There has been a lot of buzz about the boots on Epicski and since I needed new boots I decided to check them out. Below is a write up on the boots and the vacuum fit process I posted on Epicski. For those who don't want to read the long post, let me just say that the fit felt amazing after the process was done and I'm really glad I got them.

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I took the day off to go over to DC Ski Center to check out the Fischer Vacuum boots and pick up a pair if they looked like a good option for me. I'm glad I went today and didn't wait any longer. The salesman first measured my feet to see what size shell I needed. My one foot was right at 26.5 with the other foot almost at 27. After he measured me, he said he wasn't sure if they had any left in my size, but he would go back and check. They just got the boots in a week ago and only opened up for the ski season last night and they were already sold out of some sizes. The salesman came back out with a pair of 26.5 Vacuum 110s. He was afraid I'd need a 27 because of my larger foot, but they were already sold out of that size, so he brought the 26.5 pair out to see if they would work.

He had me try both boots on and then flex in them several times to drive my heel back in them. I was able to just wiggle my toes the tiniest bit as they were right up to the edge of the liner. He then took the liners out of the boot and had me stand in the one for the larger foot and move my foot so the toes were touching the edge of the shell and tried to stick a couple of fingers between back of the boot and my foot. There appeared to be just enough room for me to go with the 26.5. He then had me wear them again with the liners back in and 3rd party footbed for a little bit to make sure they still felt okay. I did feel some pressure points around my one heel and ankle and some crowding on the side of my little toe on the smaller of the two feet, but overall things still felt okay in the toe area for both feet. He told me the pressure areas that I felt would be fixed during the molding process. He asked me one last time if I wanted to go ahead with these and I replied yes, so we moved on to the molding process.

I needed to wait a little bit before we were able to start since the cooling bags hadn't been cooled down before hand. He put the cooling bags in a freezer to cool them down faster than they would in the cooling area of the machine. As we waited for the cooling bags to get to the right temperature, he checked my stance and canting to set the rails and the leg rests on the molding machine. He then put the boots in warmer to and got me prepared for the molding process. To prepare my feet for the molding of the boots, he had me stand barefoot on the footbeds I was going to use with the boots and then put the ski socks on around them in place as the boots are molding. He also tapped a toe cap around my toes in the sock to make sure there would be enough room for the toes after the boots were molded. We then waited for the boots to finish warming up so we could begin the molding.

Now came the only hard and uncomfortable part of the process. Trying to cram my feet into the boots with the toe caps in place around my toes. My feet just fit in the boots before the toe caps and with the toe caps added, my feet felt very cramped. He and another salesperson then put the cooling bags on the boots and then the vacuum/air pressure bags around that and had me get up on the molding machine.

He hooked the air hoses up, set the pressure right in the middle at 200 and started the process. During this time, you basically just stand on the machine for 8 minutes while the bags fill up with pressurized air to mold the softened boots. As time went on, I could feel the boot change around me. The main change I felt was the pressure areas around the heel and ankle of my one foot lessen. The time for the molding then finished, the pressurized air all left the bags and they had me step off the machine.

Since I had the toe caps on, the boots still felt tight and a bit uncomfortable after I got off the machine. I had a moment of wondering if the 26.5s were actually too small for me. However, after we removed the toe caps and I tried the boots on again, I was amazed at how they felt. I didn't feel any pressure points at all in either boot, yet with the all the buckles set at just the first notch the boots felt nicely snug around both feet. Now my last boots were a pretty bad fit for me so I'm probably not the best judge of fit, but I would say the fit was perfect. It was like the boots had been designed for just my feet.

So I would highly recommend anyone looking for a new pair of boots to check them out. But if you are interested, don't wait long. DC Ski Center sold four pairs of these just today and I would be surprised if they aren't all sold out in a week or two.

Keith

Nice!

Definitely interested. I didn't know anyone on the East Coast had them yet.

What's the extra cost for something this new?

The Vacuum 110s that I got were $750.00 at DC Ski center. They have 3 higher models than that one. The Vacuum 130 at $800 and then 2 races boots which are think are $850 and $900 respectively.

Let us know at the end of the season if you still think they were worth the premium.