Ski Boot Size Chart

A US men's 10 is a mondo 28, and a US women's 10 is a mondo 27. That is where Lange, Nordica and Tecnica all put it. Treat it as a starting point rather than an answer, because the boot is built around your foot length in centimeters, not around your shoe size. Measure both feet against a wall and use the longer one. If that comes out at 27.6 cm, you are a 28 whatever your shoes say.

Close, but not identical. Mondopoint is the length of your bare foot in centimeters, measured from the back of the heel to the end of the longest toe under the ISO 9407 standard. Shoe sizes marked in centimeters usually include some extra room inside the shoe. A ski boot shell is sized to the foot itself, which is why a 26.5 boot feels far shorter than a 26.5 cm sneaker. Measure the foot, not the shoe.

They run tighter rather than smaller. Nordica publishes two mondo sizes for every US size, a standard fit and a performance fit, and they are a full US size apart. A US men's 8.5 is a 26.5 standard or a 25.5 performance. The shorter shell holds the foot closer to the plastic, which is what a strong skier wants, and it is less forgiving about everything else. Which one is right for you is a fitting decision, not a chart decision.

Snug everywhere, with your toes brushing the front when you stand tall and pulling back off it when you flex forward. The check a fitter does is the shell fit. The liner comes out, you stand in the bare shell, slide your foot to the front, and the gap behind your heel is measured. Published guidance runs from one to two fingers, roughly 15 to 20 millimeters, and it tightens for stronger skiers. Your heel should stay down and your foot should not press the sides.

Because two mondo sizes share the same shell. A 26 and a 26.5 are the same piece of plastic with a different liner inside it, so brands usually list only one of the two. Our catalog runs 22.5, 23.5, 24.5 and up for that reason. It also means the half size is settled by what goes inside the shell, which is a decision better made on your foot than on a chart.

The same system, the same numbers. Junior boots run from about 17.5 up to 26.5, measured as foot length in centimeters. Do not size up to buy an extra season, because a boot a child cannot reach the front of is a boot they cannot steer. Buy the length that fits now. If they outgrow it within two years of purchase, bring the boots back for a 50 percent credit toward the next pair.

On US sizes, no. From mondo 24 up, Lange, Nordica and Tecnica publish the same conversions, so a 26.5 is a men's 8.5 and a women's 9.5 in all three. The EU column is where they part company. Lange calls a 26.5 an EU 41 and Nordica calls it an EU 41 to 42, and that offset holds across the range. Retailer-made charts drift further, sometimes by a full size, so read the brand's own.

You can, and it will get you the right row on the chart. A tape measure gives you one number, which is length. A scan gives your fitter length, width and arch in millimeters for both feet, which is what actually decides between two shells that are both the right length. Measure at home to know roughly where you sit, then get the shell chosen on your foot in a store.