Ski Lexicon Lesson #2

If you ask any seasoned skier what the most important piece of ski equipment is, most will say your ski boots. But ski boots are definitely not the most sexy piece of equipment. Never will someone say, "Wow, those boots make your butt look great!" or even, "I can tell those boots are the new '08 Fancy Pants brand, nice!" You will definitely get more attention from a $10 new ski hat than you will from a $600 new pair of ski boots. But although they may not make you feel hot, today I will tell you why they are the unsung hero of ski equipment.

Until today, my ski boots were about 12 years old. My Dad bought them for me in college and although there was nothing particularly wrong with them, I had a feeling that it was time to invest in new boots. I had heard things about "power transfer" and custom fit, so today I made the pricey and strangely lackluster decision to upgrade my most practical and boring piece of over-loved equipment. Now I will admit, this was a tough decision for me. Because there is just something inherently difficult about dropping good money on new equipment when, as far as you can tell, your old boots work just fine. Plus there is the emotional attachment dorky skiers like me have with their equipment. You remember where you bought them (Mission Ski & Sport in East Lansing), when you first lost your big toenails breaking them in fresh powder (Steamboat, CO) and of course, the many apres ski drinks you imbibed wearing these beloved pieces of plastic (too many places to list). But, I did know that new boots were said to be warmer, more comfortable and were created to make the most out of power transfer with shaped skis. That brings me to my first definition of today:

Shaped Skis (aka Parabolic Skis): Up until about ten years ago, skis were pretty much a straight design on the length of ski, with the obvious ski-like tip. But in the past ten years or so, the design of ski has changed immensely (not kidding). They are now significantly wider at the front end (called the shovel), most narrow near the boot, and flair out again in the back.

Ok, but back to boots. So after deciding it was time to contemplate purchasing new boots to match my newer shaped skis, I made an appointment at Viking Ski and Sports here in the city. This is known as a fabulous place to buy boots as they spend a lot of time with you. Again, boot fitliness is next to godliness. There's nothing worse than a boot that pinches, cramps your calves, crams your toes or lets your heels lift off the ground. Ski boots have never been comfortable because of their rigid plastic and tight fit, but there is a huge difference between a boot that you can tolerate for an hour of skiing and one you can crank in for eight hours and still wear it to the bar after. Obviously, the latter is what we're aiming for here.

Now, walking in to Viking Ski on a Sunday afternoon before ski season undoubtedly restored my faith in the economy. Because there was damn near a line out the door. Now I don't know if this is truly saying much about the economy in Chicago, but it was clear to me that there sure were a lot of people who were much worse skiers than myself, willing to drop 3K-5K on outfitting their family of four with new ski equipment. Yikes. Thankfully I am just funding a family of one.

The guy I really wanted to fit me was named Drew, but he was booked up with other customers. Drew is known as one of the best boot fitters in the Midwest (yes, there is such a cache) and it doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes. But instead of Drew, I got stuck with his co-worker Tom. Now, buying boots at this place is similar to buying running shoes at Fleet Feet in Chicago. You are not allowed to choose a shoe on color and none of the shoes you try on have prices that are easy to spot. Same story with Viking. The idea is that they want to find the best fit, regardless of color or price. Great, bet I'm going to end up in the neon green and hot pink boots that are $1200.

But, after Tom asked me about my ski level and I got some nicely-timed gasps from everyone in the store when I said I was about to leave on a three-week ski trip, he brought out a couple boots for me to try on. Neither felt as good as my old boots. So he brought out two more. And then about six more. I kept comparing them to my existing boots and just wasn't convinced it was worth the cash. And then I tried on every single advanced women's ski boot in the entire store until I finally found a boot that felt good. It was a Tecnica, nice enough looking and thankfully was not the most expensive boot in the store (I was finally brave enough to inquire about price).

Then, Tom started telling me about the heat fit technology that comes with the boot. Not only will they outfit me with heel inserts and all sorts of other custom adjustments, but they will actually heat up the lining and then mold it to your foot. Now this, was genuius! If Tom would've told me about this technology at the beginning of his sales pitch, I would have been sold much sooner! My Dad had a pair of Hanson boots he kept for over 30 years because of a technology similar to this. He swore it was the best purchase he had ever made. Suddenly, I was feeling much better about my decision to buy a new pair of boots after a measley 12 years because I was getting custom molding!

In order to achieve custom fit, they heat up the linings, suit you up in these special socks and then have you basically flex forward in your boots for 15-20 minutes. Since the flex move was the beginning of a squat move, I took the liberty to knock out about 500 squats instead. I think the other shoppers thought I was a bit strange, especially when I started noticably sweating, but I figured it was a good use of time, and a fabulous way to getting the boot insert just how I wanted it.

Then it came time to bring in my skis so they could fit my bindings to the new boots. I thought they could do this on the spot, but no, they need three days. And of course, there is a charge for this. When I heard about the amount of the charge, I had some slight consumer dissonance. In fact, I almost walked out of the store and said forget it. I couldn't believe how here I was, spending $550 on boots and then they were going to charge me $40 to move the bindings on centimeter! I explained the idiocy of this charge to the manager and told him that if he'd like my business again, he wouldn't charge me for something it takes an 18-year-old two minutes to do (no exaggeration here, either). So thankfully, they took off the service charge and I was able to actually complete the transaction, pay for my new boots, and walk out of the store hoping I made a good purchase. I will pick up my new boots and old skis on Thursday evening, one day before I hit the road. Perfect timing. Now all I can do is pray for snow!