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Archive for November 2014

Breckenridge Boot Fitting: The Fischer Vacuum Fit

If you only go skiing a few times a year, you may have heard of the Fischer Vacuum Fit System and thought, ‘it’s probably just for pros’…well, I can tell you first hand, it’s something that anyone with a hard to fit foot should consider. The system isn’t just for pros, it’s for anyone who wants the perfect ski boot fit. Fischer has made ski boot fitting an extremely reliable process, and although it hasn’t removed the human element of boot fitting, it will certainly change the way you feel about putting your boots on.

I’ve been skiing for decades and have gone from leather lace up boots through leather buckle to plastic buckle boots, the (in)famous Scott super light boots and back to the traditional 4 buckle overlap boots. Never in my life has my ski boot fit been as completely comfortable and functional as in my new Fischer Vacuum RC4 Pro 130s. Never.

fischer vacuum ski boot fitting breckenridge crop

To begin, I was shell fit for the proper size boot. This involves removing the liner from the boot and putting my foot into the shell. Having been in race fit boots in the past, I was skeptical about the size of the boot, but I put my faith in Chuck to set up my boot fitting just right. Next we put the liner back in and tried the boot on to make sure there was sufficient room fore and aft.

The next step was to place padding on my foot in the places I traditionally had discomfort and pressure in other boots. Padding was added to my toes to insure that I’d have room to move them. This padding compensates during the molding process for the additional space needed to alleviate hot spots. Then I put my socks on over the padding to hold it all into place and put the liners on. They have laces that have to be put on before they are inserted into the boot shells.

Now comes the ‘magic’. The shells are put into an oven and heated until they are soft. Once heated, my feet (in the liners) are put into the shells and I step up onto the machine that will form the shells. Prior to heating the shells, I stood on the machine to find the proper placement of supports to help me hold the right position to allow the boots to adjust to my body position. Once the boots had been heated, the cooling and pressure layers are added to the outside of the shells and attached to the machine. Pressure is added and the shells begin to conform to my feet. It takes a number of minutes for the pressure and cooling to do its work. I step off the machine and remove the boots carefully to ensure that the structure is maintained.

After waiting the required 24 hours, I put the boots on again. The superb fit and alignment are unbelievable. I’ve been skiing a number of times ranging from hard packed early season snow to 2 feet of fresh powder. The performance that I now get from boots that are formed exactly to my feet is phenomenal. The comfort is incredible. I don’t need to touch my buckles between runs because the fit of the boot is so good. There is nothing like the fit of the Fischer Vacuum boot.

You owe it to yourself to consider the Fischer Vacuum Fit system for your next pair of boots. Whether you have wide or narrow feet, high volume or low. The Fischer Vacuum Fit system can make a difference in your comfort and your skiing. Stop by or call our ski boot fitters in Breckenridge, we’ll be happy to walk you through the process and answer any questions you have.

Breckenridge Ski Rental Profile: Rossignol Experience 88

Rossignol has been a top brand in skis for decades. They continue to roll out advanced designs that perform beautifully. The Rossi Experience 88 is no exception. It combines classic elements of construction with innovative and unique new features to give you the ride of your life. A Racer’s Edge has the Rossignol Experience 88 in its demo fleet of rental skis so you can experience this innovative ski when you are in Breckenridge looking for your next ski rental.

rossignol experience 88 rental skis breckenridge

The Air Tip has been used in a variety of Rossignol skis to help improve performance. It replaces the dense materials needed in the body of the ski with a honeycomb filled with air. The lighter weight of the tip allows for the balance of weight to be closer to the skier’s feet. The honeycomb maintains the structural rigidity of the ski so that it can still behave like a solid ski when driving through the snow.

The 88 is a rockered ski, which means that the tip and tail are raised closer to the middle of ski more than a traditional cambered ski. While the ‘Auto Turn Rocker’ moniker may sound like marketing hype, raising the tip and tail allows the ski to maintain characteristics of a long ski with stability and flotation, while changing the contact point of the ski to more closely resemble a shorter ski. This means that you can charge on the slopes yet still have the ability to make smaller turns when needed. With 30% rocker at tip and tail the remaining 70% is traditional camber so it grips and turns like conventional skis.

Underneath the minicap is a durable sandwich construction with a wood core. Wood continues to be a winner for a high performance ski making it durable and long-lived. As the name implies the Experience 88 is 88mm wide underfoot. This size has proven over the years to be a superb performer both on piste as well as off. 88 seems to be a magic number allowing for sufficiently quick edge changes to tame hard pack and sufficient flotation when combined with the wider, rockered tip and tail to handle just about any soft snow condition you will encounter.

If you’re headed to Breckenridge any time soon, stop in at the Breckenridge ski rental shop and we’ll gladly set you up on a new pair of Rossignol Experience 88’s.