Problem ski boots

Question
Hi there,

I am in Austria. Years ago, I used to have 2 pairs of excellent ski boots, one black with purple trim(2 lower and 2 upper buckles) and one orange pair with 1 lower and one upper buckle. Both served me well for many years until I was forced to throw them away because they had become too worn out. I have since then had a hell of a time being forced to hire very ill-fitting ski boots from crappy ski-hire stores which nearly cut off all circulation to my feet and caused me great pain so that by the end of the skiing week I would feel like a cripple. I then found a new pair of ski boots but, unfortunately, they were 46s(by European measurement-scale) and only barely fit me. I was assured that this was the absolute largest pair of ski boots they had in the shop. I have rather  broad feet, but bought them as I seemed to have no choice. Since then, I have found this pair of ski boots to be far better than the very dangerous mediocre ski boots I used to hire from the ski-stores, but they are still nowhere near as nice and comfortable as the 2 old pairs I mentioned. On the advice of a seasoned skier, I even had a ski-store assistant somehow "widen" the ski-boots which seems to have helped a bit, but not as much as I had hoped. What this means is that I am now able to ski more or less but must stop more frequently every piste than I normally would because the ski boots stress and tire me out more than they should.

Anyway, my point is that the 2 previous pairs of ski boots I had were all of the same size(46) but felt far, far more comfortable to wear and I could rest the front of my legs on those ski shoes without feeling any stress or pain. I realise you may be US-based but perhaps you might have some idea of any European makes of ski boots which might be more suited to me, re comfort issues etc.? Or perhaps you might know of any European company which specialised in doing handmade ski boots? The last is a desperation measure as I do not want to spend vast amounts of cash, but I am at a loss as to what to do.

Thanks,
Geoff.

Answer
Hey Geoff,

I would suggest that you call around to your local ski shops and ask if they do custom fitting. If a shop does not do custom fitting, ask who they would recommend. Try to narrow down the choices to a few and then go in and discuss your issues with them. Think of your issue and the discussions as a job interview. The shop that comes up with the best and easiest solution is the shop you work with. There are many options to getting a good fit, you just need to find the shop that will strive to give you the best service.

Hope this helps.
Keep on skiing,
Windlover