What do most skiers say when they arrive at the Start Haus for their boot appointment? "Hey man, where are your boots?" Oh, there are plenty of boots—they just aren't on display. The fact that there is no traditional boot wall in this race-focused bootfitting operation highlights the Start Haus philosophy that the boot-buying and bootfitting experience should be entirely athlete-based. Everything starts with an initial assessment of both the athlete's performance needs and a close evaluation of their foot, lower leg and biomechanical range of motion that determine which boots will be considered for try-on. According to owner/operator and board-certified pedorthist Jim Schaffner, what starts with a bit of trepidation quickly turns to full cooperation as the shoes and socks come off. "We're not about leading with specific products, instead we let the athlete's story dictate the direction we go," Schaffner said. All high-performance boot fitting services are available at Start Haus (which is known for its excellent ski tuning services as well) and their in-house stance alignment services are augmented by on-snow partnerships with ski teams and trainers like those found at affiliate North American Ski Training Center, run by former national PSIA demo team member Chris Fellows.
