I am looking for ski-boots Manhattan. I have been to Paragon, Princeton Ski Shop and Scandinavian ski shop. Seems like every store has a certain boot (excluding Princeton)that is the only boot for my foot. Scandanavian and Paragon are telling me to get a custom "footbed" for the boot sock for an additional charge of $100. When a boot is already $400 I find this exhorbatant. Also the custom footbed makes the boot fit you right away but once you get it and they heat treat the boot the boots are yours. So you have to buy the boot before you know the fit basically. Princeton basically just tells me to buy whatever feels good. They don't look at your flexing, examine how narrow a boot is, blah blah blah. What are tips your for buying boots? No any other places for ski boots in NYC area?

Unless you have really odd feet, go with Princeton. THey have a good rep.
THere is also the skihauss in brewster.
I might look at some of the ski websites for advice or ski mags web site. You can do a yellow pages check on yahoo for ski equipment.

Yah Know I went to princeton the told me that they did not work on commission and he did very little to assure I had the right boot. I don't know I see people after they have their boot a year it wears in and then starts to feel loose towards the end of the day. Paragon and Scandanavia have been telling me things to avoid but then they had other problems. Don't mean to complain I just want to buy the right boot. Should they feel uncomfortably tight from the get go?

Absolutely not! They should be snug and firm, but you should be able to move your toes and not be in agony. Are you going on a ski trip and need them now? Can you wait a month or two and drive out a couple hours into suburbia for some decent service and prices?

I remember reading in a ski magazine a couple of years ago that there are specially trained boot fitters in some stores. The article included a listing of the stores. I'm going to try to find that article since I'm in the same predicament myself here in Virginia.

I personally would wait until I got to the slopes and demo a couple of pairs.

I WOULD NOT buy them at Princeton.

I bought my first boots at Princeton and within a year had to buy new ones because they fit so poorly - they were too big.

Usually people at a mountain can recommend a good ski shop. If you ski at Hunter I have a name near there that I could recommend to you.

A small local shop also tends to take better care of their customers - I bought my current boots at a shop near me on LI.

DO NOT buy boots that feel tight.. They are not like leather shoes that will soften up as you wear them. I think you will probably do best up at the mountain you are going to ski at. I can personally recommend Ski Barn in Paramus, NJ. I bought a $400.00 boot there and they had to customize it for me by moving some clips and drilling some holes and they did not charge me anything extra. If you do not have access to NJ, why don't you check on some of the outer boroughs-maybe Queens or Brooklyn where you can take the subway to the ski shop.

There's also a boot shop on the Upper East Side. 3rd Ave around 70 or 68th street -- I wish I could remember the name of it.

Thanks everyone....This is a pain in the ****. I spoke to a friend over the weekend who told me he spent more time considering ski boots then he did buying a condo. LOL. What a pain I wish I had seen the demo post, did buy a pair at Princeton but when i got them home they felt too tight. Not sure if tight is necessary for break in or if these are too tight. Did want to buy them now because last season I could not find anything later in January everybody in Manhattan seemed to be out of my size in Brands I wanted to try. Well thanks again for your help think I will see if I can get a demo of the ones I bought before I wear them. Thanks Again. Happy New Year.

I also bought my boots at SkiHaus. They took alot of time with me to make sure my boots were comfortable. They advised me to wear them for 1 hour in the store. After that they took out the inserts and hot molded them to my feet. My Salomon boots came with the hot molding at no exta charge.
I know that Brewster is far from the city, but they really took alot of time with me.

Does skihaus have a website could not find

now to make matters the absolute worst I called Nordica and they told me that my MOD size was too far underneath my show size so I have been fitted wrong. but 1-1.5 sizes.

help-If your boots feel too tight take them back. My first pair of boots were Nordica and I hated them. I bought a pair of Solomans and I love them. I also tried on a pair of Rossingol's and they fit very nice, but they were considerably more than the Salomans. You might check Ski Magazine or other skiing magazines for their recommendations.

Ski Magazine's website is:
http://www.skimag.com/

Buying ski boots is always a chore - worse than shopping for swim suits! A lot depends on the kind of skiing that you are going to do. If you are an occasional, intermediate-level recreational skier, you probably do not need custom footbeds or extremely tight boots. If you are more advanced or looking to improve you skiing a lot, then footbeds and tighter boots are an unfortunate fact of life. I buy ski boots 1-1.5 sizes smaller than my shoes. They feel like hell, especially at the beginning of the season before my feet and shins are used to them, but they really are a joy to ski in. There's nothing worse than slopping around in boots that are too big. Your toe should touch the end in front-buckle boots, and you should feel like the boot has a firm grip on your foot. If your feet slip right in or you feel like you're wearing bedroom slippers, they are too big. And they will get bigger as you wear them. The foam liners will mush down and give you as much as 1/2 a size difference after a season or two.

Also, ski boots are very different for different feet, and just because one person loves a certain type doesn't mean that they will work for you. I hate rear entry boots (they feel to sloppy to me), but my mom swears by them. Most front entry boots don't accommodate her wide feet.

One tip - if you are going spring skiing at all, wait until you get to the slopes before you buy. Most of the ski shops in ski towns (at least out west) will have great sales in the spring, and the people who work there know boots inside and out. Hoback Sports in Jackson, WY is a great place to buy boots.

Good luck in your search!

thanks Cg that was good to read. Do you think I should hang on to these small boots even thought Nordica told me that based on my shoe size I should have gone higher??? Seemed like most ski stores wanted to pack me into a tight boot. These are tough to put on also seemed like when the guy opened them up for me in the store it was not so difficult.

Skier:thanks for the sky mag link a number of great stretchs ect for preparation.

Help-Try walking around your house or apt. before you go to the slopes to get used to them. If they are unbearable tight I would take them back. The Nordica rep probably knows a little more about boots than the ski shop< IMO.