Basic Questions About Bootfitting Appt - Pricing, Communication Strategies

[yogiskier]

I am on my 2nd pair of ski boots. With my first pair, I was given the Nordica Tecnica Ten2 85W, a beginner boot that was too roomy (on the one hand, I walked into the ski shop as a new-ish skier calling myself that, but on the other hand I think I also said I wanted boots that could grow with my ability). I was never happy with the boots, although I did take them back and he set me up with performance insoles and I think a shim that helped, but could not surpass the limitations of the boot itself.

Two years ago, because I'm interested in touring, I went to see Andrew at the Ski Monster in Boston and he put me in the Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 95. These felt reasonably good in the store, though the cuff was rather tight - I have pretty wide calves - but he said rather than do the heat molding or any changes to the boot right away, to go ski in them and come back for adjustments. They weren't perfect, but given the craziness of Covid that season, I never made it back to the shop and just made do. And then a year later moved from Boston to New Jersey.

I skipped last year's season. This year, I have had 2 days in the Atomic Hawx and the cuff is most definitely too tight (I've gained a few pounds and my body shape has changed slightly after hitting 40 ;-)), yet there's too much room in the boot part.

So, this is all a lot of background to say that I hope to go to a bootfitters this Thursday, so that I can ski this Sunday, or at least improve my boots before leaving for Diva East on the 29th, which is a bit last minute. I searched the Bootfitters thread here and asked @sevensaes and Marc Stewart at Windham was highly recommended, but he's booked until the 29th. Greg Pier was listed under NJ bootfitters, but he is booked out until Feb 8. Doug at the Ski Barn was also mentioned in the Bootfitters thread, so that's where I thought I'd go on Thursday.

My actual first question is, if I take a pair of boots that I already own to a bootfitters, how do they charge you and do they typically tell you how much things cost or do I have to ask? (With my first pair of boots, all of the modifications which happened within a year period including the performance insoles were free, IIRC. It's too bad that I missed the opportunity to take my current boots back to Ski Monster in Boston...) And what is the range of costs? I've read about several hundred dollars being spent at a bootfitters, which is hard for me to swallow!

My second question is, how can I prepare for the appointment? How specific do I have to be - is it enough to say that the cuff is too tight, and the boot is too loose, but when I try to tighten the buckle there's a hot spot on the top of my foot? Do I have to volunteer the information that I have one flattened arch and am recovering from plantar fasciitis and tendonitis in that foot, or will they ask about foot injuries? I have a hard time connecting to my own experience if I've never thought about something before in the face of rapid-fire questions (like at the doctor's when they ask, 'do you have x symptom? how about y? how about z symptom?' Or at the eye doctor's, when they ask 20 times, which is clearer, A or B? How about B or C?) How can I communicate to be taken seriously as a skier?

Thank you for reading...

 

[Jilly]

First - have you tried moving the buckles? There are usually 3 holes on the inside that the receiver can be moved too. Is that piece on the nearest to the end? I don't have my boots home, so I can't take a picture.

As for the fitter...most working on boots that they didn't sell will charge you. It may depend on the work to be done, or just an hourly rate.

As for information....try to have a map of your foot or ankle for them. "It hurts here to here" for example. "It feels like...." All of that will help.

 

[DebbieSue]

It's too bad that I missed the opportunity to take my current boots back to Ski Monster in Boston...) And what is the range of costs? I've read about several hundred dollars being spent at a bootfitters, which is hard for me to swallow!

My second question is, how can I prepare for the ate to be taken seriously as a skier?

Thank you for reading...

Any chance you can pass thru Boston on the way to Diva East? I have found the folks at SkiMonster to be extremely accommodating. I booked a boot fitting slot for boots I bought elsewhere. It was maybe $60/hr, but perhaps has gone up. It was with Dylan, a co-owner. He listened. Tell the fitter everything you know or have observed about your feet/boots. Ends up he charged only for the footbeds and waived the hourly fee. They have a good database and can see that you bought your boots there. I needed another tweak (moving buckles)… no charge. I’ve since gone back and bought new boots there. My sense is they want happy customers and return business and are not trying to ratchet up charges. I think Andrew fitted my son for new boots and son is happy, but I can’t say more about him. I give my wholehearted endorsement to Dylan. You can book with a specific fitter although if you have schedule constraints you may have to take who you can get. I had one passing interaction with George…not quite as positive.

 

[yogiskier]

@Jilly I haven't moved the buckles - will take a look! I'm perfectly willing to pay an hourly rate and also possibly by work done, but was curious what the protocol is and what if I have a budget - are there modifications that are really expensive, and would I be respected if I said, I don't know if I want to pay that, can you just do this one thing instead? Thanks for the map image - that's helpful!

@DebbieSue - I hadn't considered it, because it's so much more of a straight shot up 91 to VT from here, but now you put the idea in my head! I had Andrew at the Ski Monster. He was nice, but not super memorable, though this was Fall 2020 of the pandemic so we were all masked and I probably wasn't at my most relaxed.

 

[Jilly]

FYI - I paid my fitter $200 per boot to widen the toe box...it took overnight to do it.

 

[Karenfrances]

I took my boots to Pro-Fit (in Leesburg, VA) last winter. I had purchased the boots several years earlier somewhere else; they were never awesome and seemed to be getting more uncomfortable, particularly on the foot where I now have a bunion. They poked out space for the bunion, plus new insoles and maybe some other tweaks. They were very up-front about what each component would cost, and why they thought it would help, so I could decide if I wanted to do it. I can't remember what the insoles cost (not a lot) but I know other adjustments were less than $100.

 

[marzNC]

I've had adjustments made to ski boots a few times. I don't live in ski country so got it done at/near destination resorts out west. Cost was under $50 for the relatively simple fixes.

 

[ilovepugs]

I’ve spent about $50 getting work done on my boots at Inner Bootworks in Stowe. For $20 they punched out the instep. For another $30 they fussed with the heel hold on both boots and punched out the other instep.

Still not perfect, but getting there. I will probably end up going once more to get more tweaks done for better heel lock.

 

[scandium]

Some places will charge just for work done but I believe others will charge an hourly rate as well, depending on how complex your needs are. I think I paid $80 (NZD) for bunion punches and j bar foam on my second pair of boots, and my mother paid $50 for a different bootfitter to double check her foot size, shell fit, and put j bars in her existing boots.

 

[MissySki]

As you can see by the answers here, it varies greatly by shop and your own relationship with that shop/fitter. My bootfitter will often charge me nothing for tweaks, even in the past when I hadn’t bought the boot I was using from him. I’ve been going to him for a long time now, and he makes money on me from other purchases and referrals. I finally got my last pair of boots from him from the get go, and I was happy to finally be able to give him that business too. I have not been charged anything for tweaks I needed on them last season or this season. When I have been charged for bootwork in the past it was never more than like $20, even at other places. When I used to go to one person a lot at Sunday River I’d bring beer for boot stuff and hand tuning my race skis at the time. His request.

 

[marzNC]

When I have been charged for bootwork in the past it was never more than like $20, even at other places. When I used to go to one person a lot at Sunday River I’d bring beer for boot stuff and hand tuning my race skis at the time. His request.

I'd read about beer as a tip when getting skis sharpened. When a boot fitter in Taos solved the problem with my Intuition liners that I moved from an older pair of boots, I brought him a beer a few days after the work was done. He opened and downed it immediately.

 

[WaterGirl]

My second question is, how can I prepare for the appointment? How specific do I have to be - is it enough to say that the cuff is too tight, and the boot is too loose, but when I try to tighten the buckle there's a hot spot on the top of my foot? Do I have to volunteer the information that I have one flattened arch and am recovering from plantar fasciitis and tendonitis in that foot, or will they ask about foot injuries?

It is really important to let the fitter know about any specific issues/injuries you are having. Do not assume that they will ask you all the right questions. No one knows what it feels like to you inside your boot. They will be guessing or assuming you are the average. Also what feels good or bad in the shop may not feel that way when you are skiing. If you can convey things that you feel when skiing that would also be helpful. While you are there to work with the fitters expertise you also need to be an advocate for issues that you have and the goals you are looking to achieve with the new boot. With regards to your arches and PF is there a footbed that is working for you? If not I would make that a priority to discuss with the fitter.

 

[elemmac]

I like the idea of a "map"...Describing key areas can help your boot fitter assess options. The more information you provide, the better your outcome will be.

A few questions you can ask yourself and reiterate answers to the bootfitter:
Length: Are your toes crunching up, or do they lie flat? Can you touch the end of the boot when you first put your foot in (not buckled). When you buckle them and flex, do your toes pull a little off of the end?
Forefoot: Does the boot squeeze your toes from the sides? Or do your feet lie flat? Can you "windshield wiper" your feet side to side, or do they touch both sides of the boot?
Instep: Do you feel the top of the boot on your instep (top of your foot, over your arch)? Is there any uncomfortable pressure there?
Heel: Can you lift your heel up in the boot when it's buckled? Or is it pretty sturdily in place?
Ankle: Does the boot "hug" your ankle like a snug pair of jogger pant cuffs? Or is there a lot of slop around the ankle area?
Calf: Sounds like this could be your biggest issue? Describe if you can't buckle the boot, or if it's just too tight? Is it painful, or just uncomfortable?

As for cost, I recently went into a shop to heat mold a new pair of boots. I called around before going to ask for pricing. One shop said they'd charge an assessment fee, then the heat molding fee. The shop I ended up with charged me $30 for molding and included a short assessment (which just confirmed that they would have recommended the boot I had already purchased). They had a list of bootfitting processes and cost associated with each one (punch, grind, heat mold, etc). I would say set your budget and be open about this to the bootfitter. They should be able to work with you on prioritizing modification to work with your budget.

 

[yogiskier]

Thank you all! Your responses have been very helpful!

 

[yogiskier]

Update: I went to the bootfitter today and told him about my calves and instep pain. His answer for the calves was to heat mold the shells - there were 2 options he offered - one would take overnight or 48 hours and the other he could do if I had an hour -he thought the 2nd option would work because he thought I just needed to pull the back of the cuff back at a slight angle. He also asked me how many days I had been on them (10) and also if I had a snug, athletic feel around my foot (I said not quite - slightly loose) - not sure what he did with that info. He explained to me how to make micro-adjustments with the buckles which I had NEVER known about - I had only been using the buckle hooks for adjusting! I am looking forward to doing that, which will hopefully solve the instep pain.

He was very helpful in explaining how the boot should feel and how the buckles work - which is the level of knowledge that I needed. We got to talking about touring, nordic skiing jokes, ultramarathoners, and Tuckerman's - which he has skied and said I should check out (!). He turned out to be quite the talker and a bit goofy, so I am a bit concerned that I got carried away with chatting about skiing instead of saying more beyond my calves and instep, which may also have been me not wanting to be too annoying - argh. I AM excited to try out my boots asap. Oh, and he charged me $50.

Thank you all for you suggestions. I still need to work on my assertiveness skills in these situations to take advantage of the thorough advice you all Divas gave.