I typically wear size 10.5/44 shoes. As mentioned in another thread a while back, I have an extremely wide forefoot (quad E / 116mm across at widest point) with a high arch and relatively narrow heel. Unfortunately, I have had a bone graft to my right calcaneus, as well as arthroscopic surgery on my left ankle--resulting in some post-surgical paresthesia and vascular changes (almost like a mild Raynaud’s). My left foot is also a half size length smaller than my right. Without a doubt, it is hard to fit my feet into performance boots.
Since the dawn of the new Millenium, I have been using 98mm last/27.5 boots, typically in a 110-120 flex for recreational All-Mountain skiing.
After dipping my toes back into Masters racing a couple of years ago, I found myself needing a much more capable and effective boot to control modern Masters level racing skis. Reed, a superb boot-guru at Start Haus in Truckee, suggested a 98mm last/27.5 Nordica Doberman GP 140, as he felt it was the best option for my feet and current skiing level. After nearly 4 hours of fitting, cuff alignment, and canting, Reed was proven correct and I’ve skied those GP140’s the past two seasons.
Recently, Reed suggested I might want to now consider the 93mm last Nordica Doberman WC 150. So this Fall, I bit the bullet, despite some skepticism over the concept, and got the WC 150 “plug” (yes—an inaccurate colloquial term, but one that gets the point across) in a 27 shell. Reed spent over 5 hours carefully adapting and fitting the boots around my crazy wide, high arch feet. He also needed to trim a pair of my custom foot beds to fit the new boot.
The result is the most comfortable, responsive ski boot I have ever used, bar none. Just amazing for both racing in gates and free skiing all day on resort runs.
nordicaskioutlet.com
