Larry "The Boot Guy" makes perfect boot fit

For any athlete, it is important to stay healthy and uninjured both on and off season. With 26 bones, 36 muscles and over 10 thousand nerve endings in each foot, it is vital for athletes to take care of their feet. In the sport of skiing, the feet are the only part of the body that is attached to equipment. Considering this, nobody wants to have an uncomfortable ski boot while out on the slopes.

So Larry Houchen took the matter into his own hands and became an expert in ski boots. He said, “No two feet are alike, so you can’t dress them alike.”

Larry, or more commonly known as “Larry the Boot Guy,” has been in the ski boot business for almost 30 years and opened his own shop called Larry’s Boot Fittings that focuses on making your boot uniquely fit your foot.

Although Larry customizes over 4,700 pairs of boots on average season, he said he never gets tired of his job, “There is never a morning that I wake up and do not want to come to work.” The customized ski boots that Larry structures in his shop helps create comfort, support and stability while out on the slopes.

Larry the Boot Guy is well known around the Boulder area and is commonly recommended by many athletes, recreational and instructional skiers. For Jenny Dean, and an avid Boulder skier, there is no other guy she would rather go to, “After going to Larry… (Jenny can you fill this quote in? It’s the one I used in the story. thanks!)

When fitting a boot, Larry begins by making sure that the boot is the right size. According to him, this is one of the most important elements to having a snug fitting boot. From there, he looks into the flex of the boot and how much a person plans on skiing that season.

“Boot fitting is Mr. Rodger’s physics, it follows one simple theory: for every action there is an equal opposite reaction. So for everything that you do inside of a boot, you affect the foot in a different place or you affect the leg in a different place. You try to balance things out when you make an adjustment inside the boot you wanna make sure you’re not over adjusting another area, ” said Larry.

After studying topics in anatomy, kinesiology and orthopedic medicines for over 30 years now, he has developed a keen understanding of how the foot works and how it needs to be accommodated in a ski boot. Still today, Larry stays in touch with many orthopedic doctors in the area to continue his learning journey and improve his skills.

Not only does Larry benefit his customers with good fitting ski boots, but he also benefits his co-workers by acting as a role model to help them learn the business.
“He’s [Larry] a great teacher, he’s very patient and he’s pretty easy going,” according to co-worker Heather VanGilder.

VanGilder has been an outdoor enthusiast her entire life and said that working with Larry this last season has truly been a great joy. She claims that he is always teaching her and other co-workers something new.

Not only Boulder skiers but also current Olympians competing in Vancouver have used Larry’s book fitting services. Although Larry cannot reveal names, he says “I won a medal in this Olympics, a bronze, with an athlete that I have worked with. And I have worked with three gold medalists over the years and a lot of silver and bronze medalists.”

Larry the Boot Guy truly cares about his customers and their satisfaction in ski boots. With Larry’s passion for work, skiing and his customers, he makes sure that any boot you take out onto the slopes is truly a customized work of art.

To find out more about Larry’s Boot Fittings or to schedule an appointment, visit his website at http://larrybootfitting.com/.