Cost for a good new boot?
November 24, 2006
Will be heading to Ski Center either this week or next to get fit for new boots. Only ski 10-15 or so days a year so not a heavy user. Mostly a strong intermediate skier, occasionaly black runs, but 95% blues. Push it as much as I can but really just like to have a good time when Im out there. But since I've owned my own for so long, I've glossed over the new articles and stuff on boots for the most part in the last few seasons.
If price is not an issue, is $600 or so a reasonable buget for a new pair of boots - not including the fitting cost? Its more important to me to get something professionally fit than it is to stay within a certain budget, so if they say its a little more but these boots are much better for your foot type, then so be it. Cant put a price on having comfy feet over a 7 day ski trip, just getting a feel for whats out there. I really have no idea of the cost of a good boot, as one pair I glanced at was $299, and one was $799 so 6 seemed right in the middle.
Midnight,
I would think that would be PLENTY of budget
I'm a 30 day a year skier and I ski on and off piste. I have the Nordica Beast 10's and I LOVE them.
I got them on sale for $330.00. You see them fairly regularly for about $380.00. I would think you could get the boots, fitting fee (if any), and some custom insoles for the $600. Just my 2 cents tho....
-Warren-
You should be able to get an excellent pair of boots for $600, and you have the right idea, professional bootfitting matters. Do you have a good pair of footbeds? If so you can transfer them from your old boots. If not I would strongly recommend getting some. If you have a fairly normal foot you can go with a ~$30 generic footbed. If not a ~$100 custom footbed is well worth it, even if it means spending $100 less on boots. There are many good bootfitters at Ski Center; I have worked most with Brian Beaumont, Brian Eardley, and Boyd McHugh. Call ahead about when is a quiet time (weekday evenings are good) and see if you can get an appointment with one of these guys. Tell them I sent you. Also ask them to check your canting. (I have no connection with the shop or these individuals, I just consider them to be the best.) Good luck.
Echo what Denis and Warren posted. I got a new set of boots, footbeds and liners from Brian B. at Ski Center last year.
I wouldn't downplay skiing 10-15 times a year; that's a significant amount for most people. If you ski that many times a year, you need decent equipment. The most important piece of ski equipment is your boots; spend as much money as you can afford on boots. Save the extra money you've spent on boots by spending less on other equipment.
The most important aspect of boots is proper fit. A pair of boots that don't fit your feet properly is useless (harmfull actually), no matter how great a bargain the boots may have seemed at the store.
Thanks all. Yeah my skiing is broken up between usually 2-3 days before the Spring, a 7 day Spring trip and then any days I can get in after that. I usually rent skis as its just easier for me than dragging them all the way to Whistler or even when I take short flights home to NH. A lot easier to pack a boot bag and I've generally been please at the rentals you can get. Getting properly fit means the most to me in the long run, I would rather have a lower cost boot that's perfectly fit to my feet with custom footbeds than a more expensive off the shelf boot that may have more features but completely trashing my feet.
10 years and two pairs ago I had a horrible fitting at Ski Chalet. I received the "well, they're as close as we can get, throw on another pair of socks" fitting. Halfway through my trip to Tahoe I was getting black and blue on my left big toe and all the way down the inside of my left foot. Ended up asking my instructor where he would buy new boots and went there that day to get properly fit. My bad, but when I first moved here that was the only shop I knew. I'll never buy something like this off the shelf again without getting fit.
This is somewhat related to my other hobby which is as an amateur golf clubmaker. Fitting is everything. Amazing how many people will pay $1,000 for off the rack clubs without bothering to get fit. The "standard" measurements will fit something like 10% of the people that actually buy them. Everyone else could use a little loft or lie tweak here and there but never bothers to do a 30 minute fitting. Think about it, how could you think that one standard length club fits anyone from say 5' to 6'6"? Same with boots.
Quote:
Thanks all. Yeah my skiing is broken up between usually 2-3 days before the Spring, a 7 day Spring trip and then any days I can get in after that. I usually rent skis as its just easier for me than dragging them all the way to Whistler or even when I take short flights home to NH. A lot easier to pack a boot bag and I've generally been please at the rentals you can get. Getting properly fit means the most to me in the long run, I would rather have a lower cost boot that's perfectly fit to my feet with custom footbeds than a more expensive off the shelf boot that may have more features but completely trashing my feet.
10 years and two pairs ago I had a horrible fitting at Ski Chalet. I received the "well, they're as close as we can get, throw on another pair of socks" fitting. Halfway through my trip to Tahoe I was getting black and blue on my left big toe and all the way down the inside of my left foot. Ended up asking my instructor where he would buy new boots and went there that day to get properly fit. My bad, but when I first moved here that was the only shop I knew. I'll never buy something like this off the shelf again without getting fit.
This is somewhat related to my other hobby which is as an amateur golf clubmaker. Fitting is everything. Amazing how many people will pay $1,000 for off the rack clubs without bothering to get fit. The "standard" measurements will fit something like 10% of the people that actually buy them. Everyone else could use a little loft or lie tweak here and there but never bothers to do a 30 minute fitting. Think about it, how could you think that one standard length club fits anyone from say 5' to 6'6"? Same with boots.
Were your previous boots too tight or too lose? Usually boots that are not properly fit are too lose. This is because most people will buy boot sizes that are close to their street shoe size. The problem is that nearly 90% of people are in shoes that are actually 1-2 sizes bigger than their feet.
Evey one has different shape feet. The different brands of boot use different lasts (boot molds) when making their boots. The key to getting a good fit is to find the brand where their last most closely matches your foot. Then you step down in size to pick the smallest size of that boot that will still comfortably hold your foot. This is very important because ski boots will always pack out after a few weeks use. If you start with a shell that is too big you end up with a loose imprecise, difficult to use boot. Once you get the last and the size right, you can modify that boot to improve the fit and customize it for your foot, step up to a stiffer boot in that line, or whatever.
I just bought a pair of boots at skicenter this fall. It should be obvious but most of the time you don't notice problems in the boot fit until after you ski them a few days. At ski center all the follow up visits for dialing in the boot fit, making additional modifications, are included in the original price.
Believe they ended up being way too loose. I'll be going back to SkiCenter in a week or two and anticipate a much better experience.
I agree that finding a good boot fitter is important, but you don't necessarily need to spend a lot of money to get good fitting boots. And aftermarket or custom footbeds are not always needed -- so don't assume this is a vital step. A good bootfitter may be able to find the right boot for you that has a 95-100% perfect fit right off the shelf. That happened for me a few years ago with some Salomons. I picked up a new pair of Salomon Xwave 9 boots this spring for $250, online no less, and they fit just as well as my last Salomons right out of the box. So prior experience and knowledge can really help guide you and save time and money. Of course, this assumes your feet have not changed, your skiing has not changes, etc. If in doubt, see a pro. But it doesn't have to be expensive.
The important thing is to go to a shop where they can evaluate your foot and match you up with the right brand and model of boot for the volume and shape of your foot, and your skiing style. That is the biggest step in a proper boot fit.
