Buckle right: Lightly clasp the top two buckles, and then undo the top buckle. Flex the boot, driving your heel into the pocket. Now buckle from the top down.

• Boot-fitting sessions take 90 minutes to 2 hours, so plan accordingly. There are 26 bones, 36 muscles, 56 ligaments and 10,000 nerve endings in your feet that need to be accommodated.
• Because foot length can increase by as much as a full size when arches collapse under body weight, a trained fitter measures your feet when you're seated and when you're standing. He'll then select a few models that work for your foot shape.
• Take the liner out of the boot and step into the shell. You want about five-eighths to three-quarters of an inch of space behind your heel when your toes just touch the front. That way, when the liner packs out, the shell still will support your foot.
• Put a different boot model on each foot and plan to spend at least 15 minutes in them. The ball of your foot should sit flat and snug. Same with your heel. As your foot warms up the boot, the liner will begin to mold to your foot. The boots should feel better after this time, not worse.
• New boots should feel snug - not painful or so restrictive as to cut off circulation - but uniformly snug with no severe pressure points. Your toes should touch the end of the boot when you stand up straight, but when you stand up, your toes should pull back slightly.
• If the boot is fine everywhere except for one place, like the ball of your foot or the bottom of your calf, a fitter can tweak the fit by grinding, stretching or cutting the shell.
• Unfortunately, there's no industry norm when it comes to boot flex, so a 120-flex Lange doesn't bend like a 120-flex Salomon. To make matters worse, boots are about 20 percent softer in a warm store, so it's hard to get a feel for how they'll ski. Your best bet? Buy stiff boots and soften them if you must by having your boot fitter cut the lower cuff. It's easy to soften a stiff boot, but it's tough to stiffen a soft boot.
• An alignment - in simple terms, adjusting the boot to better line up the ankles with the knees and hipbones for a natural athletic stance - could be the final step in any comprehensive boot fit. But don't even think of tweaking the canting or upper cuff without heat-molded custom insoles.