Lady with large feet - rental boots don't fit!

I am as the user name suggests, very new to skiing. I have been away for one week and done a few lessons at home in a snowdome, so I am now at the 'recreational standard' and so can practice without an instructor.

Buying boots seems a major outlay as I am only likely to get away once or maybe twice a year if very lucky and ski in the snowdome to keep up the practice here.

My problem is getting good fitting rental boots as I am a lady with size 8 (26.5) feet and though ladies boots do come in that size, the rental places have only men's ("unisex" they say) 7s and 8s to offer me which are too wide in the foot and calf. I have learned to ask for fairly new boots if they have any because the liners are less compressed but even so I have found we often cannot tighten the boots enough to stop my foot wiggling and heel lifting even though the length is good (toes skimming the front). Last time I went I felt very much that my foot was turning inside the boot, and then the ski was following - can't be ideal?

Any advice?

NewSkier wrote:Any advice?

Yep. Buy boots.

Your boots are the most important piece of equipment and if they don't fit then you're going to have a real hard time progressing.

This will cost you money but the main investment you need to make first is time - time to find a recommended boot-fitter and then time with them to get a perfect fit. Allow several hours to get the fit right; the appropriate boot needs to be selected, the liners moulded to your foot and then the whole finely adjusted.

Your perfect boot does exist and is out there somewhere - but if you have non-standard feet (like 90% of us!) then you need an expert's help to find it and (quite probably) adjust it to suit you.

If you're near London then look up "Pro Feet" who have a good reputation, otherwise ask around for a local, trained and experienced, boot-fitter.

The plus side, after the investment, is that your boots should last for years (so you never need to hire "unisex" again!) and you'll feel an immediate gain in control, confidence and progression. 8)

Finally, if you're not planning on skiing again this season, it'll be worth waiting a few weeks for the end of season sales when there are always good bargains to be had.

Powderhound

Thank you. I will have to bite the bullet and find some funds! No I am not in the London area - am in Yorkshire and the only places I know of that sell/fit boots are Ellis Brigham at the Xscape centre at Castleford and SNow & ROck at Sheffield dry slope centre. Anyone know if if these are rip-off places? Are they likely to have sales bargains?

Hi - if you do a Google on 'ski shops in Yorkshire' then others in the area will come up too. The directory on this site also has a list - which I didn't know about until I just found the link back to it on Google! My husband & I both bought our boots from Decathlon in Sheffield several years ago & have been very happy with them.