Final Fitting- Boots are done!

[Ron]

Just got back from Billy Kaplans, the boots are finished and ready for the snow. Wow, never had a boot fit like this, It feels much more like a hiking boot on my foot than a clunky boot. They are tight but not constricting; with even pressure throughout. All buckles are on the first tooth. Billy installed toe lifts to the bottom of the boot resulting is a nice upright position. He checked the alligment with his new digital allignment tool, I am within .5 degree, so I think I am pretty well set up. To think that I was in a 315 (the Atomics are 304's) is just laughable now. What was that fitter thinking? I wish I knew then What I know now! I actually feel pretty stupid.  Lets see if the folks at Gorscuh stand behind their products and services when I see them next month.......

[Gary]

The poor guys at Gorscuh, maybe it's not their fault...maybe your feet shrunk. Did ya ever think of that Mr. oh so right and mighty...did ya ever think they have feelings and food to put on the table, that they need to keep you coming back for new boots that really never work cause their poor pretend boot fitters no nothing about performance oriented skiers or give a rats a.....

Ah heck....maybe your feet just shrunk!

Congrats you Atomic committed to well fit boots guy, pass the word.

Boots is where it's all at!

[Ron]

I guess your right! I should have been honest up front and admitted that my feet shrank about 1" over the summer. Gorsuch does have that down pat though, they sell you a pair of boots at full retail, then charge you to be fitted by "Kenny" who I guess just owned Double Diamond but never fitted a boot from what I can tell. Then after you have spent way too much money you have a boot that is a full shell size too big and wide packed with fillers and pads and completely out of allignment. This way I keep coming back to spend more    This is a guy who actually stuffed the stock footbed under my custom bed to fill up the room!!!!

I really feel like an idiot! I really do! The sad thing is that as little as I knew last year about boots and fitting, I knew more than the average guy and that's the scary thing, "the one eyed man is the king in the landof the blind". 

[Gary]

What is it they say about the "road to knowledge"?

Glad you were able to splain here to all our ski buddies. Might save someone else the same frustrations you experienced.

Looking forward to your on snow review. Interestingly, Ron told me that his dryland experience with the new ski boots on was amazing. The boots respond very rapidly edge to edge...noticeably different than his Nordicas. The big difference is that the new boots  conform to his foots anatomy.

No matter where you are in skiing ability, moving up to properly fitted and aligned boots
makes a huge difference in edge to edge respones time, good balance, comfort and warmth in the boot, and the ability to actually "feel" what your feet are doing.

Would love to hear from others that have had "out of boot experiences"!

Best,
Gary

[Ron]

good idea Gary, Yes, I would also like to know that I am not the only stupid idiot out there! 

BTW- I am not so sure of how warm these are going to be!

[jim-ratliff]

 You know what my grandfather always said;

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.

All of my important lessons have been learned because of mistakes or bad experiences (and I'm better for it).
Kenny didn't fool you twice, so sounds to me like you're OK (and wiser and more knowledgeable).

[jbotti]

I have to agree with Jim. Getting high performance boots that fit like a glove is a long learning experience, and even armed with lots of knowledge the process can easiliy go wrong. Your experience at Gorusch was a good lesson, and it proves that even the most reputable bootfitter will not necessarily get you the result that you are after. (there are clearly excpetions to this most notably Harald and Diana)

I really do believe that you have to take control and responsiblity for the boots and the fit. And making the learning curve steeper is the fact that much of what holds true in fitting for recreational (thin shelled) boots does not hold true when fitting for plug boots.

Ron, as for warmth, I have never had a problem with my feet getting cold, and I have not had a problem in the RS 96's. Having said that, people that generally have issues with warmth in boots generally see this magnified in plugs. I have a pair of pull on boot muffs that I never use. Diana uses Hottronics in her boots. They are tricky to install in plugs but it can be done effectively and comfortably.

 

[Ron]

thanks for the wise and kind words. yeah, this actually started two seasons ago. He botched the job teo sesons back, last season I went back to gorsuch and demanded new boots, all I did was to get a new pair and foot beds made and left. funny part was the foot beds were made so badly that Billy couldn't even use them, we used a pair of beds I had from about 4 years ago. Billy felt those were well-made and there was no point in spending additional money. He just glued some wedge material to the bottom for better in-boot allignment.