J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by SwingBeep

At St Anton the lift company (Arlberger Bergbahnen AG) via their piste rescue service (Pistenrettungsdienst) is responsible for attending accidents within the ski area. The name of the first aider (Pistenhelfer/in) who attended to your injuries should have been recorded in the accident report (Unfallbericht). Did they not include a copy when they invoiced you for the cost of treatment and transport to the ambulance? Was the accident reported to the Alpinpolizei (alpine police), they are responsible for investigating skiing accidents. I would have thought that all of this would be taken care of by your lawyer, have you engaged a lawyer who specialises in skiing accidents? http://www.pm-anwaelte.at/en/specialist-areas/skiing-accidents-in-austria

Does Sole stock plug race boots? I thought they sold mainly freeride boots, remember I'm talking specifically about <95 mm lasted racing boots and not >95 mm lasted recreational boots. This is a very specialised area. Fitting as most people understand it is only part of what's involved, the boots will most likely require other work as well. This requires specialist equipment; this device is used for machining the soles to the desired angle; it costs €4500,



if you don't specialise in fitting racing boots then it probably isn't worth buying one and all the other gear you'll need as there won't be enough demand to make it viable. As these boots are so narrow they have to be fitted, they have very thick shells so the boot fitter grinds out the shell until it fits the foot.



They are available with or without custom liners, some people like foam liners some don't. Skiers who buy these boots don't usually worry too much about cost, they are willing to pay whatever it takes; I think it costs about $200 just to get a pair of boots canted in the states.

Physicist is based in California so he's hardly likely to go to Chamonix just to buy a pair of ski boots. If he did he would probably go to the Bootroom at Sanglard sports as they fit World Cup racers. There is a lot more to boot fitting at this level than footbeds and custom liners.

This is not about recreational ski boot fitting. Physicist wants to buy a "plug" racing boot.

"Plug Boots– These boots are very stiff and very narrow. They often have lace up liners for a more precise fit. They often come with a better power strap as well. They are designed with the intention of requiring a professional boot fitter to do custom shell work in order for the boot to fit properly. These types of boots are typically only worn by elite racers, competing in FIS races. Due to the small number of racers who choose to ski in a plug boot and the amount of custom adjusting often required to make them fit, most retailers do not stock plug boots."

There are only 7 models to choose from, Physicist has narrowed it down to 2 on the basis of instep height. The Dalbello DRS World Cup is new this year so very little is known about how it fits in in comparison to the others. If it's bigger than the Lange around the instep, then it will probably be a better starting point. As he doesn't live in a ski racing area he probably won't have access to a shop that stocks this type of boot. If he lived in the Alps he would just go to a racing equipment shop such as Ornello Sport try on both models, decide which one he likes best and the boot fitter would then grind them out to fit his feet.

The DRS WC looks like it could be a very good boot, unlike some of the other models it isn't pre-canted and doesn't have an abducted last so it should be reasonably easy to setup.

Until recently you could say with a reasonable degree of certainty that skiing would be possible in early December. But not anymore, it's become dryer and warmer recently August was 1.1 degrees warmer than the average for 1981–2010 and we had less a third of the rainfall we normally get. If you look at this chart you can see that average yearly temperatures in the Alps are rising.



I would be cautious about booking anything before we get some snow, especially if I was taking two teenagers.

Cervinia and Zermatt get most of their snow from the south, an area of low pressure forms over the Gulf of Genoa and moist air is transported to the alps. This doesn't happen all that often so you have to be patient, March is the best month to visit Zermatt. Cervinia does better because its on the right side of the main alpine ridge.

I would write the question in English and put "collo del piede" in brackets after instep and include a photo showing the instep. Below that I would paste a Google translation so that they can get the gist of what you are trying to find out. Above all keep it simple.

As it's such a new boot and Dalbello a small brand such information will be difficult to come by.
Have you looked at the DMS series? Same mould as the DRS but on a 98mm last so it has a bit more room.

You could try getting in touch with Sandy Webster he is a Völkl, Marker and Dalbello Competition Services Manager based in Calgary, he has posted about the DRS on Epicski you could join and send him a PM.

This is the $64,000 question! Even though it's the most important area in which to get the fit right in a ski boot the manufacturers don't publish any information about the sizing in this area. The only people who know are boot fitters who have worked on them. The only shops that I know that stock both boots are Oberhorner Sport in Germany http://www.oberhornershop.de/index.php/weltcup-rennskischuhe and Ornello Sport in Italy http://store.ornellosport.com/ you could post a question under "Scarponi" on their forum http://forum.ornellosport.com/index.php?sid=f5cfba43bd356e1c1a3cc3b794efaf93

No idea what the snow conditions will be like, they weren't very good in early December last year as it was very warm. There are about 150 restaurants in Zermatt so finding something to eat at that time of the season won't be a problem, there's always McDonalds! It would be best if you stayed near to the Matterhorn express gondola station, the Antares, Berghof, Bijou, Matterhorn Focus, Sun Valley Lodge and Zurbriggen Suitenhotel are all in the vicinity. It will be expensive, Zermatt has the most expensive lift pass in Europe and the Pound has lost over 45% of its value against the Swiss Franc since 2007.

If it was me and I only live about 1½ hrs away from Zermatt I would go to Cervinia. The lift pass is cheaper and the Pound has only lost 20% against the Euro over the same period of time.