Scarpa sizing

[dschane]

Did Scarpa change its sizing chart, the actual sizes of its boots, or am I having an ongoing, Monday morning brain fart? It looks like when Scarpa merged its two charts for different shoe types, it changed the sizing. For example, a MP 28.5 on the old ski boot chart is a U.S. Men's 11.5. On the new, merged chart, it's a 10.5 (which I personally think is more accurate).

Two chart sizing:

http://www.scarpa.com/DownloadPdf?dataResourceId=700115

One chart sizing (I think this is more recent):

http://www.scarpa.com/DownloadPdf;jsessionid=F89D9793E29B0F0A4E939AF5FD178219.jvm1?dataResourceId=SIZE_CHART

[jasonq]

not sure, but i can say that the UK sizes on the two chart link appear wrong. I know that the 25.5/26 scarpa shell is a 7 shell, and that scarpa makes the shells in UK sizes. The two chart version has the 25.5/26.0 shell as UK 8. All of my way to large collection of scarpas are 26/UK7 shell marks.

[whitehonky]

Does it really matter what random number the boot/shell gets in Euro, US, or other sizing formats? All that matters is mondo as it's a measurement of your foot length. So as long as you guide yourself by actual length, you only need MP and can/should disregard all other sizing formulas.

[Danno]

I have no idea why/what changed, and of course WH is right, but I disagree with the OP's statement that the newer single chart is more accurate. I am generally a US 10, in some shoes a 9.5 and in others a 10.5, but basically a 10. And I am about a 26.5-27 mondo. In Scarpa, that is one shell, in Garmont the 26-26.5 shell was a better choice (though it was on the "performance fit" side of things and the 27-27.5 shell could have worked as a "comfort fit"). No way is a 28.5 Scarpa on par with a 10.5 US (ie, I think that second chart is wrong and anyone buying boots mail order and following it, without getting a shell fit, will be very unhappy)

[cesare]

There is no way a 28.5 (which is also a 29) is a US 10.5. I am US 10.5 and ski in a 26.5/27 Scarpa boot. I had a 27.5 and it was too big.

Oh, what Danno said. And check out the last sentence under the second chart you posted. Even that seems wrong. I have fit hundreds of people in Scarpa ski boots and the only way I could imagine putting someone whose foot measures 27 in a 29 boot would be if their foot was so high volume that is the only way they can even get their foot into the boot. And then I would be telling them the boots are too long but their foot is so high volume they are just going to have to live with that.

Scarpa mondo sizing is pretty true to measured size. If your foot measures 27, you are a 27.

[NoPin]

My foot measures 27 cm, thus mondo size 27. I wear a size US 9 running shoe. A bit of googling various manufactures boot-sizing charts, most show modo 27 to be US 9. Since I have a somewhat low-volume foot and Scarpa boot shells break on the half-size (i.e. 26.5 and 27 are the same shell) I got the 26.5 boots (which are 27 shell-length). A few years ago I let a 'boot fitter' talk me into a 'performance fit' size 26 boot and ended up losing both big toe nails that winter due to toe bang. Misery.

When I'm touring, I spent 80% of my time walking up, so I want comfort... after all, when skiing soft snow in the backcountry why would you want/need a performance fit?

Most importantly, don't let a boot fitter or anyone else tell you what size you need. Measure your foot by putting your heel against a wall, then have someone else mark the floor at the end of your big toe. Now, measure the distance from the wall to the mark using a metric ruler. Use that as a starting point. Then try on different boots until you find one that you feel fits comfortably.

[jasonq]

WH, i agree with you in the ideal case. But when you are buying used boots off of ebay/craigslit where the sellers is not exactly clear on what size they are, or they are older pre mondo scarpas, etc it is really handy to ask the to take the liners out, look on the boot shell, not the tongue or cuff, and there should be a number followed by SX or DX molded in the plastic near the ankle. I also have a chart of the BSL of all the F08 and before scarpa boots too, and ask sellers to measure that too, just be be sure. maybe i am overly anal, or overly cheap in my boot hoarding obsession. My wife would say both.

Several times that stopped me from buying boots where the seller was messing up UK and US sizes or plain didn't know what size the boot was.

But assuming a modern boot, with the mondo size actually marked/known, yes, for nearly everyone, mondo and shell break will get you to the right size.

[polemonium]

FWIW: I wear a size 12 running shoe, my foot is just under 29 cm long, and I wear a size 29 Scarpa ski boot. This is consistent with what Danno and Cesare say. It is not necessarily consistent with Scarpa's labeling, for ex I have a pair of Lasers with a sticker that says mondo 28.5, US 10.5 (same shell as 29).

[dschane]

So apparently my 28.5 boots are too big for my 27.5 cm feet (just measured). Who knew -- I learned on a borrowed pair of 30.0 T2 boots and continued to use them for 3 or 4 years. I don't get blisters and my feet never get cold, so what me worry?! If size matters, I thought I mattered. Now it's just time to go home.

[NoPin]

So apparently my 28.5 boots are too big for my 27.5 cm feet (just myeasured). Who knew -- I learned on a borrowed pair of 30.0 T2 boots and continued to use them for 3 or 4 years.

Weird. If your feet are 27.5 cm and you wear a size 12 running shoe something's not right. Maybe you have super-high-volume feet?
I'd measure again.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Cesare and Danno must have weird feet, I were a U.S 9.5, on occasion 10 and my 27.5 Maestrale's fit just fine.

[cesare]

You can't go by what size running shoe you wear because there is so much variation in lasts. I wear size 12 La Sportiva running shoes because they run really small and I like to size up running shoes for reasons that have nothing to do with ski boot fitting. But my foot measures exactly 27 cm and that is the size ski boot I wear. Sheik, with all due respect, a Maestrale is a very narrow and low volume last so for that boot to really fit your size 9.5/10 feet it would make sense if that description does not match your feet. And comparing a Maestrale fit to tele boot fit is not instructive because if you go that much bigger in a tele boot in which you actually make tele turns, the performance is going to suck in a way that is irrelevant to an AT boot.

I've been saying for years that many telemark skiers are in boots that are too big. In the years I was bootfitting at WildyX and all the years I have helped other people buy ski boots I've had countless customers who refuse to believe it and then they keep coming back repeatedly with more and more fitting problems because their feet are swimming in their boots. I'll say this stuff one more time and then I will just shut up at this point because I no longer work there and people are going to keep doing that no matter what anybody says. When you are standing up in ski boots your toes SHOULD TOUCH THE FRONT but when you flex the boot, they will pull off. If you are really size 12 in a 27.5/28 Scarpa, they will remain jammed against the front. And if you really are 9.5 and wearing that same 27.5/28 Scarpa they will never touch the front and that is too big unless that's the only way you can even get your foot into the boot. When you shell fit, if there is more than 1.5 cm behind your barefoot heel in the shell with your toes touching the front, the boot is too big unless your foot is very high volume. I am more convinced than ever that most of the people who can't get a decent fit in a boot are experiencing this because they insist on wearing boots that are too big.

[dschane]

Weird. If your feet are 27.5 cm and you wear a size 12 running shoe something's not right. Maybe you have super-high-volume feet?
I'd measure again.

Whoa, you're mixing forum members' feet. I measured my foot at 27.5 cm, and I wear a 10.5 running shoe (rarely an 11). Polemonium is a 12. I knew the 30.0 T2's were way too big, but I was just learning and was not about to drop any significant amount of change on the gear.

But, next time I need new boots, I'll try to find a pair of Scarpa 27.5 and 28.0 boots to compare.

[cesare]

They are identical. Ok, I'll shut up now.

[dschane]

They are identical. Ok, I'll shut up now.

Shells, true. But I'd still compare the liners, no? When I'm ready to upgrade and if I find myself somewhere where I have access to several sizes, why not compare liner fit?