Best bootfitter in BC

[shafty85]

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.

[neck beard]

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.

[Shredhead]

^^^^
Kevin helped me out and I was impressed.
But BC is a big place.

[XavierD]

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.

This is gold

[XXX-er]

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

[Ted Striker]

Destination on marine in north Van used to be good, I think the guy retired tho??

Yeah, sadly. Melvin was really good.

If you need Intuition liners or boot fitting the Intuition factory outlet is the shit

Definitely.

BC is a big place ... with no one in it

Ain't that the truth. More so than most people realize.

[robnow]

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.

[XXX-er]

Ain't that the truth. More so than most people realize.

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 province

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

[shafty85]

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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[Bosco]

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...

[jrawk]

+1 for fanatyk

[mntlion]

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.

[XXX-er]

Its unfortunate intuition doesnt sell boots, that guy Tom used to work at MEC before moving to Intuition

[D(C)]

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.

[XXX-er]

if you ever get over to cowtown you might try lou's

http://lous.ca/

[robnow]

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.

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.

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.

[Caucasian Asian]

Mntlion does all of my boot work, but he's in Banff.


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[shafty85]

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.

[mr_pretzel]

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.

[XavierD]

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.

IF you work with Sam; yes. Otherwise its a crap shoot.

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.

[neck beard]

Anyone have any experience with surefoot in whistler?

- Treated me like a gaper. Maybe I am, but customers deserve respect.
- didn't listen to anything I said, told me about everything he knew. Endlessly
- fucked up twice.
- waste of money in the end.

[shafty85]

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!

[XXX-er]

- Treated me like a gaper. Maybe I am, but customers deserve respect.
- didn't listen to anything I said, told me about everything he knew. Endlessly
- fucked up twice.
- waste of money in the end.

Its whistler man!

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

[Sparwood Dave]

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.

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.

[gramboh]

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.