Our Boot Fitting Process
Reserve your free, no-obligation assessment or just pop into the shop for an initial chat. Please allow a good hour for your appointment. Sometimes it’s quicker, sometimes slower, but it’s best if you don’t need to leave half way through and we have the time to work our magic.
What happens during the appointment?
There are 8 steps to ski boot happiness:
1) Over a cup of coffee we’ll ask you to complete a brief questionnaire which covers medical history, measurements etc. This gives us something to refer back to during the boot fit.
2) It’s all about you! We want to know about your skiing and your goals – this is a vital part of the process and really helps us to gauge what you’re looking for in your new ski boots. We’ll find out whether you’re looking at custom liners, boot-warmers or heated socks. Our team have been fully trained and are super friendly so please do relax and enjoy the experience!
3) Get your socks off… Now its time to introduce us to your feet (please don’t be embarrassed, we’ve seen it all!). We’ll have a good old measure and assessment of your toes, ankles etc. so that we can get to know what we’re dealing with. We’ll also have a chat about socks at this stage – we can’t emphasise enough how important the right pair of socks are!
4) Narrowing it down: your boot fitter will now choose 2 or 3 boots that he/she thinks will provide the best fit. They’ll then do a ‘shell check’ where we ask you to put your bare foot inside the shell of the boot. We’ll have a good inspection and check whether this is the right boot for you or not. If it is – straight to step 5. If not, we’ll try one or two other boots until we are happy that we’ve got everything in the right place.
5) Time to step up: we will now make your footbed (or insole), tailored to your foot. You’ll step into our squishy mould for 2 minutes to get an imprint of your sole. Then we’ll use one of our nice, warm footbeds to place under your feet for 10 minutes, during which time it will take on the shape of your imprint. This uniquely shaped footbed will sit in your liner and provide support and stability in all the right places. Click here for more info on our footbeds.
6) Moulded liners: If the boot comes with moulded liners, then we’ll do this now. The boot is heated and we place a special cap over your toes. You then put your feet into the nice warm liners and stand there for 15 minutes until the liner cools to the shape of your foot and boot. If you’re going for foam-injected liners, you’ll put the boot on, then tubes leading into the boot will be filled with liquid foam which then expands to the shape of your foot and boot. Click here for more info on our liners.
7) Cosy toes: If you suffer from cold feet or circulation problems then one of our heating solutions can help you stay on the hill for longer and in greater comfort. You have two options: a) heaters that attach onto the footbed or b) heated socks. Both are great for anyone who can’t stand cold toes!
8) Your new boots: we’ll do any shell modifications once the shop has shut, so your boots will be ready for you to test out the following day. (Please arrange a time to collect them from the shop). When you head out onto the mountain, please be aware that they will feel very different at first, but don’t worry we’re on hand to make any adjustments!