part 1 | part 3

A Great Fit: The Fit Process

The pros

As Jeff Bergeron of Boot Fixation in Frisco CO puts it, "The technician has but two tools with which to satisfy your boot needs. The first is his own expertise; the second is your feedback." All agreed that just as they must exercise skill in getting to know and understand customer needs, so for top results must clients understand how to work with a technician.

What follows flows from our "virtual round table" discussion with Bergeron, Corty Lawrence of Footloose in Mammoth, Footwork's Tim Hutchinson, South Paris, ME, Greg Hoffman who operates The Green Mountain Orthotics Lab at Stratton, VT, Master Fit University co-director Jeff Rich, proprietor of NYC's U.S. Orthotic Center, and Steve Bagley of Superior Ski at Snowbird, Utah.

We didn't sit down with all six players at a single location-we interviewed each by phone-but for clarity we've consolidated major points. While each technician approaches tasks uniquely, overall similarity of advice was striking and consensus on most critical issues was clear.

We did not focus specifically on new boots-most of these pros' clients seek solutions for existing problems and two members of our panel don't even sell boots-but the techniques are the same for new or old.

As corollary, we discovered identifiable hallmarks of expert technicians: they listen, observe and guide and possess vast knowledge of boots, biomechanics, human nature, communication skills, ski technique and modification procedures. This alone is worth the price of admission.

This time, we examine establishing good communication. In the next issue, our panel members describe ways to pin-point causes of pain or discomfort, to differentiate between real boot problems and issues which masquerade as boot problems and the steps each takes to resolve the real problems, which are not always obvious.

Getting to know you

"Teamwork," Tim Hutchinson explains, "is essential. The more information I get from the customer, the better the result will be."

Our panel unanimously agrees that technician and client must establish a good relationship built on mutual understanding of needs, goals and procedures. The technician needs to know about you: how you ski, where you ski, how long you've skied and how often you go, what terrain and conditions you prefer and which you avoid, what other equipment you use, what your skiing goals are, what your perception of the problem is and your anatomical configuration. You need to know how to describe the problem and both must establish a common technical language.

Rapport is essential. If you encounter an instance in which you simply do not like the technician's personality, find someone else, regardless of his reputation or skill.

Tell me, Doc, how bad is it?

Our panel speaks as one on the issue of foot and physiological examination. All agree that close examination of the foot, along with observations of whether the client is short, tall, long-legged, bow legged or knock kneed, or displays any other unusual physical characteristic, reveals encyclopedic data to the trained eye.

"I watch them walk as they enter the shop," says Corty Lawrence, "and you learn about a person's foot from the initial handshake. Are the fingers long and bony? Is the hand small or more pudgy? This will tell you a lot before you even look at the foot."

Physiological examination, of course, is the crux of the matter. The competent tech will examine both feet and both ankles, observing static configurations, how they bear weight and will manipulate feet and ankles to discover degree of mobility or rigidity. He will consider the biomechanical composition of the body, what super-coach Harald Harb calls the kinesthetic chain.

Jeff Rich takes this procedure to the extreme, just short, as he puts it, of Voodoo.

"People are products of their lifestyles; you are what you do. We see a lot of exotic professionals here and we've learned to anticipate difficulties based on a person's calling. Camera operators, for example, assume a specific stance while they work-typically, the right foot is flatter than the left and the right hip is rotated forward. Fencers' back feet are likely pronated while the front foot is neutral. Runway models exhibit similar characteristics. Desk bound executives often develop lower back and calf problems which affect stance, gait and fore/aft balance."

What does "tight" mean?

In the next installment , we discuss shell fitting, how inner boots force bad sizing, how to isolate boot problems from other problems, the nature of pain, what not to expect from boot modification, how top technicians structure the actual work process, how to achieve simultaneous high performance and comfort and what you should expect to pay for boot service.

As Bagley puts it, "Ski boots can be comfortable."

next installment | first installment