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DON'T SUBJECT YOURSELF TO TEUTONIC DRILLING FROM AUSTRIAN SKI INSTRUCTORS. GET YOURSELF A PAIR OF CUSTOM-FinED BOOTS. the 1980s. Different bootmakers make different boots to fit different feet. Volume differs from boot to boot. Lange makes boots for skinny feet. Salomon makes boots for slightly less-skinny feet. Tecnica and Nordica both make the next size up and Rossignol, the one after that (though this is just historical precedent and could all change next season). Also-and this is crucial-getting a good boot fit is a process of trial and error. A process that promises long hours spent micro- ' managing details in the shop (bring a book, you'll be sitting around), followed by two or three trips from shop to moun- tain to figure out what isn't perfect, and then making it so. Those initial runs in new boots will be awkward. They are about figuring out what is wrong and what is right. They are, simply put, not a good time to try and impress your friends . It's worthwhile understanding the theory; it's more worthwhile finding a boot fitter who understands the practice. The first thing any good boot fitter will do is build a Age-old wisdom: If you're looking for improvement in your skiing experience, certainly skis will make a difference. But if you really want change, then boots are the call. Yes, boots. Those unwieldy, uncomfortable plastic masses that, in the simple process of connecting foot to board, govern every minuscule muscle transference-every tiny hop, every blessed turn. And in the past few years, right alongside the new-school ski revolution, a quieter, deeper revolution has been occurring in the world of boot manufacturing. Polymer plastics and computer mapping and flex angles. Suffice it to say that boot makers have recently made some light-speed forward progress. This is in itself fantasti c, but the real news is that boot fitters are no longer radi cal specialists reserved for professional athletes and rich kids. These days they're here for everyone. Rather than just buying the latest top-of-the-line boot and hitting the slopes, it is worth your time and money to get new boots custom-fitted to your feet. Boot fitting is a craft, not a science. It's not learned by reading a few pamphlets of material. It's not learned in a season in a ski shop. It's learned , like any craft, by tria l and error, by long years spent in the com- pany of smelly socks. Most folks you'll find working in a ski shop stick around for a season, maybe two. Good boot fitters have decades of prac- tice-and boot companies have begun to recognize this. Many have responded by providing apprentice boot fitters with intensive multiday sem- inars dedicated to the explanation of the craft. There are some things you need to know up front. Forget brand allegiance. Forget how badly you wanted those rear-entry clodhoppers from custom foot bed for your boot. This usual ly involves heating the footbed and stamping your imprint down until the footbed adopts the natural position of your foot. Extra support layers are gl ued beneath the toe and (for more advanced skiers) a stiffening agent goes over the heel to reduce insole flex. Then the whole contraption is ground and shaped to lie perfectly inside the boot. The next step is the li ner. Get a custom liner-one that is heated and then molded to your foot and leg. After that, extra adjustments can be made to the boot's tongue. Most of the time the heated liner wi ll mold the tongue to the shin, but for optimum fit (especially in the case of shin bang) there are neoprene pads that get glued to the tongue for added support. Then there are the microadjustments such as heel lifts and grinds and punches. These are exactly like they sound: a heal lift increases range of motion, punching packs down the liner of the boot, while grinds remove it altogeth- er. They all match the shape of the liner to the exact shape of the foot. Now take balance and cant into account. Balance means the foot lies flat on a perfectly even surface. Cant allows the lateral alignment of the cuff to be adjusted to match the skier's leg-meaning if you're bow- legged then your boot matches the bow so that your weight falls evenly over the foot and you're not always having to compensate by overturning. You can also cant one boot more than the other to help strengthen the turning ability on your weak-turning side (a flaw we all have). Now forget everything you just read and pay attention to the fol- lowing list. It's an assortment of ski shops across the cou ntry that have dedicated themselves to learning everything you just forgot. Go to them.