Hello everyone - new to the site. So i'm getting back into skiing after about a 20 year hiatus. I skied quite a bit when I was younger (ages 15-25), but am 45 now. I will not be racing, mainly skiing blue and blacks, some moguls, etc. I live in mid Michigan lower peninsula so we're talking all groomed trails with some ice. Unfortunately probably no trips out west to any real mountains. So there's the background info. Where I live (near Flint) there are no boot fitters or anyone of that specialty. In fact there is really only one ski shop around that has been in business forever in the area. I've been there twice in the past week trying to nail down a proper boot. The first person I dealt with did all the measurements and said I was a 27.5. I tried a few on. Very comfortable size. Easy to walk around on. Toes just touch the end of the boot when standing upright/walking and pull back (not touching the front at all) when flexed forward into ski position. I returned a few days later and had a different person help me. He said the 27.5 was too big for me and advised me to go with 26.5. Now the 26.5 feels quite small length-wise when walking around. In fact my big toe has to curl up slightly when standing upright and walking around which causes discomfort since every time you take a step the already slightly curled big toe jams into the front. However when in ski position the toes pull back of course and are just barely touching the end so there is light contact (unlike the 27.5 where there is no contact with the front in ski position). He said this is what you want when you are skiing is to feel the end of the boot for better control. He also mentioned the liners will wear in with use and they probably won't be quite so uncomfortable after skiing in them a few times. He said not to worry about how it feels when standing upright/walking, that what matters is how it feels in a ski position. I mean it makes sense I guess, but damn the 27.5 felt so much more comfortable walking around the room. I've done lots of research on the web these last few days and I do read a lot on how your boots should fit tight and that you don't want a boot that fits too loose like a tennis shoe, but how tight is too tight? The rest of the fit on the 26.5 feels fine, it's just the big toe jamming into the front. He did heat the liner up for 10 minutes and had me try it back on for a while, but it didn't feel all that different. Any advice would be appreciated.
As a side note - this probably has no correlation to ski boot sizes, but I pretty much wear a size 10 across the board in shoe size.
As a side note - this probably has no correlation to ski boot sizes, but I pretty much wear a size 10 across the board in shoe size.
