 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, my husband has really wide feet and a high instep. When he hires ski boots they literally kill his feet. He’s been looking at having them custom made but we don’t ski enough to justify the cost, but the pain does!! So, looking for advice on where to get custom made boots in Edinburgh or near by. Hopefully, rather quickly but not too expensive. Can anybody recommend anywhere please. He’ll be in London too next week so that is also an options. TIA! Or any other solutions welcome from fellow wide footed high arched skiers! 😃👍🏼
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Welcome to SnowHeads Kiki!
Don't think we have anyone up this neck of the woods that can fully build something for him like the guys at Solutions4Feet & Profeet, both of which get highly recommended here.
Depending on how wide his foot is it maybe possible to widen the boot - I have had to have this done around the toe box on every pair I've bought. Rental shops seem often to only have Rossi or Salomon boots, and I know the latter tend to favour those with low volume feet, where as an Atomic/Lange/Head might be better for him and just need a re-shape rather than built from scratch.
I use Scott at the Ellish Brigahm in Braehead, others around highly recommend Alain Baxter in Stirling as well - would probably be worth him having a chat with these guys!
Certainly if he's going to be down South it does seem you really can't do much better than @CEM 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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whole boot or just a footbed?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Kikib78, Welcome to SnowHeads 
In London there is Profeet, but the aren’t going to be cheap £500+ for new boots and fitting. If you are interested in that sort of fitting you need to book immediately as they are very busy.
Try Freeze Pro Shop in Edinburgh, they have a good range of boots. I’ve bought many things from them over web, but never had a boot fitting with them.
https://www.freezeproshop.com/contact
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@PowderAdict, 450 - 480 at profeet IME including yesterday
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| PowderAdict wrote: |
@Kikib78, Welcome to SnowHeads
In London there is Profeet, but the aren’t going to be cheap £500+ for new boots and fitting. If you are interested in that sort of fitting you need to book immediately as they are very busy.
Try Freeze Pro Shop in Edinburgh, they have a good range of boots. I’ve bought many things from them over web, but never had a boot fitting with them.
https://www.freezeproshop.com/contact |
Big fan of Freeze. They're excellent - however last time I spoke to them regarding boots they did say that they're a bit limited with full custom footbeds. I may not have fully understood them but the guy I spoke with said they can only mould off the shelf footbeds.
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I would be astonished is Alain Baxter in Stirling could not sort this for you. Give him a try
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@Kikib78, unless there’s something really weird, full custom boots (e.g. Strolz or Dale) are unlikely to be needed.
A good boot fitter will (more or less) take an off the shelf boot that fits his feet best -typically the thinnest/narrowest part of his feet and then expand where more volume is required. I don’t have big feet but have wide mid feet and very slim ankles for a bloke and always had boot pain until I started getting them fitted properly (i.e. for 30 out of my 45 skiing years I just had to put up with greater or lesser degrees of it - and I ski a lot).
Note also that there are quite a few brands, e.g. Salomon with boots that have the shells heat fitted - warmed so the plastic is soft and stretchy and your feet and liners get put into them while hot and mouldable and clipped up. Which involves a scary set of gauntlets for the fitter...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Kikib78, Arches quite likely to be helped by custom-made insoles, which all boot fitters do. Likelihood is that off the shelf boots can also be made to fit as explained above, for instance by the persons recommended above.
Give a few fitters a ring and see what they suggest, what they have in stock in his approximate size, etc, and take it from there. I know that Alain and staff have been very helpful to me in the recent past.
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Alain apparently fitted on the WC circuit and you don’t get better than that...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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No doubt about it - Alain Baxter is the man you need to see. I've had decent boot fitting experiences in Ellis Brigham, Banks of Perth and Craigdon in Perth but Alain is in a completely different league. He doesn't really have a shop, it's a workshop. Full of power tools, clamps, punches and fitting tools that he uses to get the perfect fit. A year ago I had problems with my boots while skiing in Austria, bought a new pair there and while they weren't as painful as my old boots my skiing went to pot as the fit was way too loose about my ankles. A couple of hours with Alain and the boots were transformed and my skiing benefitted enormously. Watching him work on the boots was great too for learning about how my feet fit in boots, so when I hit problems with my touring boots when I was away in France I managed to improve things myself.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Alain Baxter is the man without any doubt. I too have a high instep and wide forefoot, combined with a narrow heel and fine ankle and very muscly calves. After years of varying degrees of misery and failures by all the other Scottish suspects I had Daleboots made to measure in Austria. This was before Alain had set up but I go to him for such things as replacement heel and toe pieces and maintenance. He has just ordered and will heat fit new inners for me as the old ones at 8 years old are now too compacted. He will be able to adjust many boots but if all else fails the Daleboot will be the solution. Carpet slippers for skiing IME.
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