All Things Heierling

[Dave Petersen]

All Things Heierling

Heierling Ski Boots

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Dave Petersen]

 

[Mothertucker]

Rode the chair with a guy skiing these today.

 

[Philpug]

How about these...

 

[DanoT]

In the early 70s I worked part time at a ski shop that sold Heierling boots. This was a time when plastic boots were replacing leather boots so Heierling had a fibre glass reinforced leather boot that was one of the stiffest recreational boots ever. There was a cable/buckle system that if memory serves was somewhat similar to the Riecklie (sp) cable system.

 

[Choucas]

This was the pinnacle of hand made leather buckle boot technology. It peaked in 1965 and ended very quickly when Lange brought the first marketable plastic boots at about the same time. Many US ski team racers and many elite skiers were on Heierlings in the early to mid 60's. You could send a mold of your foot to Heierling and they would custom build a boot for you. They made a 6 buckle model for a friend of mine who was about 6"4" and 240 lbs. You could spec custom colors. The red/white/blue chevrons up the back and the white tongue was a styling combo back in the day. I had to wrap an ace bandage around my ankles and lower shin to take up enough bulk for my chicken legs to get cinched up tight enough to ski.
If you are in Davos and in need of boot work, you need to pay a visit to their shop. A stunning array of high tech boot fitting, stance measuring stuff, computer imaging, and old time craftsmanship to take care of every possible boot issue.
Re: the post above. I think you've got Heierling mixed up with the French company Heschung who built a plastic laminated leather boot at about the same time and used the Molitor cable/buckle system. Very sexy boots. The buckle system was a beautiful concept, but prone to frequent failures.

 

[Jack skis]

Hard to remember the exact year, but could have been 1961 when the ski shop I worked in (Lakewood, CO) became a Heierling dealer. The person who came to the shop to teach us the fitting system was Buddy Werner. The system was not hard to learn, and the results were excellent boots both as to fit and function. Buddy was a easy to like, wasn't above us common boot fitters, and was a super friendly guy. A couple of years later, shortly before his death, he said Hello to me by name in a crowded theater (Warren Miller ski movie I think). I was impressed by his memory as he had no reason to remember who I was. His death in an avalanche took place while the WWSRA show was on in Denver. Bob Beattie came through the exhibitors rooms with the news of the accident as he prepared to leave for Europe to do what he could for his friend, and former athlete. It was hard news to believe. I'm sure all of us were severely shaken by the event and loss of a remarkable person, who also happened to be a remarkable skier, ski racer and all around good guy.

 

[Choucas]

Yes, Buddy was involved with the distribution of Heierling in the US as was Bob Beattie and his brother. Since production was very limited (there were only a few guys in Davos who knew how stitch the boots), there were only a few shops in the US that carried the boots.
I know the slope in St.Moritz where the avalanche took place and have skied it several times. It's not a dangerous looking place but there is a terrain trap. We were carrying full avalanche safety gear even though it is within sight of a lift and piste.

 

[Muleski]

Heierling was the boot. My older brother was in the boot from maybe 1963-1965, when he then got his first Lange's. His entire college team had been in both boots. Before the Heirlings he was in a lace Molitor as was my dad. My dad had skied them for years. My mother picked up a pair of Molitors with the cable buckle system, and she loved them. My dad got a pair that were some race variation. Weird color for the day...like a brown or olive color? They had some extra material on the cuffs to stiffen the boot. He loved those, too.
Bought them in Switzerland.

As I recall, in the late 60's I had a series of Henke boots. 1968, age 14, Lange Comps. No looking back after that!

 

[Dave Petersen]

How about these...

View attachment 18713 View attachment 18714 View attachment 18715 View attachment 18716 View attachment 18717 View attachment 18718

Is that at Gorsuch in Vail?

 

[dan ross]

with the French company Heschung who built a plastic laminated leather boot at about the same time and used the Molitor cable/buckle system. Very sexy boots. The buckle system was a beautiful concept, but prone to frequent failures.

I had a pair of those Heschungs, second hand in 1975-76 . They replaced my Henke Stratos as my race boots. They were oddly cool but yes, the lacing /buckle system took getting used to . They also had a “flex index“ that could go off the charts. The over the tongue /under the buckle lacing system controlled that . I’d love to see a pair now.