by What goods or services do you provide? New ski boots, custom ski boot fitting, custom orthotics, and accessories.
What’s new or exciting at your place? We are expanding and growing. We’ve been extremely successful at our Golden location, and we are excited to grow our business to include the Vail Valley. We’re eager to establish ourselves (as we have in Golden) as Colorado’s premier custom ski boot fitting operation.
What strategy do you use to differentiate your business from your competition? We operate on an appointment-only basis, because we believe successful boot fitting happens one-on-one between the customer and their boot fitter. Taking the time to do a thorough analysis of each person’s unique needs makes all of the difference. Additionally, all of our staff go through extensive training, and we have over 60 years of shared experience among our boot fitters. This is not a part-time gig for us — we do this professionally and full-time.
What philosophy do you follow in dealing with your customers? What can your customers expect from you? You can expect a no-frills experience based on integrity and trust. Ski boots can be a “black box” to most customers, but we don’t employ smoke-and-mirror tactics. We give facts, guidance, and expectations necessary for our customers to make the decision that best fits their needs, in a non-pushy environment.
Tell us a little about your background, education and experience: I grew up skiing and have always loved it. I also grew up going to school … and never really loved it. I flunked out of college twice! All I ever wanted to do was ski. I pursued my passion in skiing and raced competitively for almost a decade. I fell into the world of ski racing partway through my racing stint. I really loved fitting boots and decided to sink my teeth into the trade. After years of training and experience I opened Boot Mechanics. I also teach ski boot fitting around the nation to other shops through Masterfit University.
What’s the most humorous thing that has happened at your business since you opened? There’s something worth laughing about almost every day at our shops. But everyone seems to get a kick out of the fact that I met my wife while helping fit her boots back in our beginning days in Vail.
