I Want To Buy Ski Boots In NYC

January 8, 2022 5:37 AM

I just came back from a week of skiing, and my twenty-year-old boots are shot to hell. Where in New York City should I go to find a really good boot-fitter to replace them? Snowflakes below.

I’m a worse and less experienced skier than you’d think from the fact that I own twenty-year old boots — I learned as an adult, and I probably go skiing once a season, rarely more, and by no means every year. I originally bought boots rather than renting because I have weird feet (super high, bony arches) and rental boots were excruciating, but I don’t really have the knowledge myself to be sure I’m buying the right thing. So I need a referral to someone competent and trustworthy, who will really find me something appropriate for my individual weirdness. Please don’t Google ski-shops for me, I’m looking for someone you know and trust, or someone that a serious skier you know trusts.

I’m in NYC without a car, so I’m hoping for “in NYC” in the “literally accessible by public transit” sense. But if you know a guy near but outside NYC, I can rent a car to get there.

posted by LizardBreath to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

I live in NYC.

The canonical answer in the city - and they are the read deal - is https://usorthoticcenter.com/ but they are EXPENSIVE. You can read around for reviews.

I got my last Bootfitting done at Windham mountain and they were good.
posted by lalochezia at 6:09 AM on January 8, 2022

Response by poster: I am looking at the US Orthotics website, and I don’t see any indication that they sell ski boots — it looks like a doctor’s office that makes orthotic insoles. Do they sell boots, or do they just adjust boots you already have?
posted by LizardBreath at 6:43 AM on January 8, 2022

I hear Surefoot is the place, but they are EXPENSIVE.
posted by slateyness at 7:27 AM on January 8, 2022

I have custom boots because of my weird feet. I suggest *not* getting new boots in the city. Get them on the mountain. That way when they aren’t right (as far as I can tell, they always aren’t; I’ve always needed some bit punched out here or lining added there), you can keep getting them adjusted while you’re still on the slopes. There’s no way to tell if an adjustment has really helped without skiing on it.
posted by nat at 7:28 AM on January 8, 2022 [4 favorites]

Oh and custom boots are indeed going to be pricey.
If you ski at fancy resorts (read: Vail, Aspen, or more so), don’t buy at the mountain itself. Instead find a shop in the ski town that’s got some old grizzled ski dude who has done nothing but ski and fit boots for 50 years. You’ll get better service at a lower price. (For less fancy mountains, like Kirkwood in CA or Arapahoe Basin in CO, there’s a better chance the on mountain shop will be ok.)

This advice is also useful even if you buy boots in the city after all; they’ll probably need adjustment, and you want someone with decades of experience doing that.
posted by nat at 7:35 AM on January 8, 2022 [4 favorites]

I am a moderately serious skier with moderately weird (flat) feet and I bought a pair of boots at Paragon Sports. It was my first time buying ski boots for myself after wearing out a pair from my teens, and they've held up well to several weeks of skiing so far. They were patient and thorough, and I'd trust them to tell you if you need a more intense level of customization than they can provide. I do think the buy on/near a mountain advice is solid, but I can vouch for them as a good option in NYC (and very accessible via public transportation).
posted by earth by april at 8:23 AM on January 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Paragons is about as good as you will get in NYC. I don't believe they will do super fancy orthotics, but they have knowledgeable folks working for them and are your best bet in NYC proper. The next best option is pedigree ski shop in white plains, which is accessible via bus from the train station (It's about an hour if you time it right from Grand Central).

I would recommend calling both pedigree and paragons in advance and making an appointment for bootfitting, it increases your odds of having a better experience, especially if you've got weird feet. Bring your old boots with you (Or at least your insoles!) so they can see what they are working with.

(Ideally you'd get them at a ski mountain, Hunter Mtn has a really good bootfitting team and there are busses from Manhattan, but ya know... Covid so your desire to be on a bus with strangers may be null)
posted by larthegreat at 11:37 AM on January 8, 2022

I second nat. For your next ski trip book an appointment with the best bootfitter near where you are skiing. Do it the night before your first day of skiing. Then during your time skiing the bootfitter will be available to make adjustments be they small or large.

Using services like this (espacially ones owned/operated by a major ski resort) will be more expensive then just buying off the rack in NYC. However it is the best way of getting good boots and good boots are the single most important thing that dictates if you are going to enjoy skiing. Also, while using a real bootfitter is important, you may not need all the services (read: expensive) that they offer. If you are blessed with relatively normal and generally proportional feet, they may have lots of choices that will work for you without having to build custom foot beds or heat molding liners to your feet's geometry. This is especially true since it sounds like you like/enjoy skiing but aren't trying to get maximum ski performance out of this purchase.
posted by mmascolino at 5:54 PM on January 9, 2022