Mondo size down from what you measure at least 1 size, find a flex rating that works best w your ski style (dont go under 100), then there's a whole litany of things you can do - custom liner custom orthotics, heated liner custom orthotic etc etc etc - shaving toe box punching sides etc etc etc

Where do you live? Do you have access to a sure foot?

Don't ever get your boots done anywhere that's not in the mountains. That's my biggest rec!

I'd say go into a surefoot and get measured and sized and tell them you want a performance fit not a cozy fit.

Then tell me what the say and I can pro price them for you at a discount

JustPanda said:

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Mondo size down from what you measure at least 1 size, find a flex rating that works best w your ski style (dont go under 100), then there's a whole litany of things you can do - custom liner custom orthotics, heated liner custom orthotic etc etc etc - shaving toe box punching sides etc etc etc

Where do you live? Do you have access to a sure foot?

Don't ever get your boots done anywhere that's not in the mountains. That's my biggest rec!

I'd say go into a surefoot and get measured and sized and tell them you want a performance fit not a cozy fit.

Then tell me what the say and I can pro price them for you at a discount

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So I live in DFW, so no access to surefoot unfortunately.

I'd wait then until you can go into a mountain town shop. I wouldn't get fit in TX.

JustPanda said:

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I'd wait then until you can go into a mountain town shop. I wouldn't get fit in TX.

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So I'm the guy who asked about AF, so I won't get there until I'm ready to ski and won't be able to ask you if it's a good deal or not.

Do you not trust Sun and Ski sports? Or Scheels?

If hell bent on finding a place in DFW, find a local independent ski shop. You'll have a far better experience.

Pahdz said:

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If hell bent on finding a place in DFW, find a local independent ski shop. You'll have a far better experience.

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Any brand you recommend?

Brand of boot? Or local shop?

Brand of boot

Or both if you know of one in the metroplex

I'll defer to the more experienced folks on here but I got some custom fitted Salomon X Pro 100's up here in Minnesota five years ago and they are amazing.

If your baseline is rentals, anything custom fitted will blow your mind. I was put in six different models and the X Pros were the first ones he put me in and nothing else felt as good.

CREAg87 said:

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Booked my trip to Oregon- will be at Mt Hood Meadows on the 25th and in Bend on the 26th of this month.

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I pass at Meadows with my daughter and wife (we're there every weekend). Bach/Bend is my favorite place on Earth.

Let me know if you need anything! Have fun! It's a unique ski experience.

Edit: Poop, I just outed my **** posting sock. I forgot to log out, this is Rick.

bjork said:

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CREAg87 said:

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Booked my trip to Oregon- will be at Mt Hood Meadows on the 25th and in Bend on the 26th of this month.

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I pass at Meadows with my daughter and wife (we're there every weekend). Bach/Bend is my favorite place on Earth.

Let me know if you need anything! Have fun! It's a unique ski experience.

Edit: Poop, I just outed my **** posting sock. I forgot to log out, this is Rick.

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Legal Custodian said:

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Brand of boot

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I'd also highly recommend getting fitted in the mountains or as close as possible as well. Here's a thread I started this past summer when I was in the market, https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3388834 I got fitted at boot mechanics and can't say enough good things about the experience. As far as brand recommendations go it's hard to say without knowing what kind of foot you have. I'm by no means an expert but part of the art of boot fitters is knowing what brand works best for your foot (narrow vs wide for example).

All I can say is that I got my first pair of boots 10 years ago on the cheap from a sports authority sniagrab with no idea what I was doing. After only being on the mountain a handful of times with my new boots I feel like I've wasted an entire decade of skiing in my old boots that weren't properly fit.

Good luck, ski boots are probably the best investment skiing wise you can make.

I've heard you need to get your boots a month or so in advance to break them in. Is that not the case? I'll get in Wednesday afternoon to go skiing Thursday. Would I be good to get them in AF on Wednesday and ski Thursday?

Forgot to mention I wound up with the Salomon S-Pro 130s with custom inserts and they're absolutely amazing.

I haven't heard that, but again I'm no expert. I'd say add a day on the front end of your trip and find a good local fitter there in AF to get the boots fit. Take em up on the mountain for a day and then if needed swing by the fitter in the afternoon for adjustments overnight and you should be good to go.

That's a SICK boot. I'm dancing right now.

Yea got the 2023 on sale for damn near 1/2 off. Need to get back to BM to get the toe box shaved a little bit I think but they have been amazing.

On another note I'm a bit shocked that surefoot hasn't expanded into Houston & DFW. There's a ton of Texans into skiing with nowhere to get fitted. Hell maybe that could be a retirement job for me here in a few years.

That's some old school thinking. It's what was the norm before heat treating liners and orthotics became the norm. It was thought that you needed to have the boots for x days of wear before the heat from your foot set the liner into a position that was semi comfortable.

Problem with that was:

A) The liners never fit you your foot correctly for the most part. Some days your foot would ride one part of the insole, the next another part, the next another, and eventually it did wear in, but it wasn't a precise fit because if the various foot locations across the usage.

B) Boots have a semi-fixed life. More breaking in on mountain = less days they're alive broken in.

Current line of thought:

Wear in the liners as quickly as possible without compromising the integrity or life of the hard shell.

How? Heated liners, custom liners, custom orthotics, punching sides, etc

Those above mentioned items can post the equivalent of 100+ days of use in 60 minutes or less without any actual use. Not only that but the contouring of the liner and insole is cleaner and the mechanics used to punch out sides is tested frequently and they have it down to an art.

Jock really nailed it. Boot fitting is an ART and SCIENCE. The ones that know how to do it are someone who's number you never lose.

As far as what to tell you to get? That's impossible. So so so many brands. If you have a wide foot, I'd look at something in the 104+ range in the toe box. I think the Sportmachines are a 102. Salomon runs some wider toe boxes usually, Lange too, but really go into a mountain shop and get fit.

They're all open during the summer seasons for fitting too. Doesn't have to be winter.

This is exactly how you do it.

I recommend bringing something to mark the boot. We usually use a grease pen or something similar so that you can mark where you're having discomfort and don't be a puss, give them a decent number of runs before you judge the original fit. If something hurts so much that you can't get down the mountain at least 3-4 runs before tapping out, you should've probs felt it before you left.

JustPanda said:

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HMU and let's ski tomorrow. I can show the the local pow spots. They're way better than anything on the trail map.

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Appreciate the offer, but I'm back in Denver and not going back out tomorrow, just a day tripper. I'll have to take you up on that another time.

Panda- any Christy Sports connections at the boat?

Legal Custodian said:

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This is a big question but I'm getting to the point where I'm looking at buying my own ski boots. I've only been skiiing for 4 years or so. My in-laws are a big ski family and I've grown to love it.

What do you recommend I look at and what price point should I be looking at?

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Everyone should own their own ski boots. I bought myself my first pair when I was in high school and had only skiied 6 or so days. My wife went skiing for the first time last year. Skiied two days and she's getting boots before we go again in spring.

Cold morning in Vail today. Conditions look solid from the parking lot. I'll do an updated forecast in a bit. They have 13 over 5 and 23 over the next 10. So big snow coming to Eagle county. Base should be up into the 60s after this one. Current mid mountain is at 43"

Good news: Sumco looking like some good snow the next ten. They have 7 over 5 and expected 14 over 10. Base at 27 should be around like 35-37 after this storm. So way better than 22 like it was early January.

Looking good across the whole state for the next 3 weeks. Will post more in a bit.

Straight snow in the high country Tuesday - next Monday. If you're driving to be prepared for traction laws and road closures.

That's good news. Hopefully Breck gets some. We're going last week of March (I know I know tell me you're from Texas without telling me you're from Texas) but the two oldest (4 and 3) will be on skis for the first time and it's just what we could swing

Progress over perfection. The key for Sumco will be where the winds come from and how much of what falls sticks. Overall, it's going to be light years better than it was earlier this month. They will be making snow 24/7 during this whole roller so yeah. Should be nice.

I'm not all gloom and doom, I promise…

No all good man it's good to get the feedback. I grew up skiing CB and haven't been skiing in about five years (basically since wife got pregnant with the first) but we are taking the plunge this year. Breck was just really easy with the kids, proximity to airport, stuff for wife (pregnant again) to do in town during the day, but I really like reading your thoughts because as soon as these kids get a little older we will be getting them exposed to some more places.

Cannot wait until they're old enough to handle the Montgomery County to CB road trip because that is definitely on the list but so is Vail

WHAT... For the Winter Weather Advisory, snow. Additional snow accumulations up to two inches. For the Winter Storm Watch, heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations between 4 and 12 inches for valleys. 2 to 3 feet possible for Lookout Pass and the higher terrain. Winds could gust as high as 50 mph causing blowing and drifting snow and low visibility over mountain passes.

* WHERE... I-90 Lookout Pass to Haugan, Highway 37 Eureka to Libby, Evaro Hill, Highway 200 Trout Creek to Heron, Highway 2 Kalispell to Libby, Highway 56 Bull Lake Road, and Highway 200 Thompson Falls to Plains.

* WHEN... For the Winter Weather Advisory, until 11 AM MST this morning. For the Winter Storm Watch, from Monday afternoon through Wednesday morning.

You might want to check out Doug & Lynda's in McKinney.

https://www.dougandlyndas.com/

Telluride:

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM MST MONDAY...
* WHAT...Snow. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 12 inches. Winds gusting as high as 35 mph.
Let it snow!!

Awesome, thanks for all the recs. I'll either check out some local ski shops or wait till I get to the mountains.

Also just looked at the AF snow report and they got another 4" yesterday to bring their base up to 29". And they have a projected 20" over the next week. Hoping my late Jan vacation might turn out okay

I'll be staying in Hood River on Wednesday night. Looks like it has a ton of restaurants and breweries to choose from. Any favorites?

If you can hit up Mt. Hood Brewing in Government Camp before you head back, that's one of the coolest places I've been to

JustPanda said:

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What's that camo jacket?