There are two important points to include here: first, the best way to figure out which ski boots will work for you is to demo-“Try Before You Buy�; second, the best investment you can make in your skiing in general and your ski boots in particular is a pair of properly made, biomechanically sound custom footbeds.

Skiing is dynamic, it is balance in motion.
Trying ski boots in the shop will tell you only so much.
With the guidance of our bootfitters the choices that may fit can be pared down to a select few then a pair can be chosen to go skiing in. Skiing in the boots provides the best information with which to make a very important decision.
Try Before You Buy.

A pair of custom footbeds is money well spent.
Superfeet pioneered custom footbeds for ski boots with the Insta-Ski-Thotic in the late 70’s. Now named the Superfeet Kork, they help solve a vast majority of the boot woes that plague skiers regardless of level.
Custom Superfeet Kork footbeds eliminate a multitude of fit problems in virtually any ski boot; for demo clients contemplating the purchase of footbeds, do so before demoing boots.

The Superfeet Kork can be completed in 45 minutes, fits into any ski boot and will outlast several pair.
Superfeet Korks transfer easily from demo boot to demo boot, streamlining the decision making, giving you the most accurate information from the process.

For problem solving there is no better foot bed than the Superfeet Kork. Ultimately comfort is the benefit.

Superfeet Korks and a well fitted, properly balanced ski boot will help you elevate your skiing to new levels.

The same rant as last season…and seasons before, etc.

There is a lot of room for development in women’s ski boots.
Women represent half the skiing population. A sizeable segment of this market is largely neglected.

Several ski manufacturers have women on their design teams and involved in the decision making. There are woman specific skis for all skill levels.
Skis with the appropriate geometry, flex and lengths for women’s mass and physiology have met with unqualified and well documented success.
Boot folk need to look at this success and make genuine changes.
Small sizes in real women’s boots…real 22.5’s for some (you know who you are) would be appreciated.
A 23.5 is not and cannot become a 22.5.
In all critical dimensions ski boots that come from 23.5 molds yet are sized as 22.5’s are the same internal volume, cuff height, hinge point and sole length (think leverage here) as the larger size. Except for fillers in the toe of the shell molds, more padded and shorter liners making them seem a size smaller, functionally they still are 23.5’s. This is a real compromise for women skiers who should be in boots proportionally smaller.

How about 21.5’s? Boot molds are expensive to be sure, but is the financial burden such that it is impossible to undertake? 21.5’s and true 22.5’s in good, sound women’s ski boots-particularly for proficient women with really small feet-will sell through…guaranteed.

Someone at an executive level needs to make a stand here…smell the espresso!

The paradigm shift brought about by shaped skis throughout the last decade has been a driving force in the industry; carving skis, twin tips, all mountain skis, powder skis, park skis and for the few still into it, pure racing skis. The transformations have forever altered the topography of skiing. At the outset changes were explosive, radical and all over the place. With the passage of time shaped skis (please, please, please…no more “parabolics!�) have settled into well defined categories and modifications from year to year consist of smaller, more subtle changes in construction, geometry and materials.

The proliferation of ski and binding systems, whether one likes the idea or not, is here to stay and at least in our area acceptance has become less of an issue.
Merging the distinctive character built into each pair of skis and the traits inherent in all bindings into systems that complement one another goes back some time. Salomon started as a binding company that began producing ski boots then skis; marrying the separate components from concept through the design phase into complete systems. Atomic skis, ESS bindings and Koflach boots, consolidated by way of the Austrian government, were also forerunners in this.

It was known early on that certain bindings (the Marker MRR and Look Nevada N17’s up to and including the more recent Look Pivot and Rossignol Axial series) with shorter mounting platforms allowed skis to flex in a smoother, rounder arc. Skis ran faster because ski-to-snow contact was more consistent.
Current systems are put together from the initial concept and design phase and now several companies integrate the bindings into the construction of the skis.

What has all this to do with ski boots?
As elements of a system, the skis, bindings, boots and skier interact with and affect the others. Each piece contributes to the balance of the system; skis have geometry and flex, bindings secure skier to ski, balance retention with release, have a range of elasticity at the heel and lateral travel at the toe and ski boots have different functional characteristics as well as diverse fits.

The skier is the “X� factor in this equation.

Ski boots are the crucial link between two large and opposing levers-skier and skis. The importance of a properly fitted and functionally balanced ski boot cannot be emphasized or reiterated enough.

Boot designs have caught up with the explosion in technology we’ve seen in skis.

Ski boots must do what they’ve always done; fasten the skier to the skis, contain the feet, provide a predictable range of motion and transfer the skiers’ energy to the skis. Several recent factors have altered the way ski boots are designed.
Until the introduction of custom footbeds, insoles, orthotics-whatever you choose to call them, a majority of boots were designed to accommodate a certain amount of pronation. Accordingly there was generally more room on the medial or arch side of the boot for the mid-foot and heel and typically there were far more instances of boots being oversized to allow for the elongation of the feet as they pronated. With universal acceptance that a vast majority of people are going to insert a footbed in their ski boots, boots have become more supportive and tolerances have become tighter.

With the edge angles that can be created on shaped skis the requirements placed on the lateral stiffness of the ski boots is substantial; this along with having to more precisely control what happens with the feet inside the shell. Hence many boots have become more “neutral�…the mid-foot and heel are more vertical-the fit more precise, there is less allowance for pronation. In fact those in the habit of using the articulations of the feet and ankles in a more relaxed fashion many of the newer boots must have “pronation punches� or to be ground in specific areas in order for the individual to do so.

As a result of these requirements, boots now are more functionally efficient. Many boots have taken on the look, feel and functionality of what in the not-too-distant past would have been considered the sole domain of “race� boots.
What this does for the skier is significant; better steering, very efficient transmission of energy to the skis, better feedback and ultimately a much better platform for achieving a good fit.

Several manufacturers are developing ski boots that allow a limited amount of sole flex. Atomic has been at the forefront of this development with Rossignol and Lange now stepping into the fray. This advancement has not been an especially conspicuous talking point or part of any marketing campaign although it’s been an aspect of boot design since the Atomic Beta series shells a few years ago. Atomic is expanding this idea further…see the Atomic page.
This has been written about in past reviews and testimony to the merit of the concept is that other manufacturers are “borrowing� the idea.

Abducted (duck-footed) boot models will increase for the upcoming season. As discussed last season, what this does for the skier is quite dramatic; turn initiation is early and steering the uphill ski-outside edge is more precise. Coming out of turns set up for the next is equally efficient.
There have been reports of “boot out� with this style of shell-in a turn the outside of the foot on the uphill edge of the inside ski hits the snow when tipped up at high edge angles. This then bumps the downhill boot/ski causing an abrupt loss of edge contact on both skis…with the inevitable result; Yeeeeeeha! For the most part complaints have been minimal and there are solutions.

There are some model changes here and there but for the most part things remain status quo.
Boots continue improving in terms of last, liners and the biomechanical attributes of the shells.

The stock liners that come in most ski boots last about 60 ski days- about 4-5 seasons for the average skier. Unless you walk a lot in your boots, the shells should last considerably longer.

In order to sell a large quantity of boots, manufacturers use materials that can adapt to as many foot types as possible- this usually means soft felt and open-cell foam. Consequently, liners break down long before the shells, leading to fit problems.
By now, most skiers know about the benefits of custom-molded insoles, but few have tuned in to the custom liner as a bootfitting solution. We stock two types: Zipfit self-molding liners and Conformable foam-injected liners.

Many racers are already familiar with foam-injected liners as a performance upgrade. In this system, a sturdy liner containing hollow internal chambers is molded by injecting the chambers with two chemicals, while you wear the liner in the shell. The chemical combination reacts and expands into a stiff foam-like material, introducing a lot of pressure around the foot and creating a firm-fitting custom mold of your foot and lower leg.

Although injected liners are typically an option chosen for their amazing sensitivity and power transmission, they also can be real problem solvers. For challenging foot shapes, the Conformable’s molding properties can be an excellent alternative to extensive boot and liner modification.

These liners do have limited capability to be moved from shell to shell, because they’re molded on both sides- to the shape of the shell, as well as your foot (you can usually transfer them to a similar shell from the same brand). Injected liners require an orthotic footbed, and a time- and labor-intensive process that includes a multi-day break-in period.

Zipfit liners are a newer, comfier alternative, designed by boot genius at large, Sven Coomer, the founder of Footloose. The liner is made of extra-durable materials, and filled with a viscous oil that contains chips of cork. This thick fluid molds around your foot, adjusting on its own, by body heat and pressure transmitted through the boot as you ski.

This material is an ideal medium for the application- it remains malleable (unlike a foam liner) so that as temperatures and boot shells change, the liner just needs to be skied to be re-customized. It doesn’t compress like the open-cell foam used in stock liners, so with proper care Zipfits will easily last for hundreds of ski days. We have local patrollers, instructors, and shop employees (150+ days/year skiers) who’ve been skiing these liners for multiple seasons- and they’re still going strong.

Zipfits are not only stiffer and far more supportive than stock liners, their self-molding property fills more of the voids between your foot and the boot shell, improving precision. Zipfit liners fit in any conventional ski boot (and can be easily transferred from shell to shell), but they do require a custom footbed like the Superfeet Kork.

Either way, if your liners are shot (and the shells are not), or it’s time to take your bootfit to the next level, it’s worth checking out the custom liner option.