Fischer’s new Vacuum technology might be the most innovative thing in boots since…well, plastic. Imagine a boot shell that is heat-molded to precisely fit the shape of your foot and lower leg. Fischer uses a new plastic that softens at particularly low heat. In the shop, the buyer dons his boots, inserts them into big bladder-lined galoshes and stands in the space-age Vaccum machine. The bladders are pumped full of air, which presses the heated plastic inward, molding it to the contours of the skier. Not only does the shell take the shape of the foot and lower leg; the boot also morphs to match the angles of the lower leg, allowing otherwise cant-dependent skiers to stand more balanced without the need for complicated sole-grinding. Does it ski well? Two testers went through the process and skied the boots on home turf. “We wondered if it would be dead-feeling or weak,” says Jim Schaffner. “But it was just the opposite. There’s something crisp and snappy about it. Each run just got better for me, and I haven’t gone back to my other boots.” Pictured: Soma Vacuum 130