My First Equipment - Info/Opinions welcome!

[TsuKata]

So, this past weekend, my DH and I bit the bullet and made the drive down to St. Charles to see the highly recommended (on several ski sites we'd found, including this one) bootfitter, Rick at Vertical Drop.

The experience with Rick was exactly as it has been described here for a good bootfitting. He measured my feet, had me put on some try-on ski socks (they have a massive pile of them there), listened to my description of issues, and came back from the back with 3 boot types to start and then moved me into two other boot types as he looked at and heard from me as I tried on each one. He'd leave me in a boot on the right foot while I tried a new one on the left foot...and basically, unless I immediately said it wouldn't work, he left me in the boot for about 15 mins so I could flex around in it and check it for any pressure points.

Long story short, I bought my boots, skis, and poles from him on the spot. I ended up with a Dolomite F-cubed boot and Fischer Vision 20 skis. Rick put a small heel wedge in the boot, and it fit like a dream after that. I tried on some junior boots that fit pretty well, too, but they seemed a bit narrow for my foot, and I was worried about them being painful after a day out and about.

So, I found the website for my skis here: https://www.fischer-ski.com/en/products_ski.php?show=detail&id_product=14526

But, I have no idea what most of the product specs mean...and so I'm working my way through learning as much as I can about my skis. I'd love to hear any thoughts on them that y'all have. As mentioned in my intro thread in the other forum, I'm a rank beginner, so I asked for a good beginner ski. After the bootfitting experience and talking to Rick, I practically trusted him with my life, so I basically just took what he recommended without question.

However, I can't find *anything* on the internet about my boots. I can't even find the company. I saw in another thread here that Dolomite is part of the Tecnica group, but I can't find anything about Dolomite boots on the Tecnica site. I don't know if I'm just not searching correctly or what. So, I'd especially like to know things about my boots, since I don't even have a net resource for them really.

Overall, I'm wicked excited, and I can't wait to go out and ski. Of course, because Ms. Weather is a ********************, IL is having an unusual heat wave, and the ski hills near me have shut down. Even their built-up snow is melted! I'm crossing my fingers and thinking happy thoughts for snow on Friday.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Very exciting time, your first gear! Too bad about the weather, though -- and we're having the same bad luck out here in the Northeast, even as far north as Maine...:( .... Dolomite has been around for a very long time as a ski boot manufacturer. If I recall correctly, they are manufactured in Italy. There may be some reviewed on skinet.com, don't recall. They seem to have been "eclipsed" in recent years by other manufacturers, but there was a time when a lot more Dolomites were around. Obviously, they're still being made - you have some! Fit is the bottom line, always. I'll hunt around and post again if I find any links, but not to worry, this is a legitimate brand for sure. Hope you get some cold weather returning their soon so the ski areas can patch up the damage and reopen!!

 

[w.ski]

The only Dolomite web site I could find is from 2005, 2006. Here's the link: https://snowbizusa.com/SkiBoots0506/

As MaineSkiLady said, Dolomite has been around a long time, and the fit is the most important thing. If the boots don't fit well you'll be miserable, no matter what the boot brand.

 

[Jilly]

Got one: https://www.dolomite.it/default.php
Dolomite is italian, so change to English on the top line.

 

[num]

Congrats on your gear purchase! Fit can make all the difference, especially if you have boot size issues. Rick is great. If you catch him when the store's pretty quiet you can usually glean a lot of information from him. I definitely took advantage of that my first year

Wilmot's opening back up at 4:30 today, so don't despair!

 

[TsuKata]

I guess it's not so much that I'm interested in the brand from a "it better be a good brand perspective" as that I'd like to find out things about the boot, like maintenance tips and things like that, and I guess I typically look for that stuff on the manufacturer website, so I was a little startled to not find one.