Cheapest country to buy equipment ?

I have always found the UK to be the cheapest place to buy ski gear, but I will always try to demo skis before buying them.

SwingBeep wrote:
As I said above there's a lot more to boot fitting than most people realise.

Nonsense, it's all voodoo. :)

The best boots I've ever had are the Salamon heat moulded shell ones I have now. They fit almost perfectly. The only area I think I have a problem with is on my right heel where there seems to be too much movement. I have tried some x-shaped neoprene inserts around the ankle whch helped, bu there is still a bit of movement in my right heel. Any tips to try and seat my heel more firmly?

There are a few other things you could try, but if you've already tried an X shaped pad then it must be pretty loose.

Stick a chevron shaped piece of EVA foam to the back of the liner above the calcaneus.

Add a shim to the top of the boot board to reduce the volume a bit.

Get some Nordica heel retainers.

Or some of Ezeefit ankle booties.

Have you tried taking them back to the shop?

Have you tried taking them back to the shop?

Yes, I have a few times. They're excellent (Selkirk sports in Golden, BC) and I will get them to have a look at them again this season. These days my feet seem to change a lot more over the season, the right one in particular. The first season was fine without the x strip (my mistake, it's foam not neoprene), then the x strip was put in last season. The movement only became an issue at the end of last season and I think it's starting to compound the packing out of the liner which has seen over 100 ski days now. I had the same issue with previous boots bought in the UK.

I was considering getting a new cold temperature liner for this season anyway so I might give that a go and get them to do remould of the shell. But I didn't want to do that for at least a few weekends, so my feet get used to being in ski boots again. Thanks for the detailed help.

In the meantime your tips are interesting. I wasn't aware of the heel retainers or the ankle booties. I will probably give the booties a try and let you know how they worked out. That might prolong the life of the existing liners which are fine otherwise.

100 days is a fair bit of use, so the liners will be getting tired. If you have to walk a bit to get to the lifts then the soles might have worn beyond the safe limit (<18mm measured >32 mm back from the front of the toe lug), so I would check them before buying new liners.



It sounds to me that your feet are not the same size, which is not uncommon and that your previous fitters might have sold you boots that were sized to fit your larger foot. It's better to get a pair that are the right size for the smaller foot and have the other one stretched / ground out to fit.

If I lived in your neck of the woods I would go and see Lou Rosenfeld in Calgary.

You can also try non-stock liners like Zipfits. But have them fitted in the shop where you buy them. They will last very long time without packing out (about 200 days) and when they start packing out you will be able to add more material to them to get a tight fit again.

Thanks for the tip, SwingBeep.