Guys and Gals:
Last season, I was dealing with worn out liners that were getting increasingly more and more uncomfortable. Also, the stronger I got, the more the boots actually increasingly becoming too soft. Note the buckle overlap from the third to second buckle.
So, upon realization that I need new boots mid-to-late season last year, I set my sights out on getting set up for the 2016-17 season.
So that meant getting various insights, info, tips on what might be good, etc. I set my sights on my local shop that did this last pair of boots, the Start Haus in Truckee, CA.
Speaking with Jim Schaffner, the owner, and showing him videos of my skiing, along with speaking with an employee of the shop who has spent a lot of time skiing with me, it was suggested that I needed a stiffer boot, with a more upright stance.
Jim suggested that I go with a Lange ZB, which is a plug boot, but the boot would be at measured length, not downsized.
So, fast forward to early October, and I go in and see Jim after he special ordered my boots, and I had my initial fitting.
Jim inspected my boots to re-aquaint himself with my boots in preparation of our fitting:
And determined that I would need a new footbed, as my existing one was built for a downsized boot shell and quite a bit shorter than the liner of my new boot.
He then prepped the footbed machine:
We then measured my foot. (Not shown is the poking and prodding around my foot, my calf, checking mobility, soreness, etc.)
First on a Brannock for length and width:
Then he checked instep volume:
And finally width:
The footbed was made (Sidas Race), and while I was sitting waiting for them to be ready, Jim then ground the Zeppa (footboard) perfectly flat to remove and lumps, bumps, or inconsistencies, before I even put my foot into the boot:
And the end result:
Due to the fact that it was determined that I needed heel lifts and an upright stance because of HORRIBLE dorsiflection, the heel lifts were installed and the footbed was trimmed and ground to match the interior of the boot...and there is a little extra under the heel of my footbeds and a little less off the forefoot even!
We then had a platform to start. The zeppa and footbed was inserted into the boot, and the foot prepped to show pressure points within the boot shell.
And the foot being prepped:
Once the foot was prepped and completed, Jim provided a fitting tongue (cut out of and old boot) and had me insert my foot EVER-SO-CAREFULLY into the fully spread boot with tongue:
Where the boot was tightened all around my foot to as tight as I would EVER want to have it, in order to get a good impression of my foot and pressure points on the interior of the boot shell.
So far, my fitting has been 2 hours, and at this point we already knew what boot we were going to purchase (I pre-purchased it)!
After we had completed this prep work on both boots, we next tried on the liners, and started on those.
The impressions that he's making show where the leather is going to be removed to create more room over the top of the boot. Every millimeter makes a difference!
After that, I went home. so far, we had a 3 hour session, and he had a bunch of work on the boots to do before we got to step 2, which would be more stretching and grinding, cuff canting and alignment, sole canting and planing, misc. work like running the cords for the heater, positioning the booster strap, etc.
My SECOND trip to Start Haus...
There wasn't much snow yet on October 21st:
Jim took copious notes on my second session, which was another two hours, during which we stretched the boot more, did a little more width grinding, lowered the mount point for the booster, etc:
Here's the finished work of the liner, which I think is kinda cool:
I then left again only to pick them up a couple weeks later......
Last season, I was dealing with worn out liners that were getting increasingly more and more uncomfortable. Also, the stronger I got, the more the boots actually increasingly becoming too soft. Note the buckle overlap from the third to second buckle.
So, upon realization that I need new boots mid-to-late season last year, I set my sights out on getting set up for the 2016-17 season.
So that meant getting various insights, info, tips on what might be good, etc. I set my sights on my local shop that did this last pair of boots, the Start Haus in Truckee, CA.
Speaking with Jim Schaffner, the owner, and showing him videos of my skiing, along with speaking with an employee of the shop who has spent a lot of time skiing with me, it was suggested that I needed a stiffer boot, with a more upright stance.
Jim suggested that I go with a Lange ZB, which is a plug boot, but the boot would be at measured length, not downsized.
So, fast forward to early October, and I go in and see Jim after he special ordered my boots, and I had my initial fitting.
Jim inspected my boots to re-aquaint himself with my boots in preparation of our fitting:
And determined that I would need a new footbed, as my existing one was built for a downsized boot shell and quite a bit shorter than the liner of my new boot.
He then prepped the footbed machine:
We then measured my foot. (Not shown is the poking and prodding around my foot, my calf, checking mobility, soreness, etc.)
First on a Brannock for length and width:
Then he checked instep volume:
And finally width:
The footbed was made (Sidas Race), and while I was sitting waiting for them to be ready, Jim then ground the Zeppa (footboard) perfectly flat to remove and lumps, bumps, or inconsistencies, before I even put my foot into the boot:
And the end result:
Due to the fact that it was determined that I needed heel lifts and an upright stance because of HORRIBLE dorsiflection, the heel lifts were installed and the footbed was trimmed and ground to match the interior of the boot...and there is a little extra under the heel of my footbeds and a little less off the forefoot even!
We then had a platform to start. The zeppa and footbed was inserted into the boot, and the foot prepped to show pressure points within the boot shell.
And the foot being prepped:
Once the foot was prepped and completed, Jim provided a fitting tongue (cut out of and old boot) and had me insert my foot EVER-SO-CAREFULLY into the fully spread boot with tongue:
Where the boot was tightened all around my foot to as tight as I would EVER want to have it, in order to get a good impression of my foot and pressure points on the interior of the boot shell.
So far, my fitting has been 2 hours, and at this point we already knew what boot we were going to purchase (I pre-purchased it)!
After we had completed this prep work on both boots, we next tried on the liners, and started on those.
The impressions that he's making show where the leather is going to be removed to create more room over the top of the boot. Every millimeter makes a difference!
After that, I went home. so far, we had a 3 hour session, and he had a bunch of work on the boots to do before we got to step 2, which would be more stretching and grinding, cuff canting and alignment, sole canting and planing, misc. work like running the cords for the heater, positioning the booster strap, etc.
My SECOND trip to Start Haus...
There wasn't much snow yet on October 21st:
Jim took copious notes on my second session, which was another two hours, during which we stretched the boot more, did a little more width grinding, lowered the mount point for the booster, etc:
Here's the finished work of the liner, which I think is kinda cool:
I then left again only to pick them up a couple weeks later......
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