Buying ski boots, advice needed

djk1000

Hi all,

I've been skiing for 3 years now, this season, I have already managed to get away once in early December, going to Val Thorens in February and there is talk about getting away for a long weekend in March! I am tackling black runs and beginning to have a go at of piste.

So far I have rented boots each time, once they were incredibly comfortable, more often than not, they were pretty painful. I take a 12.5 shoe, so I don't really have much choice in what I can rent, I end up getting the only big pair the rental place have and they are usually a UK13 which is a bit too big.

I think it's time to buy some boots as I really want to be comfortable and have more control, but I don't know where I should buy them?

Would people suggest fitting and buying in Ireland, or waiting until I get to France and buying there?

I have been doing some research and there is a lot of conflicting opinion, some say that If I buy here, I have more comeback if they are not right. Others say that if I buy in the resort, I will be able to fine tune the fitting and adjustment during the weeks skiing.

Any advice would be appreciated, particularly from people who have bought boots at home or abroad.

robinph

I personally think that your better off buying in resort as that is where you are going to be skiing and so will know sooner if there is a problem with them. Although you can always sit around at home wearing them for a few days and then go back to the shop here, your not actually using them in the way you will be in the mountains.

However, with your flippers it may be a touch tricker to find the same range to choose from anywhere but I'd still expect you to have more choice of boots in a resort than from the couple of shops that sell them over here. There will be more shops in the one resort than in the whole of Ireland and each of them are probably better stocked than any store here as well.

djk1000

Good advice, thanks for that.

oneweb

I'm in the same boat, hope you don't mind me piggybacking off your thread

I take a size UK13, going skiing for the first time at the end of March and am really hoping I don't have as much trouble finding comfortable ski boots as I do shoes and runners. Please keep us up to date on whatever works out There's always eBay I suppose but the massive drawback is you can't try them before you buy :-/

djk1000

OneWeb, if it's your first time, just stick with the rentals, you'll be sore no matter what boots you have Don't buy on eBay or online, you really need to try them on for a while before buying. I have never had any trouble renting a pair big enough so don't worry about that. Where are you going?

If anyone has bought boots in Val Thorens and had a good experience, I'd love to hear about it!

robinph

I'd certainly not recommend buying boots from ebay ever as you really do need them to be fitted properly for skiing or they will end up being no fun at all.

oneweb

Brilliant, thanks djk1000

Surely it's not easier for big feet guys to get ski boots than regular shoes? :-p

tywy

djk1000 wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been skiing for 3 years now, this season, I have already managed to get away once in early December, going to Val Thorens in February and there is talk about getting away for a long weekend in March! I am tackling black runs and beginning to have a go at of piste.

So far I have rented boots each time, once they were incredibly comfortable, more often than not, they were pretty painful. I take a 12.5 shoe, so I don't really have much choice in what I can rent, I end up getting the only big pair the rental place have and they are usually a UK13 which is a bit too big.

I think it's time to buy some boots as I really want to be comfortable and have more control, but I don't know where I should buy them?

Would people suggest fitting and buying in Ireland, or waiting until I get to France and buying there?

I have been doing some research and there is a lot of conflicting opinion, some say that If I buy here, I have more comeback if they are not right. Others say that if I buy in the resort, I will be able to fine tune the fitting and adjustment during the weeks skiing.

Any advice would be appreciated, particularly from people who have bought boots at home or abroad.

Was just in Val Thorens, bought a pair of boots there. Go to Zenith Sports, they're great.

Before I left I went to 53 degrees north and Great Outdoors, 53 degrees north fitted me as a 26.5, great outdoors as a 27.0 but Zenith fitted me as a 25.0. My old boots were a 26.5 and were far to big causing me problems so I decided to replace them. The guy in Zenith said they were far too big. SO glad I waited to get them in resort. Miles cheaper than 53 degrees north.
Looking around, Great Outdoors was fairly in line with the French prices, when you take into consideration the different rates of VAT.

So maybe go have a look just so you know how much to spend but hold off till resort.

5h4mr0(k

To the OP, I'd advise buying in the resort. If you can wait until you go in March you'll get the end of season sales.

I've size 12 myself, and as if that's not hard enough to find shoes, they're wide as well. Most rental shops don't have a large choice of boots in big sizes, so I usually found that if the boot wasn't comfortable - tough! (Unlike my friends which had dozens of size 8/9/10s to choose from).

I bought my own pair of boots 2 days into my second trip. Best money I ever spent. They were so comfortable - even with blisters that I had from my original rentals.

If you have the ski bug - get your own boots.

mollser

tywy wrote: »

Miles cheaper than 53 degrees north.
Looking around, Great Outdoors was fairly in line with the French prices, when you take into consideration the different rates of VAT.

So maybe go have a look just so you know how much to spend but hold off till resort.

Not quite sure I agree with this - one of the girls in our group paid over €400 for a pair of boots in France, which included €80 for fitting and €40 for a bag. General concensus was she was seriously ripped off :eek:

you should try 53degs north as they have a half price sale on right now on all boots, although its been on for about 3 weeks now and i'd say sizes are limited.

I bought a pair of Nordica Speedmachine 8's off them for €175, including moulding.

And as I am always sceptical of 'half price' sales, I had to check the price on amazon - US$449, so a pretty good deal by anyones standards
http://www.amazon.com/NORDICA-SPEEDMACHINE-8-NEW-2008/dp/B000IBJXTU

tywy

53 degrees north didn't fit me correctly. No point in buying your own boots if they don't fit properly because you will be in AGONY, take it from me. My old boots were a size too big and my feet were swimming in them once the liner bedded in.

I didn't have to pay for my fitting in France. The boots that I bought in France were €340. The pair of boots below mine were €415 in 53 Degrees North. They're expensive when things are full price.

I'm just letting people know my experience because I wouldn't wish the pain on anyone of an ill fitting pair of boots...

Lucifer

i got my boots in resort in soldeu andorra and i have to say i am so glad i did, now i have only skied in them for a week but going back at easter so will know for sure then. It takes a while to fit them, I got last seasons salomon boots with a 70flex...very important to get the right flex as i am only an intermediate...they were 175 euro and a bag for 20, they had a salomon machiene and all that heated up and moulded perfectly to my feet...compaired to what iv seen in 53 degrees north and the experience MOST of the guys in resort have i'd get them in resort....

oneweb

mollser wrote: »

you should try 53degs north as they have a half price sale on right now on all boots, although its been on for about 3 weeks now and i'd say sizes are limited.

Just to save anyone going to 53 Degs North needlessly, I popped in last night to have a look - the 50% on boots is over, and the largest size they had in stock was 11, others sold out. There was a sign saying that they do custom fitting, takes around 2 hours.

So I'll rent tha boots. Now all I need to do is sort out insurance...

mollser

oneweb wrote: »

Just to save anyone going to 53 Degs North needlessly, I popped in last night to have a look - the 50% on boots is over, and the largest size they had in stock was 11, others sold out. There was a sign saying that they do custom fitting, takes around 2 hours.

So I'll rent tha boots. Now all I need to do is sort out insurance...

That solves that then - at least you won't go out wondering...:)

mollser

Just to follow up, I am back from my holiday with the Nordica boots as bought in 53degs north above for €175, half price. The boots fitted perfectly and, bizarrely for ski boots, actually got more comfortable as the week went on, (presumably as they moulded to my feet more). They weren't my original choice style wise, however the chap in 53degs suggested them for my feet as they were a good snug fit, no heal slippage, etc.

The better news was that the original full price of €350 was not far off what the same boots cost in the resort, you could get them over there for €299, sale price!:D

So all round, absolutely delighted with that bargain. Oh - buy a boot bag in the resort - Intersport sell really good ones for only €15, a good bit cheaper than the €35+ you'll pay here for a lesser bag. Enjoy:)

djk1000

I'm back too, fantastic holiday in Val Thorens. There wasn't much choice for my large feet over there. I tried 3 shops, one shop had one pair that were the right size. I decided not to buy as I really wanted to have a bit of a choice to get the right fit. Luckily for me, the rental pair that I got fitted well and didn't cause to much trouble. There was quite a bit of movement, but I bought insoles for them which sorted it out.

A couple of my friends did buy boots and they love them! Cost about €250 including fitting and moulding.

So I think the search will continue next year. I'll start emailing stores before I go to see who has a bit of a selection. One little dissapointment was that even when a shop couldn't help me, they didn't really want to bother pointing me in the right direction!