Yesterday we dropped by Neptune Mountaineering in Boulder, Colorado, where boot fitter Bob Egeland gave us a preview of the whole Masterfit system. Here he's setting things up to shape footbeds for Lisa. Over the years I've seen lots of ways footbeds are made. Masterfit uses a gel filled molding pad they call 'instaprint.' This seems to work well, but like most (if not all) other systems requires a combination of science, art and craft on the part of the boot fitter.
The secret ski boot fitter in me comes out. Lisa and I are down here in Lakewood, Colorado (Denver, essentially) attending Masterfit’s training seminar that’ll take us from being hackers to the first level of boot fitting expertise. The way it works is Masterfit arrives with a big truck full of equipment: sacrificial boot shells and other material. They set up a bunch of temporary workshops in the hotel conference rooms, replete with grinding wheels and glue pots. You then get three days of sensory boot overload; everything from how to do their version of footbeds all the way through punching and liner molding. Masterfit even has a special class just for backcountry boots. Should be interesting to say the least! More later, gotta run and carbo up so we’re ready to pry open those boot shells!
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
