My boot buying experience...

I have just bought some boots and thought I'd tell all in case someone out there has a similar problem.

The problem I had was with cramping underneath the widest part of the foot. This was awful with hire boots (3 times, 3 different boots), and the worst pair meant I was having to stop every five, yes five, minutes to take them off and stretch/massage my feet. All the hire boots initially felt comfy.

Today I went to a UK store and had a fitting. The first thing the fitter identified was that although I buy size 9 (UK) shoes, my feet are actually size 8. The reason was that I apparently have wideish feet (double E when I checked with my mum!), and that was the reason for the cramping with the standard fit hire boots. The second thing he identified was that I was slightly overtightening the feet buckles; let the fitter advise how tight to go.

The first pair I tried started to hurt after about 10 mins walking round the
shop, and a "higher volume" pair was found. These hurt slightly on the right
but this time after about 20 mins. I then tried a third make, again "higher volume" which didn't feel quite as snug. The fitter wanted me to try a fourth make, which he had fitted successfully to people with a similar problem to mine, but he had sold out of these the day before. He suggested coming back when they were in stock, which I agreed with. However, just to double-check the fit of the second pair, I decided to try them again. This time the right foot didn't hurt even after 20 mins...I think my feet must have been suffering the effects of the first pair. So he went ahead with fitting this pair, and did the shell check, liner check, looking for red marks on your feet after 20 minutes wearing, final fitting etc.

I deliberately haven't given any makes/models/colours 'cos I think you really should go to a fitter, and they will know what makes/models will suit anyway.

So, I followed all the other good advice around and I found the following most important to me:
1) Go to a fitter, get measured, tell him/her you main problem(s),
2) Keep boots on for 10-15 mins at least (less if problem becomes obvious/painful sooner), and walk around the store,
3) Let your feet recover/rest between boots,
and finally
4) Allow a complete morning or afternoon...you shouldn't be in and out in half an hour.

In the end I paid £231 all in, including a pair of superfeet insoles (£31, which do feel more supportive than the supplied insoles). Ain't cheap but hopefully well worth it in the long run.

Hope that helps,
Mark.

Mark, you are so right! My wife spent all of this summer buying ski boots from ebay in an attmept to find a pair that fit her. She's 6ft 2 and has large feet for a lady, after 7 unsuccesful purchases we found a shop in Leeds called Severn Sports and spent 4 hours trying on just about every possible make / size combination you could imagine before she finally plumped for a pair of Head (despite insisting she wanted Salomon before entering the store). She has used these a number of times on the dry slope and on the ' real snow' at Milton Keynes and each time reports that the boots feel like wearing a pair of slippers!! So the moral is there is nothing better than taking the time to have a pair of boots professionally fitted. For the record she bought last years model boot for £80 and re-sold the 7 pairs on ebay for a whopping £400 profit, so not all that bad!!!

I hope your boots bring you many years of pain free skiing!!

Ebay is great, but you have to have some knowledge, the right expectations and most importantly - very average feet. You must also be prepared to do a little DIY bootfitting. It does allow you to try different boots at a reasonable price and if you have regular access to a slope, in real use.
A boot may fit perfectly, but may not be the best for what you want to do.

Trencher

Hi there, first post!

I purchased a new pair of boots last year. I have small feet (size 7 uk) that are narrow so getting boots can be difficult, I also have fallen arches resulting in sore feet a lot of the time.

I went to Ellis Brigham in Manchester Jan 06 told him all of these issues, I tried on about 4 different pairs. Eventually settled for a Set of Salamons. It took almost 3 hours to buy them - skiing 06 in Les Arcs proved that they were worth every penny of the £300!!

Next question.....

Is it worth buying my own skis? I am middle intermediate skiier but only go once a year???

Iceman

Iceman,
Once a year,,,,,why do you deprive yourself so much. I guess some people like to suffer before they get pleasure!

I would not buy a pair of skis just for one trip!

You must ask yourself why just once a year since you learn or progress very little in skiing at that rate. I suspect once you get "better" and want to reach the heights of pleasure you will change priorities. It will happen!

Just make sure you get a ski that helps you progress!

Once a year because on money! In Egland we dont get much snow so it can be an expensive sport to do more than once, to be fair this year I am going twice. But still for just a week, So come the Wednesday I am improved, then go homne on the saturday. 16 Years skiing. finding it harder to improve now. Going to try some powder skiing this year!

Ice

Iceman - for once a year you are best off renting; you can hire the best gear each year and don't have the hastle of extra baggage (and costs) if flying.

With good discounts for pre-booked hire (see above!), and hire shops that offer much better levels of service than a few years ago, owning skis only becomes economically sensible if you are able to ski several weeks a year and service them yourself.

Another big plus for renting is that almost all hire shops, depending on the package, will let you swap skis during the week - so if conditions change or you want to just try a different ski, then you can.

Good hire shops will also happily service your skis overnight should they need it during the week.

But Pavelski is right... search your feelings, you know it to be true... to ski is your destiny... and one week is not enough... 8)