Ski boots
Ski Boot Guides
The three numbers on a ski boot, explained in plain English, and how the boot should fit once you are in it.
Every ski boot carries three numbers, and none of them is explained on the box. The flex index says how hard the cuff is to bend. The last is the width of the shell across your forefoot in millimeters. The size is your foot length in centimeters, called mondopoint. Each guide below takes one number, puts the real chart on the page, and says what the number can and cannot tell you. The fourth guide is about what the numbers cannot see: how the boot should feel on your foot.
They are written by the people who fit boots for a living. At Surefoot every fitting starts with a 3D scan of both feet, and the shell is chosen on your foot from more than 100 models across every major brand. A custom orthotic and a foam-injected Surefoot liner are options at any fitting, never a requirement. The guides are there so you walk in knowing what the numbers mean.
Ski boot flex
What the flex number on the cuff means, a flex chart by ability and weight for men, women and juniors, why a 120 in one brand is not a 120 in another, and how cold changes it. Read the flex guide.
Ski boot last width
What a last is, every major line from 96 to 104 mm in one brand-by-brand table, what LV, MV and HV really mean, why the width changes with size, and what the BSL number on a boot is. Read the last width guide.
Ski boot sizing
Nordica's published size chart for men, women and kids, US, UK and EU to mondopoint, a converter for a measured foot length, how to measure, the shell check, and why boot sole length is a different number. Read the sizing guide.
How should ski boots fit?
Toes, heel, forefoot, instep and calf, one at a time. How tight is right, how to tell snug from a problem, what the shell check examines, why a boot feels loose, what heel lift means, and where socks, footbeds and liners come in. Read the fit guide.
How to choose ski socks
Thin or thick, merino or cotton, one pair or two: what boot fitters recommend, how a ski sock should fit and be worn in the boot, sizing, and why feet get cold. Read the ski sock guide.
Choosing insoles for ski boots
Compare stock footbeds, pre-molded ski insoles and custom orthotics. Learn how arch shape and thickness work with the shell, liner and socks. Read the ski boot insole guide →
Fitted in store
Bring the questions, we bring the scan
Pick a store, pick a time. A fitting with a custom liner and orthotic takes a little over an hour, and the boots go home with you the same day.
Questions
Which guide should I read first?
Start with sizing if you have never been fitted, because length is the number that eliminates the most boots. Read the last width guide next, since width is where most bad fits go wrong. Flex comes last, because it is the one number a fitter can only settle with your foot in the boot on the shop floor. The fit guide ties the three together on the foot. The guides are short, and the three chart guides each have the actual chart on the page rather than a link to one.
Do I need to know my numbers before a fitting?
No. A Surefoot fitting starts with a 3D scan of both feet, which gives your fitter length, width and arch height in millimeters, so the shell is chosen from your own scan rather than from a chart. The guides are there so the conversation makes sense when it happens, and so you can read a spec sheet or a review and know what it is claiming.
Do you sell ski boots online?
No. A ski boot shell has to be chosen on your foot, and that happens in a store. Every boot on this site is fitted in person at one of our 29 locations, where the scan, the shell choice and any custom work happen in the same visit, and the boots go home with you the same day. The guides and the brand pages are here to help you decide what to try, not to add to a cart.
Keep browsing
Ski boot guides
Ski boot sizing
Nordica's chart for men, women and kids, a converter, and the shell check.
Ski boot guides
How should ski boots fit?
Toes, heel, forefoot, instep and calf, and what a fitter checks.
Ski boot guides
Ski boot last width
Every line from 96 to 104 mm, brand by brand.