A Great Ski Adventure Demands Great Boots

Anyone whose skied for than a few years knows the importance of ski boots, They’ve also experienced their share of boot horror stories. They include:

• Losing a toenail from cranked down buckles
• Stabbing pain from pressure points
• Black and blue shins (shin bang)
• Sixth toe (tailor’s bunion)
• Pain in the top part of the foot
• Heel spurs
• Blisters

Bottom line is that a poorly fitted boot will hurt your skiing performance. Poor performance only diminishes what you can do at ski resorts. Limiting what you can do detracts from your Great North American Ski Adventure (GNASA).

I can’t fit your boots, and I can’t really tell you how to either. But Harold Harb can.

The Amazingly Talented and Incorrigible Harold Harb

I’ve had my share of boot challenges. My friends in the industry have had many more. Any boot challenge is aggravated by 100 plus days a year on the slopes. You don’t get any relief if your teaching 6 hours a day or racing all week. To address some of these issues, the industry started to focus on boot fitting. Boot fitting involves the boot, liners, and footbeds.

There are many retail shops that advertise themselves as “boot fitters.” Some are good, some not so good. Even the not so good ones can get a decent fit after a few refits. But what does that fit really mean in terms of performance? Do the fitters understand the kinematics of skiing? Do they understand the kinetics? Heck, do they know the difference? Does it matter?

I spent a couple of decades working with engineers. Engineers understand performance. Many were aerospace engineers. Occasionally I’d be at a ski shop and I’d discover a fellow customer was an engineer. Over a couple of decades, I even met a few aerospace engineers in ski shops. But never, not once, did I meet an aerospace engineer sitting across from me working for a ski shop that was hired to help me select and fit a ski boot. Until I walked into Harolds Harb’ ski shop.

Harold’s team has even published a paper for “Alignment Technicians” (aka boot fitters) covering anatomy.

You might say, so what? If Harold doesn’t know a lot about skiing, does he really know how to fit a boot? Well, Harold has written a few books about skiing.

Anyone who hangs around the ski industry long enough will hear about Harold Harb. Olympians, aspiring ski racers, coaches and instructors seek out Harold’s help in selecting and fitting their boots. Think about that for a moment. Skiers with decades of experience, access to the best coaches, and support from the best technicians find their way to Harold Harb.

If you want to maximize your GNASA, having great boots is a must.