The art of purchasing ski boots

My daughter recently purchased a new pair of ski boots to replace the hand-me-down pair from her mom that were first worn in… 1993! 

Anecdotally, her ski boot size is 24.5 mondo. So, she went to the ski shop and after being measured and explained her skiing style a skills (she’s a very good, smooth skier who, just like her dad, avoids groomers and skis the whole mountain), she asked to be put in a size 24.4 mondopoint. 

The young man insisted however that she tries first a 23 shell on the basis that her “performance” would be much better. He attempted to “force” her into 3 different models of that shell size to no avail. 

She just couldn’t get in, period! Even though I told the guy I know a “few things” about boot fitting (my life-long ski industry career) he couldn’t listen and was dead set on “performance”. 

The reality being that for most skiers, like my daughter or myself it’s simply “comfort” to the point that we ought to forget we have ski boots on, and yet, get all the support and leverage we need, but comfortably. 

We finally found a good pair of Tecnica, size 24.5, that were plenty tight, but fit her fine. 

Morale of the story: Don’t let people tell you fishy stories next time you’re in the market for a new pair of ski boot.