Ski Boot Fitting Service - The Process
We do not charge for our boot fitting service but we do expect you to be serious about purchasing ski boots.
We expect a boot fitting to take 1 - 1 ½ hours, sometimes it is quicker and sometimes it takes longer. Most of this depends upon you and your feet.
We will ask you about your skiing and your feet
We will initially ask you about how long you have been skiing and the type of skiing you are currently doing so we can gauge your level and skiing preferences. You can also tell us about any previous problems with ski boots, your feet or other past injuries at this point so we can feed this all into the foot assessment and boot selection.
Examine your feet
We will measure and examine your feet and stance, looking not only at foot length but width, volume and calves, also identifying any other dominant features. We will also look at foot shape and arch height for which we may use our Podoscope if we feel necessary and determine the kind of footbed that will benefit you and improve your ski comfort and fit.
Narrow down the selection
As a result we will be trying to match most closely a boot suitable to your skiing ability with one that most closely matches your foot morphology.
Different brands of ski boot and even styles within the brand can favour a different foot shape.
This process usually involves trying on 2 or 3 pairs of boots that we have identified as a good match to find the best fit with feedback from you about the comfort levels and identifying if there are any pressure points or areas that may need further customisation.
Remember everyone's feet are different!
Footbed
Once you have chosen the pair of boots that you are happy with then we will look again at the inner sole options and you will be able to see the difference that a footbed makes to the fitting underfoot.
In a new pair of ski boots there is no support build in underfoot. It would be impossible for manufacturers to add this as everyone's feet and arch shapes are different.
So we need to determine your foot / arch shape and match the footbed specifically to your feet. You may fit a pre-moulded low, medium or high cushioned footbed or you may need us to custom mould one exactly to your requirements.
Putting it all together
Once we have determined the correct footbed, we then need to heat mould your ski boot inner liners and add your footbed. If needed, any other customisation is done at or just before this stage.
A need for further customisation?
Everyone's feet are unique! Sometimes the off-the shelf product will never provide a perfect fit and that's where customisation comes in. You may have very wide feet, a bunion or a tailors bunion, heel spurs or other prominent areas that cause you problems with ski boots.
After findng the ski boots that most closely match your foot morphology if needed we can then adjust the shape of the shell, stretch or modify the liner, align you better in the boots and other modification can be made to give you better comfort and performance.
We have an array of tools and equipment to hand to help with the customisation needed - heat ovens, heat machines, Infrared® Shell Customization Technology, shell stretching equipment, podoscope, custom moulded insole / footbed apparatus and more.
and finally ..
Finally when all these stages have taken place, we will have a boot you have selected with our help and guidance, heat moulded inners to match your foot and leg shape, in most cases we will also be adding inner soles to match your underfoot shape and give you more support and comfort plus any other customisation that we have completed.
We will check the boots on you one last time to make sure all the boxes are ticked and you are happy with the fit of the ski boots that you have chosen.
What then?
We then encourage you to go ski in your boots.
We won't encourage you to walk around the house in them. Ski boots are meant to be worn in ski position, not walking or standing upright doing the ironing.
If you need any further customisation to improve the comfort of the fit, this can be identified after you have skied in the boots. If need be, any corrective measures or tweaking can be made to improve your fit after you have used the boots. We offer this after sales service free of charge on boots fitted by us in store.
You will need to make a separate appointment for this as soon as possible after using the boots so that anything that you have identified is still fresh in your mind. We would then spend time with you to identify and rectify any comfort issues if any have become apparent.
To make a ski boot fitting appointment please either
email us at bootfitting@alpineroom.co.uk, ring the shop on: 01245 223563, or try our new On-line booking system - click here.