Ski boot fitter

Made the mistake of buying my last pair of ski boots at the turkey sale… I had just moved out here so didn't know any better at the time since they were the first pair of legit ski boots I bought. They fit me ok but still hurt often enough that it makes my average ski day not as enjoyable as it should be. Looking to spend the time and money now to get the right boots.

Which shops should I be focusing on for knowledgeable boot fitters? Brief Google search says Fanatyk in Whistler and Destination in North Van are solid options. Any recommendations are much appreciated.

Also - how much should I be aiming to spend on boots in general? I want to get the right boots regardless of the price, but within reason. Also, are custom liners a good idea for the $$ or should a good boot fitter be able to find me something off the shelf that fits close to perfectly?

I've friends who have also spoken well about CanSki in creekside and the Solomon store by Dubhlin.

I have personal experience with Destination and can confirm they're great.

those 2 are the best, either one of those shops will be able to look at your feet and tell you what boot will work with your foot cuz you gotta have the right type [HTML_REMOVED] size of shell to start with then you can do punches and or aftermarket liners

If you bought the wrong shell an intuition liner will not fix it … better to start over

edit: note that some brands of boot (Scarpa, Dalbello, Fulltilt come to mind) spec intuition liners which can save you a bunch of money

I had a good experience seeing George McConkey at NMcCoo's in Whistler Village. I bought a pair of intuition liners from him and he did all the punching and shimming I needed free of charge. Punching and shimming can make a huge difference to the fit of a boot. Mine are almost an inch wider than how they came off the shelf, and George was the only guy I talked to who felt comfortable pushing them that much.

Boot Fitting is extremely personal, and unless you have what the ski industry considers a normal shaped foot then its pretty unlikely you will find something off the shelf that fits well and offers good performance. Some degree of shel and liner modification will probably be required. But that brings up another good question - how much performance are you looking for? Are you charging steep lines or doing big airs? If not, then a more comfort-oriented boot is probably a better choice, and should fit better with less work.

Aftermarket liners have more benefice than just comfort. Intuitions tend to be warmer, drier, pack out less, and dry out faster than any stock liners I've had.

The number one thing is starting with the correct boot

Then the fine-tuning to go from there

I've had good luck with North Shore ski and Board

And With destination in North Vancouver

But I also know that I have the foot for a Solomon boots for some of the Lange boots . So my spectrum is narrowed down right off the bat

And most recently I'm in love with my liners from surefoot in Whistler
Fully custom to my foot , took my boots to the next level

Great advice in this thread. There are lots of good boot fitters from Vancouver up to Whistler. My personal experience has been FanatykCo, Destination and Comor Vancouver (believe it or not I had my Scarpa touring boots fit there and they did an awesome job, worked closely with the store manager who was really helpful, Pavel I think). I have one friend who swears by Surefoot Whistler, they do custom foam liners but it's not cheap.

As everyone has said, you need to start with the right shell. I would take your boot to a place like FanatykCo and get the guys to look at your boot/shell, you might have to toss it and start over but IMO it's worth it to spend the $$ if you are serious about skiing. Go in when they are not busy and you'll get good service. Get an Intuition liner if you can swing it, they are awesome, I have them in both my boots and will never get anything else. I went for a custom footbed from FanatykCo that I swap back and forth from my alpine to touring boots, helps reduce foot fatigue significantly for my fatass feet.

IME while I do have a quiver of custom made foot beds (great extended health plan)you don't really need a custom foot bed IME, just find the off-the-shelf foot bed for 40-50$ that works for YOUR foot
http://www.yoursole.com/us

and for me that is the Sole^^ product which comes in 3 thicknesses, you may be good with Superfeet (not as good for my feet) or some other brand??

Sure foot is ALOT of fucking money, as I understand it surefoot is big enough to buy just the popular boot shells without liner and they make their own

I think destination or fanatyk will tell you if they have the right shell for you OR where to go find it … usually at the other store

https://intuitionliners.com/
You could make an appointment at Intuition to find out if by chance your shells are at all correct for your foot if so you can buy liners at intuition and buddy does boot punches … maybe get away with a bill for [HTML_REMOVED] 300$

Surefoot. All the guys i ride with on blackcomb either work there or get their shit done there. They back there product 100% of the way

I had the guy at Intuition heat a set of liners for my old race boots. He's not an Intuition employee but works out of their space. Very comfy and a good fit. Which is something because they are a real race boot 150 flex. Only for cruising on the used World Cup skier cross skis I got from a local team racer.

Yes , surefoot isnt cheap . But for the dollars i took my shell there , and got custom footbeds , and complete custom liners for my boots .
My extended health plan paid for most of the bill . i ski with guys that have intuition and surefoot. each user is happy with their boots.

Surefoot hasn't been 100% for everyone . BUT they have stood behind their product and even scrapped complete liners and started over fresh for a couple buddies whom had issues.

IMO at the price point if Surefoot has the right boot on the wall for you . take your visa,
a fresh coffee , and two free hours there .

yes it will take some time…..

You plan on skiing in the pacific north west this season?

+1 for Destination

You plan on skiing in the pacific north west this season?

haha, that's optimism. we bought the family passes @ cypress again this year - but only because they were 80% off. my hopes, they are not held high, however.

You plan on skiing in the pacific north west this season?

+1 for Destination

And unlike last winter which had awesome mountain biking conditions straight through, this year we will probably get a shit ton of precipitation but only in the liquid form.

Tom @ intuition is full of awesome.