Basil
Certified Ski Diva
This is a long, rambling story, but hopefully it explains a little about how I've gotten where I am. Feel free to skip to the TL;DR section!
I grew up skiing in the 80s and 90s...it was a stretch on the budget for my parents, so hand-me-down gear was what we had. Typically, skis and boots had been through 4-5 cousins and family friends before they got to me. Rear entry boots, straight skis. "Boot fitting" was not a thing, even for the grown ups in our crew. Buying gear in a store was not even a thing
When I was about 13, I got my first pair of 4-buckle overlap boots, used, from the bargain basement rack of the local ski shop. A pair of Nordica Jr. Race boots. I LOVED these boots! I wore them until the plastic deteriorated and I massively overflexed them.
After that (late 90s), I got a pair of Lange boots that for some reason were torturous. I think they were too tight on my calves, too short, and my feet were always going numb. I still didn't really know there was another option, so I lived with it. For about 10 years. (I didn't ski that often during these years since I was super busy with grad school and the start of my career.)
In 2010 I got pregnant with my son, my foot grew a whole size, and I stopped skiing completely. It was a combination of body changes, caring for babies/toddlers, living far away from ski areas, and knowing that my boots wouldn't fit.
Fast forward to Christmas of 2019, we had moved back to MA, the kids were 8 and 5, and my DH rather innocently suggested we should take a few days and go skiing. I hemmed and hawed..my boots were long gone, I didn't own ski pants that fit, I wasn't sure about my fitness or if I could even ski anymore. I was worried about hurting myself or embarrassing myself. He insisted we needed to do something rather than let the kids run wild for the week. I ended up borrowing my mom's skis, boots, helmet and goggles, and we took a 3 day trip to Gunstock. We put our kids in their first ski lessons and took the chair up the bunny hill. Made 4 turns on the way down and realized I could still ski! Told my DH at that moment "We are a skiing family now. When is the next trip?" And then I promptly left him on the bunny hill to go find something more challenging
My mom's boots were a 25.5 HV model...bought to accommodate a bunion that she had and I didn't. But I was wowed by their "comfort", as compared to my old Langes from 20 years earlier. Embarrassingly, I took them and my old 2005 Dynastar race skis to my local ski shop and asked them to set me up with boots like hers. They gently informed me that my bindings were not indemnified. They sold me a pair of Dalbello Panterras, size 24.5, 102mm last, and a pair of Elan Ripsticks. The Ripsticks were a good choice, the Panterras not so much. Weeks later, the pandemic hit.
I swam in those Panterras for several years...but had so much fun introducing my kids to skiing. We were mainly on green groomed slopes. My feet were comfy and warm. Things were fine, until my kids got good enough to want to ski more challenging terrain and it became obvious I could not keep my feet from moving in those boots.
In 2023, after consuming much online ski content from podcasts, YouTube, SkiTalk, etc., I went to a highly recommended bootfitter in the Boston area, and I was fitted into the Head Formula RS in a 23.5, 98mm last. He did minimal work to the boot in the store and they felt snug and good. It did make sense to me that I really did need a LV boot. My feet have always been narrow and flexible. My feet measured at 23.x in length so this all made sense. And they were pretty good last year. I never had any pain or numbness, and I didn't have the problem with my forefoot sliding around anymore.
But this year has been a different story. I can't get the boots tight on my instep without cranking the second and third buckles, and leaving it loose results in my ankles inverting/moving while skiing. I did a shell fit and though the length seems appropriate, there is just so much volume in the foot without the liner around the ankle and over the instep. Without the liner, with the shell buckled for skiing, I can slide my foot easily in and out of the boot.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I really thought I had normal/narrow feet, but not way outside of the bell curve. I thought about ZipFits since I like the idea of them lasting a long time, but I'm pretty intimidated by the DIY process, and I don't really know how to tell if I'm even in the right shell. I don't mind the cost and time to get a different shell, but not sure what I should be looking for.
Do I need a 96mm last? That would essentially be a "race boot", right? Do I need a 22.5? That seems like it would be really short. I can easily imagine my boot being 2mm narrower. It's hard to imagine it being 1 cm shorter, my toes definitely are already touching the end of the boot most of the day. Do I just need a different LV 98mm last? Do I need a BOA or two, haha?
I know, I know, I need a boot fitter! But I feel like I could walk into any ski shop, get sold a boot fitters favorite all mountain/LV shell, walk out happy...and then be unhappy again a year later. I think if I have some idea of some models to try on...I could locate fitters who have experience in those and hopefully make some headway. I think having some idea of what direction to go would help me advocate for myself.
TL;DR - if a general 98mm LV all mountain boot is too wide after ~30 days of skiing, what are some models I should target to try? Any other Divas who have the same issue and have successfully solved it?
I grew up skiing in the 80s and 90s...it was a stretch on the budget for my parents, so hand-me-down gear was what we had. Typically, skis and boots had been through 4-5 cousins and family friends before they got to me. Rear entry boots, straight skis. "Boot fitting" was not a thing, even for the grown ups in our crew. Buying gear in a store was not even a thing

When I was about 13, I got my first pair of 4-buckle overlap boots, used, from the bargain basement rack of the local ski shop. A pair of Nordica Jr. Race boots. I LOVED these boots! I wore them until the plastic deteriorated and I massively overflexed them.
After that (late 90s), I got a pair of Lange boots that for some reason were torturous. I think they were too tight on my calves, too short, and my feet were always going numb. I still didn't really know there was another option, so I lived with it. For about 10 years. (I didn't ski that often during these years since I was super busy with grad school and the start of my career.)
In 2010 I got pregnant with my son, my foot grew a whole size, and I stopped skiing completely. It was a combination of body changes, caring for babies/toddlers, living far away from ski areas, and knowing that my boots wouldn't fit.
Fast forward to Christmas of 2019, we had moved back to MA, the kids were 8 and 5, and my DH rather innocently suggested we should take a few days and go skiing. I hemmed and hawed..my boots were long gone, I didn't own ski pants that fit, I wasn't sure about my fitness or if I could even ski anymore. I was worried about hurting myself or embarrassing myself. He insisted we needed to do something rather than let the kids run wild for the week. I ended up borrowing my mom's skis, boots, helmet and goggles, and we took a 3 day trip to Gunstock. We put our kids in their first ski lessons and took the chair up the bunny hill. Made 4 turns on the way down and realized I could still ski! Told my DH at that moment "We are a skiing family now. When is the next trip?" And then I promptly left him on the bunny hill to go find something more challenging

My mom's boots were a 25.5 HV model...bought to accommodate a bunion that she had and I didn't. But I was wowed by their "comfort", as compared to my old Langes from 20 years earlier. Embarrassingly, I took them and my old 2005 Dynastar race skis to my local ski shop and asked them to set me up with boots like hers. They gently informed me that my bindings were not indemnified. They sold me a pair of Dalbello Panterras, size 24.5, 102mm last, and a pair of Elan Ripsticks. The Ripsticks were a good choice, the Panterras not so much. Weeks later, the pandemic hit.
I swam in those Panterras for several years...but had so much fun introducing my kids to skiing. We were mainly on green groomed slopes. My feet were comfy and warm. Things were fine, until my kids got good enough to want to ski more challenging terrain and it became obvious I could not keep my feet from moving in those boots.
In 2023, after consuming much online ski content from podcasts, YouTube, SkiTalk, etc., I went to a highly recommended bootfitter in the Boston area, and I was fitted into the Head Formula RS in a 23.5, 98mm last. He did minimal work to the boot in the store and they felt snug and good. It did make sense to me that I really did need a LV boot. My feet have always been narrow and flexible. My feet measured at 23.x in length so this all made sense. And they were pretty good last year. I never had any pain or numbness, and I didn't have the problem with my forefoot sliding around anymore.
But this year has been a different story. I can't get the boots tight on my instep without cranking the second and third buckles, and leaving it loose results in my ankles inverting/moving while skiing. I did a shell fit and though the length seems appropriate, there is just so much volume in the foot without the liner around the ankle and over the instep. Without the liner, with the shell buckled for skiing, I can slide my foot easily in and out of the boot.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I really thought I had normal/narrow feet, but not way outside of the bell curve. I thought about ZipFits since I like the idea of them lasting a long time, but I'm pretty intimidated by the DIY process, and I don't really know how to tell if I'm even in the right shell. I don't mind the cost and time to get a different shell, but not sure what I should be looking for.
Do I need a 96mm last? That would essentially be a "race boot", right? Do I need a 22.5? That seems like it would be really short. I can easily imagine my boot being 2mm narrower. It's hard to imagine it being 1 cm shorter, my toes definitely are already touching the end of the boot most of the day. Do I just need a different LV 98mm last? Do I need a BOA or two, haha?
I know, I know, I need a boot fitter! But I feel like I could walk into any ski shop, get sold a boot fitters favorite all mountain/LV shell, walk out happy...and then be unhappy again a year later. I think if I have some idea of some models to try on...I could locate fitters who have experience in those and hopefully make some headway. I think having some idea of what direction to go would help me advocate for myself.
TL;DR - if a general 98mm LV all mountain boot is too wide after ~30 days of skiing, what are some models I should target to try? Any other Divas who have the same issue and have successfully solved it?