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Hello from Jersey

newboots

Learning to carve!
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Dec 9, 2016
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Catskills
Are people at the mountain likely to help with the fit of rental boots as well as people at my local ski shop? You have a point regarding the possibility of any fit or technical issues while I'm up there. However, if I pick them at a local shop the day before, then I don't have to deal with that in the morning when I first get to the lodge.
I have some disappointing news. At the ski rental counter, you will likely be helped by a teenager who will (it is hoped) measure your foot and pull a pair of boots bigger than your foot. There is unlikely to be a choice of boots (other than sizes). Even if you know to get a smaller boot, it won't be fitted properly to your foot, unless your foot is pretty generic, and it may hurt in spots. Rental boots are designed by their manufacturers to be generic, fairly soft in flex, and pretty generous in size, because they don't make dozens of shapes, and because most renters are beginners and want a boot that's comfortable. If they have more than one type of boot, by all means try them on and see if you can find a snug but non-painful fit.

I've never rented equipment at Belleayre or Mt. Everest, but I'm generalizing from my experiences in a ski shop. At least our daily rental equipment is better than the season rental equipment.

Renting at your local shop (especially if you can the night before) makes it much more convenient. Inspect the boots and skis you rent so you don't discover something broken or dysfunctional when you get to the mountain. The skis should be fine, although stuff does happen occasionally. Get boots as snug as you can stand without pain. They are unlikely to be really comfortable unless they are too big.

Wear very thin, knee-high ski socks. Don't tuck a baselayer (or anything else) into the boot - socks and feet go into the boot, nothing else. BRING the socks when you try on boots.

Sorry to be the bearer of not-so-great news. And for being so bossy.

The purpose of the rental equipment is to get you on the hill so that you can ski the rest of this season. It's not going to fit really well or be the perfect choice.
 
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RelaxedNinja

Booting up
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I have some disappointing news. At the ski rental counter, you will likely be helped by a teenager who will (it is hoped) measure your foot and pull a pair of boots bigger than your foot. There is unlikely to be a choice of boots (other than sizes). Even if you know to get a smaller boot, it won't be fitted properly to your foot, unless your foot is pretty generic, and it may hurt in spots. Rental boots are designed by their manufacturers to be generic, fairly soft in flex, and pretty generous in size, because they don't make dozens of shapes, and because most renters are beginners and want a boot that's comfortable. If they have more than one type of boot, by all means try them on and see if you can find a snug but non-painful fit.

I've never rented equipment at Belleayre or Mt. Everest, but I'm generalizing from my experiences in a ski shop. At least our daily rental equipment is better than the season rental equipment.

Renting at your local shop (especially if you can the night before) makes it much more convenient. Inspect the boots and skis you rent so you don't discover something broken or dysfunctional when you get to the mountain. The skis should be fine, although stuff does happen occasionally. Get boots as snug as you can stand without pain. They are unlikely to be really comfortable unless they are too big.

Wear very thin, knee-high ski socks. Don't tuck a baselayer (or anything else) into the boot - socks and feet go into the boot, nothing else. BRING the socks when you try on boots.

Sorry to be the bearer of not-so-great news. And for being so bossy.

The purpose of the rental equipment is to get you on the hill so that you can ski the rest of this season. It's not going to fit really well or be the perfect choice.

No worries. Although I'm no expert, I'd also expect a kid at the lodge to not be all that interested in helping me get the best fit. I've done that rental thing at a mountain five times now over the years. I suppose the boots were too big because they were never especially uncomfortable, except for perhaps some shin soreness after hours walking around.

My main focus is to get a good enough fit to see if it actually feels different when I'm on the mountain doing turns, etc. I want to see what I've been missing, especially during a lesson.

Is there anything I should look for when booking a lesson? Anything to ask about the instructor, assuming there are any choices at all?
 

newboots

Learning to carve!
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My main focus is to get a good enough fit to see if it actually feels different when I'm on the mountain doing turns, etc. I want to see what I've been missing, especially during a lesson.

I am not sure you'll achieve that with rental boots. Use them to practice this season, finding the most snug ones available (again, in many places there is one kind of boot, so the only choice is size).

I can't really comment on lessons - not enough info.
 

johnnyvw

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If youre doing a private, the instructor should start out taking a run with you to assess your current abilities, and look what he/she can teach you to help you move to the next level. From my experience, the more experienced instructors are the ones that get booked for private lessons, the newer instructors are relegated to teaching never-evers.
If you're doing group lessons, the instructor will probably have a set plan for an "exercise" they will teach, appropriate to the level of the class.

These comments are just based on my experience
 

GB_Ski

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If you can go to Mt Everest, then Ski Barne should be close to you too. None of the rental shops have good stuff for boots and skis. If equipment is your concern, I would bypass all of the shops and get demo. One thing you might be able to ask is to upgrade to season rental returns. A lot of people are probably returning their seasonal rental this week and some of the season rental is a step up from rental.

Belleayre has a lot of good instructors. I don't know when you are doing your private, but some of them are going off the books and some of them are doing clinics this and next week. I suggest you ask L2/L3 instructors if you are doing multi-days. Also, a lot of the instructors are weekend warriors so if you have week day lessons, you might not get them. So ask in advance.
 
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RelaxedNinja

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The pass includes a free day's rental package...so it makes sense to use that. I'll get my gear up at the mountain for now. Also allows me to leave early if I only want to ski 2 days instead of 3.
 

snwbrdr

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Ski Barn in Wayne is good for boot fitting.

When Heino's closed down, Ski Barn picked up their boot fitter, and the boot fitter works on appointments only.
 
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RelaxedNinja

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Please report back and let us know how things worked out!

I left around 6:30am this morning, packed a bag just in case I wanted to stay the night nearby. However, after my lesson (which went alright, not great), my form/balance/reflexes got worse. I was more awkward and hesitant...which comes and goes. I think/hope it was fatigue and soreness making it harder to maintain tension in my posture.

Ski muscles are weird, not something I'm used to. The surface was super icy in many places. Anyway, I fell a few times (not because of the ice), and the last time I tweaked my ankle a bit. Nothing serious, but a little sore. I called it a day after working my way down an easy green around 3pm. Drove home.
 

newboots

Learning to carve!
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Ski muscles are definitely weird. There are new discoveries when starting to ski, rediscovered at the start of every ski season, for most of us. Take it easy on that ankle! R.I.C.E.

I think it's common to have things get worse after an early-career lesson. Trying to incorporate many suggestions causes us to tense up sometimes, which is (of course) not the way it's supposed to go and is quite tiring. All those new movements, new posture, too many hands and feet. The brain tires. It gets easier quickly, especially if you can practice!
 

johnnyvw

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Not every lesson is a winner. Lifetime, I'm about 50/50. But the good ones were REALLY good; sometimes it was just a small thing that made a huge difference.

Early on when learning anything new, it taked a while before movements become ingrained in muscle memory. And as @newboots alluded to, sometimes you regress from time to time. Your brain will be working on what transpired, processing it and comparing to your past ski days. At some point you'll have an "ah-ha" moment ogsmile

And icey conditions humble a lot of very experienced skiers, so keep that in mind as well
 
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RelaxedNinja

Booting up
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North Jersey
At times I just fall back in my boots, like I'm almost lifting my foot up inside the boot, and probably the ski as well...and then I lose control and sometimes get crossed skis, etc. It's usually the inside leg. Like a misfire in my brain, then instinct kicks in and I put my weight back, thus having less control, etc.

Thanks guys. I do appreciate your feedback. Love the community.
 

johnnyvw

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My take is skiing is not an instinctive activity....your brain wants you to move away from danger....so the natural instinct is to lean back up the hill, which is the opposite of what you need to do. The beginners in my family (kids, spouse etc) that I have helped over the years I tell them to "race their skis down the hill". i.e. don't let your body mass get behind your skis. As you seem to have noticed, when you get your weight on the tails of the skis, you don't have much turning control (but you do go faster LOL)
 

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