Bootfitters Blog

Ever wonder what happens at a boot test? 

Here is a sneak peak…

If you take 24 years of boot testing, fresh powder, Mt. Bachelor ski resort ,18 brands, 20+ manufacturers’ representatives, 40+ testers, 98 different boot models, over 200 pairs of boots on our racks, and roughly 800 separate test cards filled out you get an equation for the US ski industry’s most progressive boot test.

Companies providing test product for review this year include: Tecnica, Scarpa, Salomon, Rossignol, Nordica, Lange, Garmont, Head, Full Tilt, Fischer, First Degree, Dynafit, DaleBoot, Dalbello, Black Diamond, Atomic, Apex  and Alpina.

The ABB/Ski & Skiing Magazine Boot Test is sponsored by: Boot Horn, Dry Guy, EazyOn Spray, Hotronic, Leki,Midland Radio XTC Wearable Video Cameras, Pistil Hats, Ski Skootys, Slide-On Spray and Transpack.

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Masterfit Enterprises will again partner with Bonnier Corp.’s Ski and Skiing Magazines to provide exclusive 2012-13 boot content including all reviews and test data for their print and web properties.

Masterfit will also coordinate the joint America’s Best Bootfitters/Ski & Skiing Magazines On-Hill Boot Test at Mt. Bachelor, Ore. April 10-17.  The annual boot test is the largest independent test of Alpine and sidecountry boots in the world.

“Masterfit brings an unequalled knowledge and sophistication to our boot coverage and provide our readers with the most comprehensive consumer tests and reviews in the industry,” said Ski and Skiing Magazine editor in chief Greg Ditrinco.  “The Masterfit pros are the experts who train the experts.”

Masterfit Enterprises is the parent company of the Masterfit University Fit Training Centers for ski and snowboard bootfitters and America’s Best Bootfitters, the international organization of select snowsports shops that specialize in bootfitting. Reviews and content generated from the test will also appear on the America’s Best Bootfitters website, www.bootfitters.com.

More than 35 skiers will assemble at Mt. Bachelor to test over 75 models from every brand that distributes products for North American Alpine and sidecountry use.  Last year, more than 500 on-hill tests were conducted during the week-long test period.

The test team includes Masterfit University instructors, professional boot fitters from America’s Best Bootfitters, ski instructors, coaches and patrollers as well as journalists and expert skiers with boot testing experience. The boot test program is spearheaded by Mark Elling, one of the world’s top bootfitters who works out of Mt. Bachelor Ski & Sport and The Masterfit Tech Center, both in Bend, Ore.

This marks the 24^th consecutive year that Masterfit founders Steve Cohen and Jeff Rich will be involved with the boot test program. The pair founded the first-ever on-hill magazine boot test in 1987 when Rich was boot test program director at Ski and Cohen was executive editor.

Companies providing test product for review this year include: Tecnica, Scarpa, Salomon, Rossignol, Nordica, Lange, Garmont, Head, Full Tilt, Fischer, First Degree, Dynafit, DaleBoot, Dalbello, Black Diamond, Atomic, Apex  and Alpina.

The ABB/Ski & Skiing Magazine Boot Test is sponsored by: Boot Horn, Dry Guy, EazyOn Spray, Hotronic, Leki, Midland Radio XTC Wearable Video Cameras, Pistil Hats, Ski Skootys, Slide-On Spray and Transpack

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Testers filed more than 500 reviews at the 2011 boot test camp

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The ABB/Ski & Skiing Boot Test is the world's largest program

Test team director Mark Elling puts boots to test at 2011 camp

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If you sell shoes, Check out this article in The New York Times and make your customers aware of the results. Those of us who have been screaming “Emperor’s New Clothes” at the barefoot and minimalist running trend are starting to get backed up by new mainstream research.

Shoes and insoles are good things!

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Still dumping @ Mt Bachelor Masterfit Boot Test!  All day pow in and out of the trees! Ace shooter Kirk Devoll burning up memory cards and capturing great images.

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Empty slopes at Mt. Bachelor means fresh tracks all day long!

Untracked lines in the trees all day long at Mt Bachelor

There will be a killer slide show posted on bootfitters.com and on our partners in the test program, Ski + Skiing magazines.

Adios to our supplier friends who left us for the real world in recent days. We’ll continue to rip the pow for josh from Full Tilt, Scott from Dalbello, Bill from Dodge, Mike from Salomon  and Thor from Rossi/Lange.

Big props to Andrew Couperthwait of Head USA  for hanging right to the end. He gets the big pow award!

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What a crazy weather day at the Masterfit/ABB  test!  Plunged back into deepest of winters today.

Winter roars back to Mt. Bachelor with full force.

Viz @ top of Pine Martin lift was like skiing into ether. The heavily veiled foghorn mist enveloped the first few hundred yards. Check out the photo!  Some folks even had small bouts of vertigo!

And snow was blowing sideways for the last three minutes on the lift.

Then it started to dump big time. It was constant freshies ALL afternoon on pillows of silk. Magnificent skiing.

387 tests performed on our boot fleet by end of today!

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A spectacular spring day at Mt Bachelor!  Sunny and light shell warm with buckets of fresh powder lines in the summit bowl and backside from monday’s storm.

We’ve got reps from many of the major brands on hand for the Masterfit boot test.

Mike Aicher/Salomon
Scott Russo/Dalbello
Bart Tuttle and Stefano Mantagezza/Tecnica
Thor Verdonk/Rossignol + Lange
Andrew Couperthwait/Head
Mike Sheets/Daleboot
Bill Double/Dodge
Josh Malczyk/Full Tilt

A bright clear day on the slopes of Mt Bachelor

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It was full-on winter today at the Masterfit boot test at Mt Bachelor. This place has absolutely insane weather. Opening Day found about 8″ of fresh and light pow on the hill.  The tiny crowd made it last all day long.

But “Bachelor mist” aka hanging fog made for super low viz most of the day.  And snow squalls alternated with flickering bouts of brilliant sunlight. A typical schizophrenic day at crazy Mt. Bachelor.

We’ve got pretty much every alpine boot brand in the test including all the majors and virtually all of the smaller boutique brands.  A complete roster of brands and reps on the scene tomorrow as well as first pix.

Now the test team is back in Bend at our test home base of Mt. Bachelor Village Resort where its 60 degrees, sunny and dry.

20 minutes away we were skiing freshies! Now we're laying down tracks in the dirt.

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