Why do we ski? Sure, it's about the decent. But it's also about who we share the days with. While we may consider ourselves naturally born to try something as close to flying as humans can get without power, it's always a lot more fun to do it with folks we are close to.
Whether you've got nine buddies, three kids, four friends or a small gang you want to celebrate with, nothing says FUN! like private heli-skiing. Just you, your friends and your guides deciding on how many runs, how fast to ski and even when and what to eat. When nothing but the best will do, a custom-designed heli-ski trip is what you deserve.
At CMH Heli-Skiing we offer a myriad of options to do just that. Here's a breakdown of how you can make your dreams reality:
Program: Revelstoke or Monashee Private
Group Size: 4 skiers/riders & 2 guides
At the end of your ski days you share lodge life (or hotel life, in the case of Revelstoke) with the other heli-skiers, but each day the choice of timing and terrain are between you, your guides and your Bell 407 pilot.
Limited availability for 2013.
Program: Nomads North
Group Size: 4 skiers/ riders & 2 guides
You'll toast your day with the other skiers at CMH Gothics lodge at night but by day you'll roam like the nomads you are through the Selkirk and Monashee Mountain ranges. Your guides and Bell 407 pilot will choose the best lines to suit your group, given the days' snow and weather conditions with access to the vast areas of the Adamants, Monashees and Gothics terrain. Your gateway for Nomads North is Kelowna where you will spend one night at the Grand Okanagan Resort before flying, by helicopter, to the Gothics Lodge (Sweet!).
Limited weeks available in 2012 & 2013.
Program: Nomads South
Group Size: 9 skiers/riders & 2 guides
If roaming is your thing then Nomads South has got that covered for you and 8 of your closest ski pals. With access to Revelstoke, Bugaboo, Galena and Kootenay terrain for the duration of your stay you can definitely find the perfect lines to suit your group.
Your Nomads South home base is the plush Halcyon Hot Springs Village & Spa. Take to the healing waters each night to prepare your legs to attack the snow each morning.
Your gateway for Nomads South is also Kelowna and your trip begins with a wonderful helicopter flight from Kelowna to the resort on the shores of Arrow Lakes between Revelstoke and Nakusp.
Space still remaining for 2012 & 2013.
Program: CMH McBride
Group Size: Up to 10 Skiers/ Riders & 2 guides
If your own helicopter and guides sound nice, but you want to have your own private lodge too, then Kevin Christakos and his team at McBride are ready for you.
CMH McBride is the home to CMH's largest tenure with 399,569 skiable acres. For comparison, Vail has 5,289. (And by the way, McBride is limited to only 10 guests! How many at Vail?) This is an awesome playground full of long glacier runs and steep tree lines. McBride's got it all for veterans and first-timers alike.
Having the lodge to yourselves allows you to dictate the schedule. Breakfast at 9 and first flight at 10? No problem. Tenderloin and lobster for dinner with champagne and caviar to start? Ask and you shall receive.
With easy access from the International Airport in Prince George, a scenic two-hour drive gets you to the lodge in time for transceiver training and tea goodie.
Space still remaining for 2012 & 2013.
Program: CMH Valemount
Group Size: Up to 10 Skiers/Riders & 2 guides.
When Hans Gmoser started into this business he began in the Bugaboos in the Southern Columbia Mountains of BC. But the Cariboo Mountains was where he ventured next.
Valemount is the home of private group skiing! It all began here in 1987 with the first private groups exploring an entire heli-ski area. The word spread quickly and today, groups book Valemount for the ultimate private group experience year after year. With an airstrip only a few kilometers up the road, CMH Valemount guests fly by private plane from Calgary and are warmly met by host and Area Manager Danny Stoffel and driven quickly to the lodge to be pampered by the attentive staff.
Skiers and Riders in Valemount have full access to both the Valemount and Cariboo areas with over 3000 square kilometres to play in.
As in McBride, the daily program is set by you and your guides. The culinary team in the open kitchen will be thrilled to work with you to design the menu for your week.
Two weeks available in the 2012 season! This is your chance!
Program: CMH Summer Adventures
Perhaps those you wish to share your milestone celebration with aren't quite as bullish about skiing as you are, but they have a craving for something special too. During the summer months the Bobbie Burns and Bugaboo Lodges can accommodate groups for hiking, walking and High Flying Adventures beneath sunny blue skies, amid flower-filled meadows.
Regardless of whether it is a birthday, anniversary, Christmas Holidays, a graduation, gathering of friends or a business deal, CMH can help you make your celebration fun, thrilling and memorable.
Give us a call, we'd love to help you plan your next mountain adventure!
I watched the first skier step out of the helicopter today at CMH Galena, and he sank up to his armpits in the fresh snow. He looked back up at the rest of us, just exiting the machine, with wide, thrilled, stunned eyes behind his goggles - and he’s skied 11 million vertical feet of the world's greatest skiing.
Needless to say, it was the best day of skiing many of us here today have ever experienced. Not only did we ski some the the most famous runs at Galena, like Mega Bubba and Hanging Gardens in blower, choker, creamy, over-the head powder, but there is more snow in the forecast. At one point today, I got back in the helicopter after a nearly non-stop run with face shots on almost every turn, and my face felt like I’d just received mother nature’s most thrilling facial. Yup, ski conditions at CMH are going off.
On another run, I skied nearly 300 metres with the snow streaming over my shoulders and across my face the entire pitch.
Shooting photos in these conditions has been an unusual challenge - the pow is so deep that the skiers and snowboarders are almost entirely obscured much of the time. But in between, when they pop out of the massive powder clouds, the magic of deep powder heli-skiing and boarding with CMH is revealed.
At the end of the day, with classic CMH mountain hospitality, we walked in the door of the lodge and were greeted with cold beers, hot chocolate, and steaming racks of ribs before we even had a chance to take off our snow-packed ski gear.
I had several conversations tonight with guides, staff, and guests with many years of experience chasing skiing and snowboarding nirvana, and everyone had a similar comment: "We are so fortunate to be here right now!" Of course a couple of the guides and guests had this to add, “But it’s like this a lot around here.”
I talked to a guy this morning who just booked his trip last week - needless to say, he’s pretty happy with his last-minute decision to join us. There is still space on the helicopter...
For the last 4 days I’ve been documenting the CMH Nomads from their base at the almost mythical Halcyon Hot Springs resort just south of the powder skiing epicentre of Revelstoke, BC. Getting a glimpse of the newest genre of the world’s greatest skiing while the deep powder season in Western Canada is in banner form has been eye opening to say the least. Here’s a photographic tour of the exciting new CMH Heli-Skiing program:
The Nomads South program owes part of its charm to the base area, the Halcyon Hot Springs where the healing waters are just the right medicine to get tired legs ready for another day of riding in the deep.
The first day we spent in the big timber of the northern CMH Kootenay tenure in snow that both guides and hard core skiers have been saying is “as good as it gets.”
A view from the copilot’s seat of that as-good-as-snow-gets kind of fluff.
The second day we explored the southern Revelstoke terrain. Even the most experienced guides were talking about how magical it is to explore such amazing mountains with the freedom and power offered by heliskiing.
Then yesterday we crossed the Great Arrow Lake into the Southern Monashees and skied long tree runs between the dark waters of the Columbia River below and huge granite walls of the Gold Range above.
CMH Nomads concierge Sarah Watts joined us for both some blower powder skiing and a Nomads-style lunch buffet.
Then today we schralped Galena's southern area and flew over more spectacular ski terrain than I've ever seen in a single day. One more day, and it's supposed to dump tonight! For more details on the CMH Nomads heliski program, check out the interview with CMH Nomads Manager Jeff Bodnarchuck.
CMH Nomads South offers a custom-designed heli-ski vacation in which guests can design a trip that allows them to ski in multiple CMH Heli-Skiing areas over the course of their trip. Working with our Nomads concierge, skiers custom-design a trip each group essentially mixing-and-matching daily skiing from the Revelstoke, Galena, Kootenay and Bugaboos ski terrain using the beautiful Halcyon Hot Springs Village and Spa in Nakusp as home base.
This week the CMH Nomads program kick into gear and Jeff Bodnarchuck and his nomadic team will welcome their first heli-skiing guests of the season. I caught Jeff before he gathered the team together to begin preparations for guest arrivals to ask him about the heli-ski experience that tops people's bucket list!
JC: Jeff, you guys are getting ready for another season of Nomads. Tell me what is involved with set up?
JB: This is the fourth season of Nomads. The program has continued to evolve and grow, so each season the set up is a little more involved. We do the usual operations set up, snowpack investigations and establishing clear protocols with the other CMH areas. We have been skiing around in all three mountain ranges this season, so have a good handle on what the ski program will look like. That is subject to change if we get a lot of new snow, which we always do! This week we will go to as many areas as we can and put in landing flags and establish pick up areas. We have some new terrain in the Selkirks and Monashees that is quite remote and we plan to explore and get some first descents. The team is really excited about that!
Because each Nomads South trip is a custom-designed heli-ski trip, we have been working with our first group over the past few weeks. This one is going to be quite special and I look forward to sharing the details afterwards!
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JC: What sort of an experience can guests expect on a CMH Nomads trip?
JB: The groups can expect the very best skiing that conditions allow. We have epic long runs in the Monashee range, seldom visited as part of our regular heli-ski program. It’s a range of big wild mountains right at our doorstep. Then the Selkirks supply us with some of the most inspiring tree skiing anywhere on the planet. Anyone who has skied the big runs in Revelstoke, Galena and Kootenay will understand what I am talking about. If that wasn’t enough, we also ski the Purcell’s long, long glaciated terrain with views that are world renowned. There’s not another ski program in the world that can offer more variety and opportunity.
JC: Who are the guides working with you this winter and what is their experience with CMH and in the Nomads terrain?
JB: This season will see some new faces to the program, but they are all long-time CMH'ers.
John Newsome will return for his third season. I’ve worked with John for about twenty years. Geez, that seems like a big number. John is as solid as they come.
Georg Dempfle will join us. Georg has been guiding in CMH Valemount for last few years. Before that, he pioneered the program in CMH Silvertip along with Willi Trinker. If you wanted to go way back in time, Georg was the assistant manager at CMH Bugaboos. He’s been around the block and back but has spent the last few years working exclusively with our private heli-skiing guests.
Our flight crew is even more experienced. Mike McKenzie will be our man in the sky. “Sluggo” as he is known, was the first pilot to heli ski in CMH Galena. The past few seasons he’s been the Bell-212 pilot in CMH Kootenay. The guy is a legend!
Larry Hepple is our engineer, aka 'Uncle Larry'. A great guy and excellent motivational speaker!
Our concierge this season is Sarah Watts. Sarah was the lodge manager at CMH Bugaboos for the past four years. She will anchor the entire operation with her strong organizational skills and experience. Plus she is a really hot skier!
That’s our team, 2012,, a real power team!!
JC: What kind of skier does a Nomads trip appeal to?
JB: We get about 25% first time heli skiers and the rest are generally long time CMHers who are looking for something different. Skiers that have a strong emotional bond with the mountains, not content to just look at the far away places, skiers who want to go there, ski that chute. Explorers at heart. We also get the hardcore powder pigs.
JC: For you, what’s the number 1, best thing about Nomads?
JB: I used to think it was the idea of not having boundaries on my skiing, on where I could go and where I could not. Having a limit based on a line on a map. Skiing Nomads takes those limits and boundaries away. I still like that.
Its interesting, as I mentioned this is season number four, and this season the energy of the team and the guests who are coming seems even higher. Maybe I forget over the summer months, but everyone is super keen to get out, and make it happen. That really motivates me to elevate my game. How many people feel like that every day they go to work? That’s my new favorite thing,
Thanks Jeff! Have a great season!
To learn more about Nomads South Private Heli-Ski excursions with CMH, contact CMH Reservations at 1.800.661.0252 or by email at info@cmhinc.com.
Photos: CMH Guide John Newsome enjoying some epic ski conditions in the Selkirks on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 and Halcyon Hot Springs Village & Spa.
For the first 47 years of heli-skiing, it was all about how much deep powder could be shredded using a helicopter for a ski lift. Maybe we’re slow learners, or maybe deep powder is just so much fun that it took this long to see the forest through the snow-cloaked trees, but enter CMH Heli-Skiing 2012 and we’re finally starting to realize that there is more to heli-skiing than just insane amounts of vertical in the most sublime snow imaginable.
Along with a handful of exciting alternative heli-skiing programs now being offered by CMH Heli-Skiing, Steep Shots and Pillow Drops is 5 days of skiing designed around finding the most exciting and technical lines possible within the bounds of safety and professional ski guiding oversight. The idea is the brain child of Pat Baird, a ski guide at CMH Kootenay, who got tired of looking at gobsmacking lines, but not having the time to ski them within the traditional maximum-vertical oriented heli-ski program.
“I gotta admit, the inspiration was partly selfish,” Pat told me last night. “It was partly the agony of seeing all these great lines that either half the group couldn’t ski, or the constraints of the heli-ski program wouldn’t allow.”
CMH Kootenay is located at the southern edge of the CMH ski paradise, and the mountains are unique. In Bugaboo Dreams, the book that chronicles the invention of help-skiing, I wrote this about CMH Kootenay:
“The Kootenay region is a maze of ridges with few taller peaks reminiscent of Utah’s Wasatch Range - on steroids. Hundreds of pointed summits dot the horizon with steep faces on all sides. Daniel Zimmerman, a guide from Switzerland, describes the Kootenay Selkirks as, ‘the kind of mountains shaped like children would draw.’
“In my opinion,” says Pat, an 18 year veteran ski guide, “there is no CMH area that has as much available ski terrain - virtually everything you look at is skiable.”
Steep Shots and Pillow Drops is a program Pat designed to take advantage of this remarkable area. “The focus is not to do huge airs, but to do more technical lines that take a little longer to ski.” explains Pat. “Sure, if we have a guy capable of big air who wants to do it, we’ll accommodate it, but Steep Shots and Pillow Drops is more about technical skiing.”
While an average day at CMH Kootenay may include 10 to 14 runs, Pat anticipates a Steep Shots and Pillow Drops day might have eight or nine runs. “We want to be able to do an extra flight here and there, and skip a flight sometimes. This way we can ski a run once, and say ‘I missed that hit to the left of my tracks - lets go back and ski that again!’”
According to Pat, the program should offer a special treat to families with teenagers and young adults. “There are a lot of parents with kids who rip,” explained Pat. “In this program, the parents could ski an easier line, and then get to watch their kids rip the pillow drops.”
Part of the guide’s approach to Steep Shots and Pillow Drops is to video the more technical lines, partly for the educational value, and partly so the skiers and snowboarders can see footage of themselves ripping such incredible lines in blower pow.
Perhaps the most exciting thing is that this program has yet to be tried. In late February, a group of Norwegians, reputedly including a professional free skier who might just blow the lid off the program, will join Pat and the CMH Kootenay guides for the inaugural week of Steep Shots and Pillow Drops.
Following a long tradition of CMH guests getting to both participate in, as well as help design, the heli-skiing experience, Pat foresees guests getting to name technical lines and help build a photographic album of wild lines that can then be passed around the fire for inspiration and planning on future trips.
Steep Shots and Pillow Drops is part of the new Powder University at CMH, a smorgasbord of self-explanatory offerings from CMH that give everyone who can ski an ideal program where they can push their own limits, learn the skills they need to have more fun, and feel comfortable enjoying the world’s greatest skiing.
This season, Steep Shots and Pillow Drops is offered in CMH Kootenay as well as CMH Revelstoke. The Kootenay trip sold out immediately, but there is still space in Revelstoke. Contact CMH Reservations at 1 (800) 661-0252.
Photo of CMH Kootenay anticipation and ski terrain by Topher Donahue.
Afraid that you'll have nothing to look forward to after you've rung in the New Year? Fear not, skiing friends. CMH Heli-Skiing is teaming up with our friends at Surefoot to offer on-hill ski days in both Steamboat and Squaw Valley, followed by some apres-ski fun in-store. Ski with the CMH team and you'll have all day to ask them questions about Heli-Skiing in BC,Canada. The most common question we are asked is "Am I good enough to Heli-Ski?" and a day with the team on your local hill will give one of our senior heli-ski guides a chance to evaluate your skiing and give you a definitive yes or no.
Here are the details:
Ski Day at Steamboat
When: Sunday, January 8, 2012
Where to Meet: 10am at the Surefoot Store
Apres: 5-7pm at the Surefoot Store
Who: Open to all! Come join CMH Galena Heli-Skiing Guide Mike Welch and CMH'er Brad Nichols.
RSVP: www.cmhski.com/steamboat
Ski Day at Squaw Valley
When: Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Where to Meet: 10am at the base of Funitel
Apres: 5-7pm at the Surefoot Store
Who: Open to all! Come join CMH Galena Heli-Skiing Guide Mike Welch and CMH'er Kirsten Clark-Rickenbach.
RSVP: www.cmhski.com/squaw
*Note that lift tickets are not included for the ski day in either location. Participants will be required to purchase their own.
Wine & Cheese in Tremblant
When: Saturday, January 14, 2012, 5-7pm
Where to Meet: Altitude-Sports Mont Tremblant
Who: Open to all! Join CMH Representative Pierre Verot for an informal evening of ski talk.
RSVP: No need!
As always, if you have questions about any of our events, just drop us a note at info@cmhinc.com or call our Banff office at 1.800.661.0252.
What ski resorts would you like to see us visit in the future? Let us know in the comments section below!
Note: Looking for more great ski pics? View CMH Heli-Skiing Photo Galleries »
As December 2011 comes to an end, here are the top photos of the month from the various areas at CMH Heli-Skiing. In no particular order, here they are!
1. CMH Revelstoke: Guide John Lutrell doing the first full profile at the Sunrise Study Plot on Boulder Mountain. Already 1.92 meters of snow! (Dec 4, 2011)
2. CMH Revelstoke: Who doesn't love happy heli-faces!? The first Revelstoke guests of the season seem pretty happy! (Dec 9, 2011)
3. CMH Bugaboos: Family week at the Bugaboos means lots of fun for the whole family! It is so much fun, even Santa comes for a visit! (Dec 25, 2011)
4. CMH Monashees: Even through the snow you can see the smile on his face! Loving Steep & Deep! (Dec 8, 2011)
5. CMH Galena: Carving a fine line before dropping into "The Source". (Dec 19, 2011)
6. CMH Revelstoke: This early season shot from setup shows the amazing quality of the powder in Revelstoke. (Dec 4, 2011)
7. CMH Revelstoke: Check out how heavy those trees are! Amazing Powder = Amazing Skiing! (Dec 4, 2011)
8. CMH Galena: This is what it is all about... A lone boarder on Mike's Hump. (Dec 4, 2011)
9. CMH Revelstoke: Fine powder, fine technique, amazing photo! (Dec 4, 2011)
10. CMH Galena: There's nothing like the exhiliration of Heli-Wash, even for our guides. (Dec 3, 2011)
Be sure to sign up to receive alerts when new blogs are published (at the top right of this blog post), so you don't miss out on the Best Photos of January 2012, when all of our 11 Heli-Skiing areas in BC Canada are open! In the meantime, have fun out there, and all the best for the new year!
'Tis the season for reflection, so in that spirit, here is a quick snapshot of our most read blog articles for 2011:
- No surprise here. With such amazing ski conditions in 2011 (the likes of which haven't been seen in these parts in decades) the photos from our guides, guests and pro shooters in the field were very popular. February topped the list with 5 Best Heli-Skiing Pictures of February 2011.
- With ski movie fans from around the world looking forward to the release of the seasons upcoming new flicks John Entwistle's post on The Best Ski Movies Ever? proved popular yet again.
- Skiers and Heli-Skiers of any age or ability are always looking for some ways to get ready for the upcoming ski season. Becca Blay's post from August on how to Get Fit for Your Heli-Ski Trip NOW! outlined a concice and easy to follow fitness program for any level of skier. It's never too late to start! (Especially with New Year's Day right around the corner!)
- A few months ago we started a photo forum on Twitter for skiers to share their favourite ski photos with us and other skiers around the world and we call that #Ski Fotos: A Photo Forum for those Passionate about Skiing. Snowboarding pics are welcome too!
- We learned that you are not only curious about great ski movies and ski pictures but along with how to improve your fitness level, skiers are also interested in improving their skiing skills. 4 Tips for Tree Skiing was a popular read so no doubt you'll be interested in our upcoming series on Powder University.
A couple of other articles were popular with our readers as well. Skiing Interactive posted a chart comparing the size of many of North America's ski resorts. Slide two of the screen compared all the resorts in North America to the CMH Heli-Skiing terrain. The comparison was quite eye-opening!
What was your favourite post? What topics would you like us to cover in the new year? Feel free to leave us a note in the comment section below!
“I realized we’ve been doing our guests a disservice.” said Erich Unterberger, the CMH Heli-Skiing's Manager of Guiding Operations, in explanation of the new Powder 203: Big Trees heli-skiing program - as well as the philosophy behind the entire Powder University curriculum. “A few years ago I skied with one of our guests who had skied many millions of feet with us and he still skied exactly the same as he did years earlier; I felt like we had done this guy a disservice by not giving him the opportunity to improve.”
Ski guiding and ski instruction certainly have overlapping areas of expertise, but there are also vast areas of ski instruction where mountain guides have no experience - and vice versa. Traditionally heli-skiers haven’t wanted a lot of instruction, but instead hire a ski guide to keep them safe and show them the best skiing possible - and lots of it.
Since the beginning, CMH ski guides have done their best to accommodate both skiers who want instruction as well as those who do not, but to keep up with the heli-ski program the guides have traditionally been unable to give much one-on-one ski instruction. Essentially, the pace of traditional heli-skiing makes teaching difficult.
So after many years of full throttle heli-skiing, CMH Heli-Skiing has introduced a number of education-oriented heli-skiing programs designed to mix instruction with tons of great skiing, and many CMH guides are also high level ski instructors. Erich took time, while in the midst of helping his daughter tune her skis for a race at Nakiska, to explain the new Big Trees heli-ski program:
“In every CMH area, it doesn’t really matter which one, we do about 70 percent tree skiing. But some people are afraid to sign up for the famous tree skiing areas like Galena, Kootenay and the Monashees. There are a lot of skiers who ski really well, but they get into the trees and start having problems. The whole idea of Big Trees is to show people what to look for in order to ski better in the trees.”
The Big Trees groups will include a second guide so, with the sheer volume of powder skiing provided by the helicopter, each skier can expect one-on-one tree skiing instruction.
Erich outlined some of the Big Trees curriculum:
- Tactics for heli-skiing in the trees.
- Partner skiing technique for confidence and safety.
- Fall line selection.
- How to break a tree run down to manageable segments.
- How to avoid tree wells.
- Turn strategy with fat powder skis.
You might think that skiing a fat ski is a no-brainer, but heli-ski guides are finding that there are real issues with the new boards. Erich said, “They give floatation, which makes it in one way easier, but if you do not control the fat skis, the trees come up at you much faster!”
Erich explained that the Big Trees week will include a lot of skiing (100,000 feet guaranteed) with more of a coaching environment than a ski school environment.
“Our main goal,” concluded Erich, “is to give our guests a way to ski more in control, feel better about themselves, improve, and have more fun skiing."
Photo of maximum tree skiing fun in CMH Gothics by Topher Donahue.
Buying ski boots seems like it should be easy, but for some reason when I start trying to decide which boots are the perfect fit, I always feel like Cinderella’s sister.
So for an expert’s opinion on how to fit ski boots, I tracked down Matt Carlson of Surefoot, the ski boot company that customizes Lange ski boots for the ideal fit and performance - a favourite brand among CMH Heli-Skiing guides. Matt is a veteran moguls and aerials competitor who moved from the East Coast to Utah when he’d had enough of skiing on hard snow.
He replied with what is certainly the best explanation I’ve ever heard on how to fit ski boots:
Generally, each level of skier ability requires a similar fit. The goal should be to have a boot that is as snug as possible without being painful. Non-custom boots pack out very quickly, and will become much looser after just a few days of skiing. Therefore, they need to be very snug at first.
Even though each level of skier needs a snug fit, there are a few different things each needs:
Beginner skiers needs a soft flexing ski boot. Beginners do not have the balance of an expert, so the flex helps them stay centered in the middle of the ski. A boot that is too stiff will result in the skier leaning back. But there is a catch; often the softest boots are very poorly designed and are very wide. Find a soft flexing boot that is not too wide, and not made out of poor quality plastic. Typically the softest-flexing quality boot for men is about a 90 flex and for women is 75 to 80.
Intermediate skiers require a slightly stiffer boot to transfer energy quickly from the boot to the ski, but still soft enough to allow them some forward flex. Often the flex for guys will be 100 to 110 and women 80 to 90. The weight and height of this skier also helps to determine the flex. The more leverage the skier has, the stiffer the boot the needs to be. It is also more important for this skier to have a slightly narrower boot to transfer the energy quicker.
Advanced skiers have good balance and rely on their ability in order to stay centered over the skis. Therefore, they can have a stiffer boot that will transfer the energy much faster and result in better performance. This skier usually wants a narrower boot to transfer the energy faster. Depending on the ability level, this guy will want a 110 to 140 flex and women 90 to 110.
For everyone: Ski boot companies save money by not making a 22-sized shell but just slide the 22 liner into the 23. If the shell is not the size of the liner, don’t buy the boot. Most importantly the skier must not rent. Rental boots are lowest quality of all ski boots and they do not help the skier improve or enjoy their hard earned vacation - plus they can be gross.
Custom orthotics:
If the customer is not getting a completely custom ski boot it is very important that they get a ski orthotic.
- First of all, it must be specifically designed for skiing. It will support the foot in the best position for skiing and result in more comfort and performance.
- Ask the store what position they make the orthotic in. All feet are different and one way of making the orthotic does not work for all. Generally orthotics are made un-weighted, semi-weighted, or fully weighted. If the store only makes them using one method, the skier should go somewhere else.
- Find out if the ski orthotic will hold the foot in neutral - the best and strongest position for skiing. If it does not hold the foot in neutral then they should not buy the insole.
Since all feet are different, the best ski boot is a custom ski boot. But if that is not possible, then the skier must make sure the store has ski boots in several different widths. Some examples are 98mm widths, 100mm widths, and 102mm widths. If the ski shop does not have all these widths in various flexes than the skier should go somewhere else. The shop should also be taking very detailed measurements of the width and length of the feet to immediately narrow down the choices.
Ski racing –There are narrow and stiff boots available, but for children the flex still needs to be very soft.
Extreme cold – Some after-market liners like Intuition are great in the extreme cold, but they break down quicker and do not ski as well as other custom liners. Also find out what ski boot heaters are available. The highest end boot heaters work very well - you get what you pay for.
Heat-molding a standard liner will improve the fit, but if heated the liner will break down faster. Unless the liner is designed to be heat molded, it is usually best to just ski on it and it will mold to the foot the same amount heat molding will, but last longer.
The best is a custom ski boot with ski orthotic that holds the foot in neutral, a shell that is the proper stiffness and width, and a custom liner that fills in all the gaps between the foot and the shell. A boot heater is always a nice way to top it off.
Of course the Surefoot Custom Boot is the ultimate for performance and comfort for everything from riding the lift at your local hill to a dream trip to the world's greatest skiing.
Photo of finding out if the boots fit in CMH Cariboos by Topher Donahue.