Title says it all. Who and where are the best boot fitters in BC? Willing to travel (within reason) and could be a great excuse to get to some different areas this season.
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Title says it all. Who and where are the best boot fitters in BC? Willing to travel (within reason) and could be a great excuse to get to some different areas this season.
Fanatyk Co in Whistler did a great job for me.
ps, boot fitting is like backcountry guiding: expensive, and when your day comes, despite the hype, you never really seem to get what you see and hear about on the internet. ;)
^^^^
Kevin helped me out and I was impressed.
But BC is a big place.
This is goldQuote:
Originally Posted by neck beard
I was on a ski month in whistler, went out for a bottle of wine and came back with new boots from Fanatyk, they had the boot that would work for my foot, buddy said they were open till 8 every night so come in right off the slope if you need help
Destination on marine in north Van used to be good, I heard the guy retired tho??
Monod in Banff does the heat molded Fishers
If you need Intuition liners or boot fitting (but they don't sell boots) the Intuition factory outlet is the shit, I seen guys take a big stack of boot boxes they bought elsewhere in there to see a guy named Tom. IME its possible to make an appointment by e-mail (which you have to do anyway) take the train in from the airport get done and train back out to the airport on a 4 hr layover
BC is a big place ... with no one in it
Yeah, sadly. Melvin was really good.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
Definitely.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
Ain't that the truth. More so than most people realize.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
All In in Fernie is said to be THE best boot fitter. I had a good experience there but only went in for minor punching and grabbed a race liner cheap for my Mtn Labs for on hill skiing.
up here we say that we live in the north but actualy its just the start and there is really nothing narth of hy 16 ... fully half the provinceQuote:
Originally Posted by pisteoff
Cycle Logic in Prince George has a pretty good selection of BC skis and boots
Local Supply in Smithers sells BC skis & boots and there are no shops west of here
Has anyone gone and gotten the custom ski boots from all in in fernie or pulse in revy? Seems like a LOT of money - is it worth it? Anyone able to chime in with experience or have reliable sources who can relate experience? I find, often, people claim something is great just because it cost an arm and a leg, and who wants to admit they paid so much for a so-so product.
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I also like Fanatyk Co, fixed some seriously painful boots that got me from the slopes, into the bars, and back on the slopes. Bastards, I did like the bars...
+1 for fanatyk
full custom is a game changer for a few people, (from can't ski, to all day happy) but for most its still a positive. They MIMGHT get the same positive from an off the shelf boot, with a few tweeks, but maybe no. Its usually more the boot fitter, then the product.
fanatico in whistler gets good feedback. Also ask intuition in Van who they suggest.
Its unfortunate intuition doesnt sell boots, that guy Tom used to work at MEC before moving to Intuition
Interested to hear more suggestions. I'm originally from Montreal and have gotten all my heavy-duty boot fitting done at Race Stock Sports in Vermont. I've tried a few places but nobody in BC does nearly as good a job.
I still ski in race boots, and everywhere I've gone around here does little punches over multiple visits and painful ski days in between. At my place in Vermont, they pull out the dremel and you walk out with boots that fit the first time.
I did get some fitting done on my touring boots at Destination and they did a good job.
if you ever get over to cowtown you might try lou's
http://lous.ca/
I think ALL IN (Fernie) may be the place for you...except for the price. The way I remember it, you don't get a choice on what shell you get. They fit you to a shell from the brands they carry (probably Nordica, Atomic, Head, ???) and then they work with that and a custom liner.Quote:
Originally Posted by D(C)
I thought the guys there were pretty cool actually from my limited time. Again, I didn't get major work done, just some punching on my existing boots.
Mntlion does all of my boot work, but he's in Banff.
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Anyone have any experience with surefoot in whistler? They seem to have decent reviews. If I can stay in the Vancouver/whistler area, that makes it easier, though would deprive me of the option to visit other areas.
Had a poor experience with fanatyk co in the past - once burned twice shy type of thing now.
I also dont have the best experience with fanatyk co.
George mcconkey at whistler village sports has been the best for me so far. But I really like intuiton wrap liners, so it may be that we are just a good fit.
IF you work with Sam; yes. Otherwise its a crap shoot.Quote:
Originally Posted by shafty85
Re: Fanatyk co;
everyone messes up once in a blue moon. I wouldn't write them off right now. They have ruined less ski boots than SureFoot.
- Treated me like a gaper. Maybe I am, but customers deserve respect.Quote:
Originally Posted by shafty85
- didn't listen to anything I said, told me about everything he knew. Endlessly
- fucked up twice.
- waste of money in the end.
That's along the lines I read about surefoot - that Sam is good there.
WRT fanatyk co, the gf and I had a similar experience to yours at surefoot. Guy told us what we should want, rather than what we like in a boot. I didn't even think about buying the only boot he would try me in. Gf bought, against my advice, but she admits he sold her on it, against her judgement. They were murder on her feet all season - they wouldn't do any work beyond the initial punch and kept saying it would improve with time. When we went to return them, based on their own guarantee, towards the end of the season (after giving up on time "fixing" the issue) they claimed they had never sold that model of boot in their store :| in the end, she got her money back after providing copy of receipt and showing them the credit card bill, but wtf - sell her on a boot that is too small for her (as well as way too soft for an ex-racer), refuse to do work on it, then claim you've never sold that model when we asked for a refund based on their own return policy?
I had a footbed made, but even that process was pathetic - they just had me put my foot in the mould bed, didn't align anything, had me weight my feet and called it good. Even I know more about orthotics and foot/leg alignment than that - and I'm not even a dentist!
Its whistler man!Quote:
Originally Posted by neck beard
I had a store forget to load my skis into the stone grinder not just once but twice and when i caught him the second time he got all pissy cuz I was drunk and laughing at him
My wife had the full meal deal at All In in Fernie. $1500 and worth it for her. Key words are 'for her'. She is an expert's expert skier with extremely narrow feet like AAA. Even plug boots were sloppy. For most people with average ski skills and average feet I would say it's not worth it. However they do know their stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by robnow
tl;dr -- Either FanatykCo in Whistler or go to Tom @ Intuition, have him look at your feet and suggest boots. Buy boots, throw out liner and buy Intuition liner. Have Tom setup the boots for you.
My experiences:
FantaykCo:
- Good bootfitting, fit me in alpine boots with some punching/dremel, custom footbeds.
- Did Intuition liners after stock liners blew out
- Worked with Kevin and Len
Comor Vancouver:
- Bought Maestrale RS here and there was one guy that was awesome at boot fitting, I think Pavel? He has moved on though. Seriously though, they were super painful the first few times out due to shell and liner problems and now I can wear them for 12 hours no problem.
Surefoot:
- My ski partner has problem feet and is picky about boots. He had a pair of Surefoot Tecnica alpine boots that he always raved about and used for 7 or 8 seasons until they gave up. They had the old style hard foam liner.
- Two seasons ago, he bought the Tecnica AT boot (I think it was the Zero G Guide if that was out in Fall 2016, or whatever the predecessor boot was)
- Sam was the guy that set him up but the sizing was wrong from the start (too big), even though Surefoot insisted it was right.
- Friend was probably in Surefoot 15 times over the season trying to fix heel lift and other pain points... tried diff liners, tons of punches. Sam was good but the other staff were hit or miss to say the least.
- Ended up having to get money back late in season since they just couldn't get the boot right.. he was not a fan of the new softer foam liners they are using (worse performance but probably feel better in the store).
Tom @ Intuition
- Friend who had Surefoot problems ended up buying Zero G Guide Pros and going straight to Tom for boot fitting and liner work.
- Tom is awesome, even though buddy probably sized down too much, he managed wizardry to get the shells right and buddy now loves his boots.
Destination:
- The older guy there set my wife up really well in alpine boots that she still raves about years later. I think he has retired.
When i was at Intuition an american dude came in with 7 boxes boots in 2 sizes that he bought elsewhere, SO like he came all the way from a foreign country to get fitted by tomQuote:
Originally Posted by gramboh
Its too bad they don't do boots but they will do punches and they stock every size/style of intuition including seconds and they know what to put you in ... if they should size up/down/ yada
Don't forget to book an appointment as opposed to just showing up
Right on. Exactly.Quote:
Originally Posted by neck beard
On that point, the two main backcountry shops in Whistler Village are league leaders for condescending attitude. One worse than the other to be fair. I like Whis for what it is, but in general my favorite customer-facing workers in the whole valley are the Indian bus drivers at 6.30am. Many could learn a bit from some of them.
Actually, to be fair, I get treated like a gaper every country I go by shop dudes, even in my own town every December when new seasonal staff arrive. So maybe its me not them! :)
That sounds like a horror story. They suck for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by shafty85
Best boot fit service I ever got was in Matsumoto, Japan. Dude looked at my foot and suggested boot X. I tried it, then every other boot in the shop for 2 hours. Ended up back at boot X. He fucking nailed it, was modest* and patient, and extremely professional about his vocation. The sushi chef of ski boots.
* only lapse in modesty was when he said he knew I'd end up back at boot X, that he's always right.
I have always had great service at Fanatyko. Always. Probably 3-4 pairs of boots there, and they always do well to try their best to get it right. Anytime there's been an issue they will deal with it endlessly.
Also been to WB Surefoot, with shells I knew that fit. Their liners are COLD, and I've ended up back at Fanatyko getting Intuitions put into the Surefoot shells, which worked great, so my Surefoot days are done.