marzNC
Angel Diva
The recommendation for Cyauga comes from a long time skier who considers Greek his home mountain. I didn't mention anything about your requirement for small boots. In general, calling first and talking to the boot fitter is a good idea.I can try the place in Ithaca. Thanks so much! The experience I described, though, was at the Ski Company in Dewitt. Maybe with John instead of Jim, but same place.
As you've learned, finding a boot fitter isn't easy when not living in what I call "ski country." Even when there is a pretty good boot fitter, there is the issue of inventory. It took me years to discover that the local ski/surf shop in a small town near me is owned by a man who is both an experienced boot fitter and someone who has a much bigger inventory of "new old stock" than I would've guessed from the size of the store. Both my current and previous boots were from 2+ seasons before I went shopping. He stocks up on models he thinks are really good, especially when the brand decides to phase them out.
While I've bought boots locally, when I decided to use Intuition liners after the stock liners on my previous boots packed out, I did that at a destination resort since he doesn't handle any after market liners. However, recently I went in to ask about replacement toe/heel pieces and he had them available.
When the stock liners (heat moldable) of my current 3-buckle boots packed out, I did some research during a trip to a destination resort out west about whether or not to move my Intuition liners from my previous 4-buckle boots. For that sort of knowledge, I had to be in ski country. I found a boot fitter who not only worked with Intuition liners, he also worked with Zipfits. Plus he used Intuition liners in his own boots.