At Lou’s We Are Dedicated To Helping Skiers Have A Better Experience Every Day.

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We know it’s nearly impossible to have a bad day on skis, but we also know one of the few things that can ruin a day on the slopes is the wrong equipment and set up.

At Lou’s, we specialize in customizing your gear specifically to fit you using our knowledge of biomechanics and modern pressure and balance-measuring tools. We only sell the best equipment available – we will work closely with you to properly set everything up and exceed your expectations.

At Lou’s, our goal is to help you ski better than you ever have before.

Lou's Services

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Custom Ski Boot Fitting

At Lou’s we believe skiing can be made easier and more enjoyable when equipment is set up for the unique anatomy, alignment and movement of each specific skier, rather than using “one size fits all” factory settings. We offer a variety of alignment and boot fitting services and products in addition, of course, to expert ski and boot advice. Our experience has been gained from research and extensive work with race coaches, instructors and athletes as well as feedback from each customer. Each of these services alone or together act to make dynamic balance on skis easier and movement patterns more natural.

Boot Punching & Grinding

We do all typical punching and grinding modifications, but use modifications for balance, performance and alignment improvements as well as all day comfort, (see Tech Articles section for more information).

Foot Beds

Lou’s sells Conformable direct mold custom foot beds. These foot beds are directly molded to each foot during full weight bearing. This method eliminates the painful problem of a too high and firm arch that is often found in non-weight bearing foot beds.

Conformable foot beds provide functional full contact foot support that improve proprioceptive reactions which aid in balance. This feel and improved reaction is further enhanced by correct trimming that permits the foot bed to fit in the boot without support from the boot. This provides a foot bed that moves naturally with the foot during turning rather than fighting natural foot movement and function.

Boot Lifters & Stance

Boot ramp, binding ramp and forward lean angle have a dramatic effect on skier stance. The correct angle permits a strong, solid position with minimal muscle activation. Often, skiers whom fatigue easily or experience knee and back pain while skiing are using equipment with too much ramp angle. Contrary to popular belief, increased ramp angle causes many people to ski in the back seat, which leads to over-used quads, sore knees, lower back pain and, especially in bumps and steeps, difficulty in maintaining balance and control. We assess stance and have many tools to adjust boot and binding angles.

If you are a racer be assured we have the necessary tools to make certain your boots still meet FIS regulations.

Balancing

The Campbell Balancer is used to determine each skiers unique dynamic balance point. Once determined, bindings are positioned in relation to the center of the ski running surface to duplicate the skiers balanced position from the balancer. Research completed by Lou for Nordica has shown balancer results are repeatable and all skiers in the research preferred the balanced position versus the factory position. Experience gained from balancing skiers over the last seven seasons has shown the balanced position results in easier more relaxed skiing, better control and balance and at the same time quicker ski response (see In The Back Seat and other articles in the technical section).

Customer Reviews

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What a tremendously helpful place this is. Brett was super knowledgeable and knew just what to do about fitting my ski boots around a bunion. I found out it’s more painful to ski in oversized boots to accommodate a bunion than to fit them properly and push out a custom space. They’re incredibly professional in the abilities they have to make your equipment fit you properly. Lou is also absolutely integral to his shop and they have one of a kind equipment to stress test your skis and bindings. Thanks Lou!

Mike Chartrand Avatar Mike Chartrand
January 20, 2019

I recently purchased a pair of Head Raptor B3 ski boots from Lou’s. It is important to recognize the difference between a boot seller and a boot fitter. A seller just sells you a boot; a fitter gets you in the CORRECT boot and then tunes the fit for your unique foot shape. Big difference. Lou is a boot fitter. Very few boots, if correctly sized, will fit your foot out of the box. Lou took the time to look at and measure my feet and get me in a boot that met my requirements. They took some punching and grinding but the result was a high performance but comfortable fit. Yes, you can have both. Highly recommended. While picking up my Raptors, I mentioned to Lou that I was looking for a Masters GS ski and had heard great things about the Head WC Rebels i.Speed Pro. Lou did not have them in stock but said he would contact the Head rep. Within days Head shipped the skis, Lou mounted the bindings and they were ready for a late spring trip to Mammoth CA. Fantastic service from Lou and Head. Oh yea, the i.Speeds absolutely rip, one of the best skis I’ve ever been on. Thanks Lou!

Chris Miller Avatar Chris Miller
July 2, 2019

Perfectly honest with you, Lou seems to be a miracle worker. I don’t think in my 20+years of skiing, I have ever had boots that I hadn’t wanted to tear off my feet at the start, during and end of every run. So far so good on these bad boys, can’t wait to take them up the hill and try them oot! Thanks again Lou!

Hannah Findlay Avatar Hannah Findlay
October 22, 2019