Colorado boot fitting

[kellikate]

Hello! I just moved to Colorado and new to skiing. I really want to get better, but am having some trouble finding boots that fit me. I wear a size 6 women's shoe, but my calves are much larger than normal. My current boots cut the circulation off. I have been to see several boot fitters, but have not had any luck. The back of the boot always cuts into my calf causing great pain. Can anyone recommend a boot that can help me? I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[Robyn]

Hi and welcome! I'm pretty new the site but saw this thread recently that should give some ideas. Where in Colorado are you? Where are you planning to ski this winter?

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1921&highlight=large+calves

 

[Little Lightning]

Are you near Boulder or Denver? If so, check out Outdoor Divas. It's an all woman's shop and they have lots of experience with small feet.
My friend and I both bought boots from them. I wear a size 22 and my friend wears a Jr. 3

I have the Head Dream Thang boots. They have an adjustable shell that accomodates large calves. I've skied in them 4 times now and I'm really happy with them.

 

[skigrl27]

If you are anywhere near Aspen, Boot Tech's Jim Lindsay is THE MAN. He knows his "stuff" - he fits the US Ski Team and plenty of other pro skiers from all over the world. Take a ride, come to Aspen Highlands. Send me a PM we'll get a drink. It'll be well worth your trip.

He is quite pricey tho. He'll get you in the proper boot - and work from there to customize it juuuuussstt right. Best thing I've done in a while.

 

[Telluride Ski Babe]

Or, if you're anywhere near Telluride, I cannot recommend Bob Gleason at Boot Doctors enough. He's very highly regarded in the business, and I've got to say my boots feel like slippers on my feet.

Now, if we just had some snow!

 

[SkiNurse]

Sure Foot..located at most of the major resorts. They do boot fitting, orthotics & custom liners. I just had boots done @ the Copper store by Sean this week. He's fabulous. he used to do suctom fitting @ Boulder Ski Deals

There actually is a list of boot fitters in this month's Rocky Mountain Sport. Covers basically the whole state. (i copied/pasted the list for you)

I skied for two seasons on boots that were wrong for me. That was 5 seasons ago & I can still point out the areas of shin bang. I learned a valuable lesson. If you have any boot issues, it is important to find someone that can #1: find the right boot for your feet/legs and #2: be able to put you in correct alignment. It is amazing what a difference it makes not only for comfort, but makes your skiing better also.

FANTASTIC BOOT FITTERS (per Rocky Mountain Sports)

Denver/Boulder Area

Larry Houchen @ Larry’s Boot Fitting, Boulder. 303-402-6733

Kagan Shoppen, Dan Coons @ Boulder Ski Deals. 303-938-8799, www.boulderskideals.com

Lee Kinney @ The Custom Foot, Denver. 303-761-4002, www.thecustomfoot.com

Jeremy Saunders, Kevin McNeil, Tim Bowling, Kyle Grow (snowboard), Nikki Lenny (snowboard) @ Colorado Ski & Golf, Aurora. 303-337-1734, www.coloradoskiandgolf.com

Dan Shuster, Doug Bonney (snowboard), Matt Leachman (snowboard) @ Colorado Ski & Golf, Arvada. 303-420-0885

Kevin Woodward (snowboard) @ Colorado Ski & Golf, Littleton. 303-948-7550

Mountains

Eric Ward @ The Foot Foundation, Aspen. 970-948 6218, www.thefootfoundation.com

Bill of Superfeet @ Kaelin Sports, Aspen. 970-925-7266, www.stefankaelin.com

Jack Rafferty @ Aspen Sports, Aspen. 970-925-6331, www.asp ensports.com

Kenny Friedman @ Gorsuch Ltd, Beaver Creek. 970-949-7115, www.gorsuchltd.com

Jeff Bergeron @ Boot Fixation (in Norway Haus), Breckenridge. 970-453-2375, www.norwa yhaus.com

Dan Lee @ Christy Sports, Main Street Station, Breckenridge. 866-208-5572, www.chri stysports.com

Tom Hodges @ Gold Medal Sports, Durango (near resort base). 970-259-1063, www.goldski.com

Zach Cooley @ Performance Peak, Durango (resort base). 970-247-9000

Gary Dickerson @ Ski Haus, Steamboat Springs. 970-879-0385, www.skihaussteamboat.com

Tom Widner @ SureFoot, Steamboat Resort. 970-879-1119, www.surefoot.com

Bob Gleason @ Boot Doctors, Telluride. 970-728-8954, www.bootdoctor.com

Russ Shea @ SureFoot, Vail. 970-476-8890, www.surefoot.co m

David Randby, Brian Flanagan, Peter Lehman @ The Boot Lab, Vail. 970-476-5009

Greg Hoffman @ the Skier Enhancement Center (top of chairs 4, 5 and 11), Vail. www.skiboo tfitting.com

Jacques Thomas @ Le Feet

 

[Robyn]

SkiNurse, thank you so much for posting that list. I may talk to Sean in Copper one of these days but the Colorado Ski and Golf in Aurora is quite close to me so I'll stop in there as well.

 

[Gina23]

I don't know where to tell you to go for a boot fitter, but I got my boots (Head) at Colorado Ski & Golf in Arvada. I am a runner with man calves and of all the boots I rented and tried on, the Head's were the answer to keeping my circulation.

 

[Robyn]

Well, I'm excited as I am having a boot fitting at SureFoot at Copper tomorrow. I'm guessing I'll be working with Ari, the manager there as I called him this evening to discuss a bit and he said he'd see me at 8 tomorrow morning. I'll have the scan done before coaching, go coach and then come in after words for the rest of the fitting. He's giving an amazing pro discount because I coach at the mountain that I just can't pass up. We're talking boot and custom liner for less than the boot would be at Outdoor Diva if we go for the boot I've liked so far.

But, let's be clear, the ladies at Outdoor Divas were fantastic and I will be heading back there to buy other things, I just can't pass up this deal.

 

[pinto]

.... I just can't pass up this deal.

My brother worked at Copper for 10 years, and that's always where he did his boots. It will be great!

 

[Little Lightning]

The free "Biostance fitting", because I bought boots, from Outdoor Divas has made dramatic changes in my skiing. I didn't realize how out of alignment I was.

 

[Robyn]

So, I ended up with an Tecnica Diablo Flame boot with custom orthotic and liner. None of the people I know with Surefoot liners ever mentioned how painful the process is. OUCH! But, from what I can tell so far they will be totally worth it. I only did 2 runs today in them because I was having one of those days. Contact were totally not working, got grumpy when I tried to assist a little boy who'd lost a ski and the mother got snippy with me and was telling her son to do exactly the opposite of what I was saying even after I told her that I am a coach who works with kids and then I fell on my knee on concrete on my way to Surefoot to work on a hot spot. I decided that was it for the day. I'll report more in a couple of weeks but Winnie was fantastic to work with at Copper Mountain.

 

[SkiNurse]

Ohh, Robyn, you went with the custom liners! I'll agree, that is quite the experience, but I think well worth it. And yes, Winnie is wonderful too..even though Sean did most of my fitting. Just really great people that work there.

BTW, last Monday was up @ Copper. Skiing on my new Lotta Luvs for the first time. had been mostly sking under Timberline and decided I was finally comfortable enough to take the Lotta Luvs over to A lift and see how they would really perform.

So, as I'm making the traverse from west to east, patrol DROPS the ropes @ s lift. Woo hoo! I was ~ 13th on the lift and 3rd into Retreat. Most everyone else was dropping into Golddigger. Amazing and flawless!! I have never known patrol to open an area during the week..I thought they save that all for the weekend..I wasn't complaining though! Fresh tracks for two runs!

 

[Robyn]

Oh, isn't that the best when you get to go at fresh terrain like that? I think they are trying to open stuff as fast as possible right now rather than waiting for the weekend.

 

[smpayne]

So, I ended up with an Tecnica Diablo Flame boot with custom orthotic and liner. None of the people I know with Surefoot liners ever mentioned how painful the process is. OUCH! But, from what I can tell so far they will be totally worth it.

Those are the exact same boots I got . Ouch is right, but custom footbeds (don't have custom liners) are totally worth it in the end. A day or two of pain for a season or three of comfort.

Kellikate: A good bootfitter should be able to make suggestions about how to solve the problem with the calves. I also have large calves, my guy was full of suggestions. When I was trying on boots, after the first pair, he would just automatically start removing the spoilers and adjusting the buckles to the widest setting before I even stepped into the next pair. He told me that once we found a pair that fit the rest of my foot, we coud "cut" the cuff to fit my leg if need be.

Try to go when the store is not real busy (maybe make an appointment), find out who the head fitter is and ask him/her, be ready to wait if he is busy. It does make a difference, especially with hard to fit feet.

I noticed that there are more adjustments on the upper end boots than the "recreational" models. Nordica's had a really cool cuff adjustment, but they are also geared to wider feet all around.

 

[Robyn]

Those are the exact same boots I got . Ouch is right, but custom footbeds (don't have custom liners) are totally worth it in the end. A day or two of pain for a season or three of comfort.

Oh, if you haven't had a custom liner done you have NO clue. After having the foam injected and waiting the requisite 5 minutes for it to set while standing in them I literally hobbled back to the seat, nearly falling halfway there and had to CRAWL up to the stool thing my feet were essentially numb. And they said that's a regular occurrence. But, they then take it off and go into the back area where they inspect the results and clean them up. They come back out and put them on you again and it's absolutely incredible how good they feel then.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

I had a custom liner and custom boot fitting done in Winter Park several years ago. I can't remember the name of the place, but if you are driving down main street, it's like in a little strip mall on your right hand side past Dino's.....it's one of the only boot fitting shops in town and they specialize in that!

Also, in TAOS, there was this one place that was PACKED with people with appointments for custom boot fittings! Right there next to the Dog Tavern place (LORD......I am having a MAJOR word-finding problem here!)

 

[Quiver Queen]

If you are anywhere near Aspen, Boot Tech's Jim Lindsay is THE MAN. He knows his "stuff" - he fits the US Ski Team and plenty of other pro skiers from all over the world. Take a ride, come to Aspen Highlands. Send me a PM we'll get a drink. It'll be well worth your trip.

He is quite pricey tho. He'll get you in the proper boot - and work from there to customize it juuuuussstt right. Best thing I've done in a while.

I saw him a few years ago, and I agree he really knows his stuff. Ever since, I've said that if I had a boot issue while in CO, I'd be willing to drive hours to see him.