To test, or not to test ...

By Matt Boxler

I don't recall exactly how the boot tests on my Lange X-8’s read when I bought them a few years back, but I’m sure I read them. And I must have liked what I read. Like many American consumers, I immerse myself in product reviews before pulling the trigger on a purchase. The procedure has served me well, or so I’ve convinced myself, for a variety of items around my house.

My question is this. Do magazine product reviews work as well for ski boots as they do for, say, home theater speakers or vacuum cleaners and such? I wonder because every winter, my inside ankle bones scream out a definitive answer for me.

Proper fit is where boot tests fall short. But Steve Cohen, CEO of Masterfit Enterprises and director of the ski boot testing program for a prominent skiing magazine, says don’t discard those reviews too quickly.

“Boot testing can help you narrow down possibilities,” Cohen says. “I don’t think you can take a recommendation and say ‘that’s the boot for me.’ It’s certainly not as easy to extrapolate as ski reviews.”

Boot tests can help consumers wade through the depths of technology and terminology, but nothing is more paramount than proper fit. “The boot is the whole linkage to the ski,” Cohen says. “Without a proper fitting boot, you’re not going to be able to drive the ski properly.”

Matt Titus, product manager at DalBello Ski Boots, offers a fairly strong opinion about boot tests. “They are not of value to consumers,” he says. “In general, boot tests are going away. The magazines have realized that to do a true, fair, unbiased test for the consumer would require weeks. Magazines can’t afford it.”

DalBello, with its Krypton series, has re-pioneered its three-piece overlap that takes the trend in softer forward-flex and lateral rigidity a step further by isolating the two, providing lower leg closure with consistent support at every angle of flex. Different models are designed for different skier types from the Glenn Plakes of the world to the Tanner Halls.

Titus is proud to talk about such technological advancements, but still freely admits: “The boot could be the best performing boot ever made but if it doesn’t fit, it’s useless.”

The good news is technology in bootmaking has never been better. Never before have ski boots in general been so comfortable right off the rack. “Boots are much easier to handle, with easier entry and exit,” Titus says. “Also, stance and ramp angle have decreased. They’ve become more upright and softer in forward flex, a direct result of shorter skis. Modern ski motion, even for racers, is more lateral.”

More good news is when you go to your local ski shop, chances are you’ll find knowledgeable assistance. M asterfit Enterprises, for instance, runs Masterfit University, an advanced bootfitting course that trains about 400 ski boot fitters each year … and they’ve been doing it for 14 years.

These “graduates” will take everything about you, your foot, your stance alignment and your skiing ability into account in selecting the appropriate boot for you and making any customizations necessary – with stretching, grinding and stance analysis tools – to optimize fit and performance.

In a nutshell, don’t throw away those magazine boot tests, but read them with a grain of salt. For everything they’re worth, your protruding ankle bones may offer a differing opinion down the road.

“No one should be skiing in pain these days because there are so many things out there to help with the single most important aspect of buying a boot – fit,” Cohen says.