Bootfitting help, please?

[django]

Hi! I wonder if anyone knows a good bootfitter in Portland, Oregon?
Here's the history: Last skied in 1993 on straight 170cm skis from ski area rental shops in Lake Tahoe. Started skiing again last season when my husband started working ski patrol on Mt Hood, and now I am hooked and SO happy to get back into this great sport. I'd consider myself to be a competent intermediate skier and am striving to get better (ski blue runs without a problem, and some easy blacks) I'm 43, 5'6", 155(ish) lbs. I like to ski fast, slow, turns, straight down, all that, mostly groomed runs, no powder (yet) and no trees. We get moguls here and I try to ski them, but it's a lot of work for me.
I went to a local shop last season and bought some boots (Nordica GTS6) because they felt good in the store and the guy said he thought these would be the right boots for me, and he offered lifetime fitting. After the liners packed out some (after about 4 half-days of skiing) I felt a lot of sloppiness around my ankles, so I went back to the shop and spent another 2 hours trying to describe the fit problem and not having any success in getting the fit correct. Here's what I feel: when I move my foot to make a turn, I feel like my ankle moves around in the boot too much, side to side and up and down. What I feel like I need is something across the instep/top of my ankle to hold my foot in place better. What the guy at the shop kept doing was putting shims/sticky pads on the back, the achilles side of the liner. I skied with these in for a couple days, then took them out because my toes were being squished into the front of the boot. When I try to stand on my tip-toes in the boot, I feel like I can move too much.
Now, If I bought the wrong boot for me, I am ready to buy new boots (like, tomorrow) and chalk up the cost of the Nordicas to a learning experience. I thought I wanted a higher-end, more advanced boot, but the guy at the shop talked me out of them (like the Dream Thang 10 or the Nordica Beast 10 or 12, Technica Attiva Flame)
So, is there hope for the sloppy ankles or do I get new boots? I would describe my foot as a "duck foot" - pretty wide in front, with really high arches, narrower heels and ankles. I do have Sole insoles in them. I have been told by a friend who works at a sports shop that "heel blocks" will help...?
The only boots that definitely DON'T fit are Salomons because they totally pinch my calves.
Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[Little Lightning]

Why did he talk you out of the Dream Thang 10's. I have them, have 24 ski days this season on them and I love them. They are the first boot that accomodates my high instep and narrow heel. The cuff is adjustable to accomodate larger calves. This feature really helps to dial in the fit.

I don't need a heel lift to be in the correct position in the boot and feel no pressure on the ankles or venicular bone. The heel pocket holds my foot without any movement.

BTW, I'm a classic Lange foot, except for the high instep, and have a small foot. The only adjustment made for me is a shim underneath the bootboard.

Padding ankles has not worked for me. Once I bought boots with too large a liner and they padded over my instep. It worked for a while but once the liner packed out I was really slopping around in the boot.

Did you try on any of the other boots? Which felt the best?

Heel lifts could help but they could also affect your alignment, meaning they may put your stance to much on your forefoot which can affect your balance on the skis.

Because of my small, thin foot my shop recommends high end boots for me. Higher end boots are performance oriented and will have a narrower, precise fit compared to a recreational type boot.

 

[Sheena]

I have a similar foot. Wide toe and narrow heel.

I had been skiing on the Nordica Beast 10 for two seasons. They have a nice wide toe box, so it fit well in that respect ut I had a LOT of heel slippage. . It accommodated my larger calfs too. However, the boots I had were about 2 sizes too big which caused me a lot of issues when I was skiing, so I can't really provide any feed back on how those.

I just got a new pair of boots, the Dalbello Electra 8. This fits my foot really well, and so far have not had any adjustments done (only 2 days skiing in them). The toe box accommodates my wider foot and they hold my heal really well..... the only miner adjustment made there was to put a foam heal riser in my right boot which keeps my heel nice and snug in the heel pocket.

The Dalbello Electra 8 is a softer flex than the Nordica. I asked the bootfitter I went to and she told me that a lot of manufacturers are now producing boots with a softer flex and that a softer flex is not necessarily only for intermediate skiers, but will serve me well as I progress.

 

[django]

Thanks for the thoughts.
The shop guy said that, since I was not an advanced skier, an advanced boot would be too stiff for me and my mistakes would be magnified by the boot (ie DT10).
The only thing that prevented me from buying the Dream Thang (the DT6 is what he said to try) was the padding around the achilles felt like it could become too annoying after skiing it for a while. However, now I think it would have been to my benefit.
The only other boots that felt good, besides the Nordicas, were Technicas. Langes felt too big in volume, Salomons too tight in the calf, Dalbellos also to tight in the calf (honest, I don't have a big calf!)

 

[Quiver Queen]

Your foot description sounds exactly like mine, and I ski in Heads, which I absolutely love. Nothing else came close to fitting. I've had them tweaked twice more (ground out a little more toe width on one, and added pads above the heel on the other because the heel was moving a little) over the last 2 years, but can't imagine trying to ski in any other brand.

It's been so long since I lived in Portland, I hardly remember what it had to offer in ski shops. I ran across a name, "Alpine Ski Sport Engineering," 5653 NW 180th Place, Portland; maybe they could give you a reference.

 

[volklgirl]

If your only issue with the Sollys and the Dalebellos was calf pinch, the fitter should have tried adding a heel lift to put you into the heel pocket and get your calf muscle out of the cuff. It sounds to me like you really need a different fitter. Calf pinch is easily fixed....loose heel and ankle is NOT.

Check out the "What you need to know about boot construction" stickie at the top of this forum and the "Why you (yes YOU) need a custom boot fitting" thread (somewhere in this forum) so you have a great understanding of what to look for and what to expect at your fitting. MAKE an APPOINTMENT with the best fitter around and be prepared for 2-3 hours.

 

[django]

After skiing again yesterday on my brand new skis (Dynastar Exclusive Fluid - love 'em), I think I'll write off the Nordicas as a learning experience and start over again. I thought my problem might be that my other skis were too hard for me to turn, but the new skis turn so nicely, and I'm still afraid to take on a more technical hill than a medium blue because I don't feel I have enough control to turn when I want to.
I am going to try every boot again (including Salomons and Dalbellos) and see if I think any different thoughts. The new Dynastars have a lift in them already, so I don't know if a heel lifter in my boot would really throw me forward or not. I'll also look at the place Quiver Queen mentioned.
Thanks again!

 

[Quiver Queen]

Also check to see if this store has any performance/satisfaction guarantee--the good stores will back up what they sell.