AMERICAS BEST BOOTFITTERS

Who are America's Best Bootfitters?

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A quality bootfitter provides the following:

• Personalized service
• Attention to detail dedicated to your comfort and enjoyment
• Skills and knowledge to execute boot fit and customization plans
• A myriad of boot choices and fit options

Custom boot fitting services and custom orthotics—almost impossible to find at large chain and big box ski and snowboard shops—are the hallmarks of an America’s Best Boot Fitters certified ski shop. America’s Best Boot Fitters is an organization of top independent ski and snowboard shops that specialize in boot fitting. Membership is granted only to shops whose boot fitting and customization work has demonstrated a high level of expertise and consistency over years.

Shops must meet rigorous standards to be eligible for America’s Best membership. All ABB shops have a supervising boot fitter with a minimum of ten years experience and at least two staff members who’ve achieved top-level Masters Certification from Masterfit University, the snowsports industry’s training center for boot fitting. They have a full compliment of stretching, grinding and stance analysis tools necessary to optimally customize today’s new boots. Visit an ABB shop: dedicated experts will work with you to select the right boot and customize it for perfect fit & performance.

ABB Boot Test

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2011’s Crop of Boots Exceeds Expectations

After five days this past spring testing next year’s best performing boots at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon one thing was clear — we’ve entered the realm where high performance boots are available for all skiers, regardless of foot width. Our Wide-Body Performance category crushed it across the spectrum of manufacturers with 102mm and 104mm boots weighing in with beefy flex indexes ranging from 100 to 120. This is a far cry from even the recent past when good skiers looking for truly wide fitting boots were relegated to marshmallow-flexing models. Not so anymore. Accomplished skiers with massive dogs, or those just looking for an ample width fit, won’t have to sacrifice performance anymore.

But many performance-minded skiers won’t have to go searching the wide body families of boots. The workhorse Medium-Fit Performance category — those boots in the 100-102mm zone that comprise the largest market for skilled North American skiers — all came to the test-off with a little extra width, a little extra length, and a touch more volume through the instep. They mark the 2010-11 class as perhaps the most comfortable of any fleet of expert all-mountain boots to ever hit the slopes. But don’t forget to take a closer look at the Narrow Fit category — these boots are easier to wear than you might think, and take note that almost across the board our boot testers call these rippers home. Why shouldn’t you?

Curious where you’ll find your perfect match? Check out our guide to understanding boot width categories!

Click here to start your search.