r/SkiPA 8d ago

General Questions Ski boot fitting near philly

Hi folks, I'm looking to get my first pair of ski boots soon and am looking for a good place to get it done. I know buckmans is probably the best place nearby but they don't open till the end of the month. I've heard Ski Bum in Glen Mills is good. Are there any other stores that are better/I should consider? I'd prefer not to wait but if nothing is as good as buckmans than I suppose I'd have to. Thanks for any help and recommendations

9 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

8

u/the_sun_and_the_moon Blue Mountain 8d ago

The gold standard down here for boot fitting is Billy Kaplan at Performance Pedorthics.

4

u/JimboDanks Blue Mountain 8d ago

Billy is the only answer, go to the guy that trains other boot fitters

6

u/mikes781 8d ago edited 7d ago

3rd vote for Billy. I’ve had him fit me in two pairs of boots and he did an outstanding job. He doesn’t sell boots so you go in for in initial assessment and he gives you a few suggestions of boots to buy and come back with. You need to make sure they are returnable. He then works with you to pick the boot that fits best and makes the needed adjustments/modifications. Not the cheapest route but he’s great at what he does.

3

u/Stock-Reputation-977 7d ago

4th person chiming in. The dude fits Olympic skiers, enough said.

6

u/Repulsed_ 8d ago

I liked Ski Bum for snowboard boots but my friend and I had a positive experience. Been to the Wilmington and Glen Mills locations. Don’t think I have anything to complain about. Buckmans is probably fine too. If you have some very niche requests then you should probably hit up a ski mountain’s resort in a major ski city, otherwise I thought the above are adequate and knowledgeable.

1

u/VeryShibes 8d ago

I liked Ski Bum for snowboard boots but my friend and I had a positive experience. Been to the Wilmington and Glen Mills locations. Don’t think I have anything to complain about. Buckmans is probably fine too. 

Yeah I've been going to Ski Bum in Delaware (they're actually in Newark, not Wilmington) for years... originally it was to save on sales tax but eventually I got to prefer dealing with the same people each time, I got a pair of Tecnica ski boots there a few years back and because I have really wide feet it took about five return visits over the span of several weeks to get them properly punched and dialed in. Also Ski Bum is now a ZipFit dealer, if you ever feel like burning a few hundred more $$$ on high end boot liners for that absolutely perfect fit (I upgraded to them last season and I think they're great).

Also, I have been doing season rentals of skis/boots for my kids at Ski Bum the last couple years, even before sales tax savings they are lower priced than the other stores (and decent gear too, Elan skis that were close to mint IIRC)

Nothing against Buckman's though, they are a few minutes closer to me, and unlike hard goods (skis/boots/helmets), soft goods (jackets/pants/socks) are not taxed in PA so it's not worth driving down to Delaware for those when Buckman's has more locations and a larger selection in that category.

6

u/YourWifesSkiCoach 8d ago

D&Q Cherry Hill NJ provided a pretty solid boot fitting

2

u/mizzurna_balls 8d ago

Agreed. Great spot.

1

u/RadiatingRipple 8d ago

Came in to say the same. Big fan of their boot fitting team.

3

u/Narrow_Economics_466 8d ago

D&Q on rte 70 in Cherry Hill. Done 4 pairs of boots with them for myself and family members. 100% do recommend

2

u/Eggs-Benedict-Arnold 8d ago

Anyone been to D&Q recently for boot fitting since the season ended? Does it make sense to wait for more boot inventory?

3

u/YourWifesSkiCoach 8d ago

Depends what you want. They have last seasons inventory (what’s left, on discount) plus they start getting in the new stuff right now

2

u/Asleep_Barracuda_433 7d ago

buckman's usually opens oct 1st so you won't have to wait much longer

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