Matt,
Older son is in Florida for college, can’t take him to get fitted. Took my younger son to REI to get fitted last week. Boot fitters there are very inexperienced, would not trust. Only had Ultra 120 in his size 26.5. Tried on for 15 minutes, fit very tight but was able to buckle down. One foot hurt but the other was tight but ok. 120 flex was stiff but he thought was ok. Fitter thought prime or magna would be better but had nothing in his size. REI had only one magna 110 in his size at another store in all of California and ordered, went to pick up yesterday, opened the box to find Nordic’s boots inside, return! This is my issue, no stock in size needed locally to even try on and honestly no good boot fitters in Southern California.
I have very wide flat problematic feet. Tried many different boot fitters and boots with bad results when younger and gave up skiing for a long time. Found out about Footloose in Mammoth. They got me in the widest boot at the time, Strolz black with Svenfit, still wearing for over ten years. Only thing that worked for me.
My sons feet’s are not as wide or flat as mine but are not average either. Called Footloose to check inventory of their boots in model and sizes needed. They don’t have any 26.5 in prime or magna and in 25.5 only very soft flex. Not planning on going up mammoth til Presidents’ Day weekend but by then Footloose will most likely be out of inventory in my sons sizes.
Do you know of any good boot fitters in Southern California, store with inventory to try on prime and magna in different flex’s? Spoke with very respectful boot fitters in Vermont about 130 flex in Atomic boots. He said you can soften the flex to more like 110 if you adjust the screw in back of boots. My sons have been skiing since they were 5. Believe they will like a 110 flex to start with but believe they will like the 130 flex as they get use to it. Thinking about prime 130 in 21 or 22 model year. Definitely going to get custom footbeds for them. Do you recommend any specific? Can you remold Mimic platinum liner and boot in a year or two if their feet grows a little?
Thank you very much Matt!
Hi John,
As a boot-fitter in my former life, I totally understand the challenges/frustrations you & your boys are experiencing. I also understand the logistics about where you are all located, working around college schedules, etc. - it's not easy.
Shops in the southern US (usually) don't have the boot-fitting expertise that shops closer to the mountains do. And most of stock is already gone at this time of the year (especially this year with all of the supply chain issues that every brand is facing). Unfortunately, the odds of you finding the right boot at this time of the year, in your location, is very low. Additionally, I really can't give you good advice over the internet as to which boot or size your guys should be in. You can imagine the challenges of figuring out which size suit will fit over the internet, while not knowing someone's measurements, not being able to fit them in person, and not having proper tailor nearby. It's even more difficult with ski boots because a boot-fitter can't make a boot that is too big become the right size. So going wider than he needs, or longer than he needs will absolutely create a problem for both of them. They might get lucky with picking an Ultra or a Prime in the right size, but it will be blind luck at this point until the boot-fitter can see him in it and watch him flex it.
Here is the best course of action if you want the highest success rate of finding the right boots for your sons:
-Right now you simply don't have enough data to make an informed decision about which boot to buy. At the very least, you should get them to a good boot-fitter and go through a complete fit assessment. If you can't do it locally, do it where you plan to go skiing. Just like a good suit, a body needs to be analyzed and measurements need to be taken- foot length, width, instep height, heel-to-instep perimeter, ankle mobility, calf size, etc. and more. After that, the boot-fitter needs to see your sons' feet in the plastic shells in order to say yes/no about an Ultra or a Prime or a Magna. If any of this is not possible, pulling the trigger on any boot is not in your favor. But, once you have that data, it makes searching for the correct boot a lot easier.
-The best time to buy boots is in the Fall (September/October). If you wait until after Christmas, the chances of finding the correct boot in stock is always going to be very low. People start shopping for boots in August/September and most of the "must have" gear is gone by January, even during a normal inventory year.
I know this is most likely not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth about buying ski boots or at least maximizing the chances of finding the correct boot. Doing it differently is obviously possible, but the chances of finding the correct boot begin to diminish greatly. It's a fairly common problem that people get boots online, take them to a boot-fitter for the fitting, only to find out that they aren't the correct starting point and no amount of money or time can make them right. I just don't want you to end up in that situation.
As for custom footbeds, it's not so much the brand you should look for but the person making it. Don't get a custom footbed from a shop that can't do basic boot-fitting. The two usually go hand-in-hand. Liners can also be adapted (to a degree) when feet grow & change shape. The shell is usually going to be the main deciding/limiting factor when it comes to that.