Bootfitters Oregon - Preferably Portland?

[pdails]

Pretty simple: I searchbar-ed already and found nothing. I am looking for a quality bootfitter in oregon, preferably the portland area.

Second question: Is it reasonable to go to a bootfitter, pay him to fit you to a boot, go buy the boot elsewhere (Read: cheap, online), then come back pay him to make the necessary adjustments to the shell, etc.?

Ideally I would just fork out the money and help support his shop, but I don't have the kind of money to support his shop AND pay for personal boot fitting. i.e. I sold my favorite skis last year just to pay rent...

[SgtSkidmark]

Greg at Hillcrest (Gresham). I'm sure everyone on here will agree. Pay once, come back in unlimited times until your boots are dialed.

Oh, and he doesn't care where you got your boots. I haven't bought boots there.

[pdails]

Awesome! Thanks, I'll head in there and check it out

[mntlion]

keep in mind that unless the boot savings are $200 or more, you might not "save" anything buying online.
most boot fitters include all the work in the price, and usually this work is $100-200 and you save the shipping, no waiting, etc.
ask him to maybe meet you 1/2 way in price?
$600 in store
$400 online

ask for $500?

[corn dog]

apparently there's a dude with a shop somewhere on the road between meadows and hood river, anyone been there?

[Sessiøn]

Another rec for Hillcrest. Good people who care about how your boots fit. I got as much free work as work a paid for last year, and I didn't even buy my boots from them.

Just a heads up though, don't try and get anything done during the ski show, and the ski swaps.

[klauss]

Bob Olsen has a very good reputation for his boot work http://www.mthoodarc.com/about-mt-hood-arc although I have never gotten extensive boot work done so I wouldn't know first hand.

Greg at Hillcrest is a good guy for sure.

I just bought Lange RS 130 wide boots from Ski Chalet in Raleigh hills for a price that could not be beat online, not sure of their bootwork prowess, but I am hoping they are capable if I need a tweak. All their boots are 30% off.

[jorion]

Bumping this very old thread for a friend living in PDX who wants to get into skiing this year. He's strong and athletic (he's a very good surfer and snowboarded as a kid) but doesn't know a thing about skiing or how a ski boot should feel.

Is Hillcrest still the place to go? I gather from TGR that the Seattle evo bootfitters know what they're doing. Are there good bootfitters at the Portland evo?

[tenB]

Bob Olson in Parkdale still fits a lot of WC skiers, he might be in govy parts of the summer.

An airline lost my boots this winter and I bought a pair at the Meadows' shop knowing I needed extensive work. The guys doing boot work there were all very good and they do work while you wait. In two days, I stopped in four times to the shop to get them dialed, waited a total of less than an hour and skied almost both entire days.

Past boot purchases have involved multiple trips to drop boots off to a fitter and then an equal number of trips to pick them up, Feet are usually dinged up for a few weeks or so during the entire process.

[iggyskier]

Bumping this very old thread for a friend living in PDX who wants to get into skiing this year. He's strong and athletic (he's a very good surfer and snowboarded as a kid) but doesn't know a thing about skiing or how a ski boot should feel.

Is Hillcrest still the place to go? I gather from TGR that the Seattle evo bootfitters know what they're doing. Are there good bootfitters at the Portland evo?

Greg Coulter is no longer with Hillcrest. He now bootfitting privately out of his house in Troutdale, though he should have a mobile bootfitting trailer up and going real soon - https://www.facebook.com/BootsAndMorePerfomancebyGreg/

Best way to reach him is by phone - 503-917-9360 (and yes he is cool with me posting that).

If not Greg, I would personally be seeing the guys at evo to do my boots.

Hope that helps.

[jorion]

Super helpful, thank you both.

[Sessiøn]

Greg Coulter is no longer with Hillcrest. He now bootfitting privately out of his house in Troutdale, though he should have a mobile bootfitting trailer up and going real soon - https://www.facebook.com/BootsAndMorePerfomancebyGreg/

Best way to reach him is by phone - 503-917-9360 (and yes he is cool with me posting that).

If not Greg, I would personally be seeing the guys at evo to do my boots.

Hope that helps.

Seconded. If Greg can't set you up, then the EVO guys are really good. Avoid US Outdoors like the fucking plague.

[::: :::]

I had a good experience with the Mountain Shop in NE. Clayton was the guy who helped me. Dana is good too.

[river59]

I have had good experiences with Clayton at the Mountain Shop.

I have taken multiple pairs of boots to Bob in Parkdale and have no complaints. I think he is still in Govy for the summer, tending to the tender grom feet. Easiest to make an appointment by calling his cell, instead of just dropping by his shop - mthoodarc.com

[rainy512day]

The folks at Next Adventure are good also

[Rip'nStick]

Edited because I added something then realized I had nothing to add, as years have past. I miss Portland... sometimes

[Bobcat Sig]

Avoid US Outdoors like the fucking plague.

That bad, eh? Back in the day, they were my go to. When did it change?

Edited because I added something then realized I had nothing to add, as years have past. I miss Portland... sometimes

You probably don't miss the soul-crushing traffic or the unsustainable high real estate prices.

[mikdes26]

That bad, eh? Back in the day, they were my go to. When did it change?
.

I had a Salomon X Max 120 fitted there a couple years ago. Stock liners. Great fit. FF to last week when I went in to discuss Intuition liners due to cold toes and they mostly tried to sell me heated footbeds. Not sure the knowledge is there, though the young guy who helped me, probably 20, was at least friendly.


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[gregL]

FF to last week when I went in to discuss Intuition liners due to cold toes and they mostly tried to sell me heated footbeds.

LOL. The experienced bootfitters mostly hate installing Hotronics . . . would much rather sell you an Intuition or Lenz heated socks.

[pdails]

Just my 2 cents of what I have gathered over the last ~6 years, YMMV:

Lets start with the worst, US Outdoor Store - They seem to have no "bootfitter," just some guys who know the basics of sizing boots.

EVO - younger guys who clearly want the skills, but don't seem to have that much experience with difficult/performance-demanding fits. Example: put me in a bigger shell to try and make up for width issues. I'm a hair over 2 fingers in one shell, 1 finger in the other so not entirely off base on sizing, but not what i was looking for. They seem to know how to do basic punches, etc. but don't seem to be super flexible if I object to their concept of fit (it also felt like they made assumptions about my ski ability/they didn't make me feel super comfortable explaining how I ski and previous boot experiences).

Hillcrest - Greg performed a decent fitting. The issues I had were mostly with me being young and ignorant about boot choices.

Mountain Shop - So far this has been my best experience. I'm not entirely sure if this is because my education in bootfitting (and getting fitted) has grown, and this is the latest shop I've had boots fitted. Or if they have actually done a better job. I have had both Dana & Clayton perform boot work; however, both of them left in the last 6 months or so. They DID get a new universal press tool, in addition to their several size ring presses.

Next time I need bootwork, I'm interested in going back to Greg or giving Bob Olsen a go.

[mrkbrnblm]

For anyone looking for a PNW rec and willing to drive to Seattle, I'd highly recommend Jim Mates. Far-and-away the most comprehensive fitter I've worked with.

[rainy512day]

I’ve had good experiences with both Evo and Next Adventure. In both cases YMMV depending on who is working on your boots. At least last year Next Adventure had at least one guy with Masterfit Bootfit certification.

[RudyGarmisch]

Greg. Boots and More Performance. I️ have wacky feet and he’s always steered me into a better boot.

[plurpimpin]

I had a great experience with boot work at next adventure. Rob did most of my work and did a great job. There are some other guys there that do great work too.

[m1e7da]

Hi All! This post is a little dated so I wanted to see if there are any recent bootfitter recommendations for Portland, OR. Asking for a friend . Thanks!