HAPPY FEET
Now while we don't always manage to hit a perfect bootfit, we thought we'd share this success story with y'all. Here's an email we recently received from another happy customer: "I just wanted to take a minute to thank you again for your help with fitting me for a new pair of ski boots. After taking out my new pair of Nordica boots last winterand having them kill my feet, I brought them back in only to have you tell me that they were too big for my feet. It would have been easy enough to say that it's too bad since I already took them out, but you took the time (hours!) to help me try on every pair of size 10.5 boots in the store before we finally settled on a pair of (crazy blue) Lange race boots. Not only did you take back my old boots, but you also gave me a great deal on the new ones.

After taking out my new boots out for a week of skiing at Bridger Bowl in Montana I have to say that they are the best boots I have ever had. Not only did they not hurt my feet, they were actually comfortable to wear all day. While all my friends spent their lunch times taking off their boots and complaining about how their feet hurt, I could only tell them how comfortable mine were and I didn't even have to loosen them off all day. After 5 days of skiing my body was pretty sore, but my feet felt just like they had before the first day.

I would absolutely love to buy boots at Gord's again in the future, but I don't plan on giving these one up any time soon. However, you can count on me to send anyone looking for new boots, or complaining about their old ones your way.

Thanks Again!
Carl"

For more information on how we do our bootfitting and why we refuse to do it "the wrong way" please feel free to click on the following link to get to our Gord's Bootfitting page

FUNKY FEET?
As much as we try to get it right "out of the box" some people (such as yours truly) simply own feet that just were never designed to be forced into the confines of a four buckled device such as your modern ski boot.
Granted, we can now fit over 90% of people right out of the before-mentioned box but for the special folks in our audience we do what we call "Bootwork". Some people can buy suits and dresses right off the rack, other folks are not that fortunate and require some degree of alterations. This is the best analogy we could think of to describe the customization process of making a boot fit through the use of certain modifications such as stretching, "punching" and various manipulations. All these processes are included, free of charge with any boot we sell.

Bootfitting = Fitting you for a new boot (this what we do regardless).
Bootwork = Modifying a (new or used) boot that doesn't fit right.

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR FEET
There are three types of foot arch. Depending on how much your foot arch curves, you either have flat feet (a shallow curve in your foot arch), hollow feet (a deep curve in your foot arch) or normal feet (a medium curve in your foot arch).
The footprint test or wet test is an easy way to find out what type of foot arch you have.

1. Fill a bowl with water and place a sheet of paper beside it. It is preferable to use dark-colored paper.
2. Stand in the bowl of water and then step out of it and put your feet on the dry sheet of paper.
3. Then look at the footprints you have left on the paper.

If a print of practically all of the foot appears, with almost no curve on the inside where your foot arch is, then you have a shallow foot arch and your feet are flat. If there is a big curve between the forefoot and heel, your foot arches are very deep. If your footprint is between these two, your foot arches are medium.

Excessive pronation is one of the commonest problems. This causes the foot to rotate towards the inside. It can be revealed by pronounced wear on the inside edge of the heel of your shoe. This poor positioning causes your heel bone, leg, shin bone and hip to turn inwards. This makes your pelvis tilt forward. The direct consequences of this are plantar fasciitis, pain in the heel, problems with your Achilles tendon, pain in the knee or bursitis in your hip.

Hypersupination occurs when the foot does not move inwards enough when walking or running. In this outward-rotating position, the foot is not able to absorb all the shocks, and this has several consequences. Periostitis, plantar fasciitis, a sprained ankle, a fractured heel and metatarsal pain are the different injuries linked to hypersupination.

We can help in all these areas... it's what we do.

THE PROCESS
[A] Do yourself a favor and come earlier in the day rather than at the end of a day. Your feet are never happy at the end of a day. and please don't be offended if we ask you to come back another time to get bootfitted... Especially if you show up at the ski or snowboard boot wall at 8:40pm. A proper bootfit takes time: About 1 to 2 hours.

[B] We'd rather bootfit by appointment. Simply call us and let us know you're coming down... that way we'll make sure we have one of our bootfitters available to take care of you when you come in. A proper bootfit will take from 1 to 2 hours.

[C] Come prepared. WE HAVE NO TRY-ON SOCKS. Makes no sense to try on boots with loaner socks as you're not going to be skiing in those anyways. We want you on the hill with the EXACT sock you had on when you selected your sweet new boots. Bring the socks you ski or ride with... Unless of course they are thick, in that case, leave them home. We'll sell you a new pair of thin ones. All our bootfitting is done with thin socks.

[D] Footbeds. None of us ski or snowboard without them. They are an essential part of the fit. Manufacturers don't even bother putting half-decent generic ones in boots anymore knowing full well that what serious bootfitting operations do is throw them out in order to replace them with footbeds that match YOUR foot. We are steadfast about this one. If you want the right experience, get a footbed. As a matter of fact, we won't even attempt a boot modification without one. Come in, we'll gladly explain the myriad of footbed benefits to you and your on-snow experience.

We believe in the sock and footbed thing so much so that when we sell you a boot and you opt for a recommended footbed and sock we'll put our money where our expertise lives and include Gord's vaunted LIFETIME BOOTFIT GUARANTEE (150 days on ski boots & 3 years on snowboard boots).

[D] Go ahead, Leave your prejudices at home. You owe it to yourself to come in with an open mind. You can only benefit from it. Listen to your feet and only your feet. They know.

[E] Do your shopping beforehand, END your shopping process at Gord's. Please don't be upset with us if we won't sit down and start this involved process with you if you're just kicking tires. Both our time is valuable, let's be respectful of one another and sit down when you're ready to buy. In the unlikely event we can't find a boot in your price range or in the even more unlikely event that we can't find you a boot that fits no worries, you (obviously) always have the option of going elsewhere.

[F] The one item we don't play pricing games with are boots. We try hard not to be more expensive than the competition on boots but our price is our price, it includes the best service and all our boots are backed-up by the very best bootfitting anywhere... INCLUDED.

[G] Boot tests are for other people. Anyone lending any credence to some other person's fit experience with a boot is simply misguided. Only YOU know what works for you. Same goes with sponsored athletes: Who cares what Pro Rider Bob Alphabet is riding on this year, unless he's your clone and your feet are EXACTLY the same as yours... You're smart, you knew what we were talking about at "other people".

And that's only the tip of the iceberg. We've been at it for decades.

FOOTBEDS
Why do we insist on footbeds (also known as insoles) when we bootfit?

Your foot has its own particular morphology (size, volume and shape). Foot types are commonly known as either high-arched, mid-arched or flat-arched, but there are an infinite number of combinations of size, volume and shape. Each foot leaves an absolutely unique footprint. Your feet are the base of your body and play an essential role in maintaining your balance and your well being.

In figures, your foot is made up of 26 bones, 16 joints, 107 ligaments and 27 muscles. In other words, a quarter of our skeleton is in our two feet.

Four out of five people suffer from poor foot position? A number of research studies have shown that more than 75% of individuals suffer from poor foot position, resulting in abnormal tension in the fascias and soft tissues. If this tension is not prevented it adversely affects the tissue and can cause osteoarthritis and pain, and it can also affect your general posture.

Three-dimensional insoles provide comfort and an extremely good fit inside your boots. Depending on the type of foot arch you have, insoles can adapt to your shape and feet, thereby considerably reducing the harmful consequences that poor positioning of your feet can have. Insoles are also very beneficial for orthotic wearers and foot pain sufferers. (Sidebar: Prescribed orthotics don't work very well in ski or snowboard boots because the motion of the foot is nul. Using your "walking footwear" orthotics in a ski boot can actualy injure you.)

However, you don't need to have poor foot position to feel the benefit of 3-dimensional insoles. They can prevent future poor positioning and different injuries. It is strongly recommended that you use 3-dimensional insoles if you suffer from aching feet, back ache, sore ankles, sore knees or aching in your hips or lumbar region.

Insoles play a part in preventing and reducing some injuries. Studies have shown that the cushioning elements and foot supports present in preformed and personalised insoles may reduce excess pronation by 10% and may prevent certain stress injuries.

If you come to Gord's for a bootfit, rest assured that we are going to insist that you get a proper fitting FOOTBED before we start any bootfitting. If you already own footbeds then GREAT! bring them with you, we will make sure they work with your foot and if they do we'll start the process using them!

Please make sure to check back soon for more about how our professional boot fitters can make a difference in your ski and snowboard life!