The complete Boot fitting and Alignment experience.

                                 This is not your grandfather's boot fitting experience

"If you don't get your boots set up to maximize your movement ability, you'll be making the same old turns again this season."

Ski and leg angles created with a relaxed body and great balance are the goals.

Harb Ski Systems over the last 26 years has evolved the foot fitting and leg alignment process to the complete, most refined procedure with proven, exceptional results. Are we better than what others try to do? No, we just do alignment and fitting differently.  We are the only ones in the ski industry using a system of measuring and developing skiing movements that can be matched to boot enhancement. 

Cuff alignment must be properly established before sole angles are determined.

Harb Ski Company President, Harald Harb as a National and International level ski coach started boot alignment in 1979. This led him and his professional staff to integrate skiing movements with boot alignment. Based on the skier's ability to achieve the correct angles, Harb Ski Systems developed a repeatable, proven process resulting in preferred optimized outcomes for any kind of leg structure. 

No two legs, ankles or feet are the same. The alignment system must be able to address all the different variations.

The term "Boot Fitting" is misleading and may vary dramatically from one quote "Expert" boot fitter to another. Boot fitters by-enlarge aren't on the slopes to see their results. This is another area where Harb Ski Systems specializes. 95 percent of all skiers coming through the alignment and fitting process at Harb Ski Systems have been evaluated and fine tuned on snow while skiing. The Evolution of the Harb Alignment process is strongly based on a skiers ability to improve their movements.

Harald says, "I knew for the beginning that the end result came from the need of refined skiing movements. Without a repeatable systematic indoor measuring process and a fool proof on-snow confirmation, evaluated by the same people who are doing the indoor measurements, you are shooting in the dark."

Two totally different sets of legs require totally different set ups.

This skier has a poor set up. For this to work the cuffs need extra adjustment range. We have the adjustment hardware fabricated and we retrofit them to the boots, to accommodate many different leg shapes.

How do we know this? With the Harb Ski Systems process, the coach is the alignment specialist. The coach on the hill makes the determination as to what alignment would help racers or recreational skiers create the movements most needed for success. Harb ski Systems used ski racing as the test bed because there is no guessing with racers. The clock doesn't lie. This process helped many racers ascend to result levels they had never achieved prior to using Harb Skier Alignment methods.

Question: Do you want your alignment and fitting done by a shop guy who has never seen you ski and doesn't know what you need, or buy a coach with experience coaching and developing World Cup skiers?

The process:

The shop evaluation, and work on the boots takes 1.5-3 hours, depending on how much needs to be done. The alignment assessment takes ~20 minutes. If we need to make custom footbeds, that takes ~40 minutes. 

Adjusting the boot cuffs can be a few minutes or up to an hour (if we need to retrofit a lot of hardware to get more range of travel). Under-boot alignment takes ~30 minutes. 

When making an appointment, please let us know the make, size and model of your boots so that we have an idea of what modifications are possible.

Skiing with a new Hip.

This is a photo from my 3rd day on snow with a new hip

                                4th day on snow left hip is new.

As with a new knee you never know what is going to happen on snow. You have to do your best to set up the boots with the new joint because the geometry is all changed. The hip stem angle is different and the stem length increases by 4mm. Doesn't sound like much but with all the muscles traumatized from surgery and not really firing it's a real adventure out there.

My first day out was at 7.5 weeks, the next at 8.5 and the last photos in red pants 10 weeks out.

      4 days after the above photos, below are the ones from today, November 25.

                       Still doing some fine tuning on my cuffs.

My boot tuning is almost set. Without the proper set-up I would not be able to tip the skis to these angles. Without our precise alignment system in play, I'd be fighting my own body and my skis. Now after skiing 3 days, it's a matter of only a few slight adjustments with the cuff, maybe 1/8 of a turn on the adjustments. The left replacement hip and right knee replacement are feeling almost completely normal, but I am not putting the full load on it yet.