In search of the perfect ski boot

Last night, my neighbor Frank Traczyk was telling me about his trials in finding a ski boot wide enough in the toe-box to fit his EEE foot. There are lots of myth about which boot make is in fact the best in accommodating the so-called “duck feet” and in my opinion, there's nothing like taking the time and making the effort to trying everything on the market within a certain performance range (read stiffness and features.)

To accomplish this, focus on a given shell dimension that's the closest to your street shoe size, then take out the liners and just place in your own insoles or custom footbeds. Put your larger foot in the appropriate shell so your toes barely touch the front, and lean forward. Stick a ½ inch dowel, a large magic marker or your finger down the back of each calf to your heel. If you can rattle it a bit, that’s a “performance fit.” If it fits but you can't rattle it, that’s closer to a “high-performance/race fit.” If you can’t even get it down there, the boot is way too small. Any more room than about two fingers and you are sacrificing response.

The reasoning behind shell fitting is simple: the shell drives the ski, while the liner (no matter what kind) packs out over time. This is for the shell length. In terms of sizing the toe-box, slide the forefoot sideways inside the shell – if needed, remove the insole for this exercise – and try to remember how much sideways “wiggle room” you get. At the same time, try to remember how the heel pocket feels like. If it's too cavernous, that is not a good omen. The area of tight fit you want in a ski boot is the first-third starting from the heel. Free space of “play” in the toe-box is far less critical; I'm of the opinion that in fact it's not that much relevant for performance. Try 'em all and good luck!