus ski shop in Truckee on the North Shore of Tahoe. They were highly recommended. When you first walk in the first thing to notice is that there are no boots on the wall. They are all in their boxes still. So you can't be unconsciously swayed and biased by the way the boot looks. I checked in for my appointment. My fitter asked me how many days I skied a year, what type of skiing, and any special problems I had. He then had me take my socks off and flexed my feet and what not. He then measured my foot. Then he set me up with custom footbeds which was the coolest process to watch. I now understand why these are so much better than premade ones and he told me it makes the most difference. It did.
So then he brought out 2 boots for me to try. A Lange boot and an Atomic boot. I wore the Lange ones for a while with my footbeds in but something just wasn't right. So he then took back both boots since he said they were similar. I watched him pace around the room trying to find a boot. Mind you I can't see any of the boots. He brings over Fulltilts of all things, a boot I hadn't even thought of as being for me. The liner helped with my larger calf size and it didn't have as many pressure points as the Lange. He then sanded down a tiny bit of my footbeds because I had a specific issue. He then correctly molded the liners and saw me out with a boot I was happy with. It was extremely expensive, but I don't want to have to buy another boot for fit reasons. Only reason will be for the boot breaking down.
I just wanted to share this because getting boots fit can be quite discouraging when you can't find someone who knows what they are doing. But generally you can get a sense of who knows what. There is hope out there people, bootfitters exist!
