 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello everyone,
Couple weeks ago I bought ski boots from snow and rock -40% 
I have read a lot about how to get your boots fitted and I know to get the best fit one should go to a professional boot fitter. But...
But first I decided to go to snow and rock as they had big sales on  . In the past they had a good guide on their website on how to fit the ski boots, so I thought I will try them.
I think the person who fit me with the boots did as good job as it could.
They measured my feet, asked me about my skiing etc.
Than I have tried two different brands Fisher and Salomon.
They have checked the shell size by putting my feet into the empty shell and asked me to position my feet in few different way to make sure it's the right boot for me.
I have spent almost three hours in the shop making sure the boots feel right. In the end I decided to go with Fischer My Style 100 + the custom feet insoles.
The boots felt right. No pressure points, comfortable around my big calfs and quite wide forefoot. Nice and snug.
After coming back home tried them on again, still felt fine.
A week later put them on again and something didn't feel right as if there was to much space on the instep.
According to my research about boot fitting you shouldn't have more then 10 mm space in the instep, otherwise you will be overtightening the lover buckles.
I decided to check the shell myself.
I took the liner out and put my foot in the shell. The length is fine, 20mm space between my heel and back of the shell. The forefoot width fine, no more than 3mm on each side.
But the space in the instep is massive 20mm! 
To measure this I have put my feet in the shell, ski socks on. I have closed the lower buckles. To measure the space, I have put under my sock a small plastic eraser  so it touched the wall of the shell. And there it was, plastic eraser measures 20mm, so that's how much space I've got in the instep.
I wonder am I doing something wrong?
By 10mm do they mean space between the top of your instep and the upper wall of the shell?
Or both under your feet (10mm) and top of the instep (10mm) in which case it would be 20mm?
Sorry if it's confusing
Can't decide what to do with the boots, should I take them back?
Many thanks
Karolina
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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When I bought mine from an independent shop in horwich, bolton I was in there for 4 hours!!!! He told mento try them when I go skiing and if they are not right when returned then we will sort something out to make them feel better. If i were you the. I would go to an indoor ski centre and try them out and go from there.
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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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Personally from experience I think that buying from any multiple*, and generally with the odd exception most small retailers, is a mistake unless you have feet that are pretty average and you're after a pretty average fit (big no no if you need a performance fit and ski for much more than a week a year). Personally I'd take 'em back and get as much money back as possible then book in with Colin Martin (CEM) at Solutions 4 feet and see what he can do - you could always see him before taking them back to see what he says about the boot but don't be surprised if he says you have the wrong make of boot for your foot shape (they vary considerably depending on the lasts the manufacturer uses) and/or the custom insole is malformed. Most common thing as far as I know is also that they fit way too large which they can generally get away with when the customer is a relatively undemanding one week a year skier with averageish kind of feet - that's where they make their money to be honest.
* The one exception I know of to the avoid multiples rule is the Aviemore Ellis Brigham where I have it on good authority (from a number of instructors) that they have some good boot fitters who will take a whole morning/afternoon to get the initial fit right then send you out to ski on the mountain and advise you to come back once the boots bed in to get the fit tweaked. Other than that you might get pot luck but I'd say it's too much of a risk to use either S+R or EB and expect what I'd view as a proper fit.
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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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Doesn't sound like an unfixable problem. They may need to remake the footbed or tweak the shell, but they should be able to fix it.
They have a fit guarantee, you don't think your boots fit, take them back. You paid to get your boots and used the retailer you thought would give you a decent level of service, so now you can quite reasonably expect them to make sure they are right.
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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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Defo take them back, and keep taking them back until you're happy or, as in my wife's case, we gave up, got the "fit guarantee" refund (which they weren't happy about but hey-ho, don't offer it if you don't mean it) and bought from EB, where they spent much more time and got a good boot/fit.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Remember, if the boot fitter doesn't know what they're doing no number of returns will help - in fact it could just make the situation worse!
I was once silly enough to try to get boots sorted at a local S+R and no matter how many times I went the situation either got worse or about the same, they ended up asking me what I thought they should do - I wasted a lot of time which if you value your time isn't great. The boot fitter was a lovely guy who I saw a year later and he remembered me, we had a chat and he joked that I'd stand a better chance with him now (as opposed to then) because, and he seriously said this, he now knew a lot more about what he was doing because he'd spent the intervening season in NZ fitting boots and learning how to do it properly ... the implication being whatever trainig he'd had in the UK was on a par with chocolate teapots in terms of being fit for purpose!
As an instructor I hear a lot of stories from clients about boot fittings right across the range of shops and I'd suggest it's not just one chain or the other or S+R/EB and then the rest, there are horror stories from the lot and there are honourable exceptions too, of the big 2 though the ones I've heard of tend to be at EB as opposed to S+R but I'm sure someone somewhere has also had the odd good experience at S+R.
Use the fit guarantee if you like but how much time do you want to risk wasting? Your choice ultimately!
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In Snow and Rocks defense I had a pair of boots fitted in their Chertsey store and they have been one of the best fitting pair of boots I've ever owned. They spent around 3-4 hours doing them (custom insoles etc).
I've skied multiple weeks per year for about 4 years on them.
They offer the fit guarantee so you know you will be able to to get them either sorted or returned, but if you havent ski'd on them then there may be no real issue. If they felt right in the shop then its strange they dont feel right 3 weeks later.
I agree with the suggestion of trying them on an indoor slope first as you may find they ski fine.
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nemeziss, where exactly is this gap?
Under your foot?
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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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I am happy to defend Snow & Rock however having said that I have only bought three pairs of boots from them in twenty years, the most recent time being this February. So on the one hand statistically that is a small number of purchases, but on the other hand a testament to how good they were. My feet and more particularly my ankles, are not exactly standard and I struggled with boots for years before S&R sorted me out.
I keep hearing stories, not just on Snowheads but elsewhere, about people blaming their supplier for their problems but we as purchasers have a huge responsibility in this as well. The answer as far as I am concerned is to know thine own feet. That is a generalisation I realise and not meant as a criticism to the opening poster or anyone else who may have had specific problems.
My previous boots were bought back in 1998 and although I have been skiing for over thirty five years, I felt quite apprehensive when buying my current pair this year because obviously more than ten years had elapsed since my previous purchase. Before going to the shop I swotted up again from various sources about what I should be looking for, but even then it was quite difficult selecting the right model and size from several options the boot fitter came up with. I felt rather like a novice like going through the process.
The fitter can only give so much advice, but in the end only the purchaser knows how comfortable or not the boot really is and where the potential problems may be.
I am sure that the specialist fitters that get recommended in these situations are very good, but I do believe that the majority of people should be able to get a perfectly satisfactory fit from the major suppliers.
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I am taking the boots back to S+R today as their boot fitter is there as well.
I think my feet are quite normal in shape. Just a bit wider in the forefoot and the calfs are bigger.
The gap is on the instep. I think it should feel much more snug after I close the lower buckles. At the moment when I close them it doesn't feel very snug and after a bit off skiing I expect it will get much looser.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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nemeziss, I don't suppose the trip to the bootfitter will do any harm and you might well improve the fit. Of course the best reason for a return visit to the boot fitter is being able to do something connected with skiing for a few hours, and just sit in an area oozing with skiing goodies that scream at your credit card 'buy me' 
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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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Well said heheh.
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