I had a mission to test some 2013 Volkl skis and Boot Doc liners, just another day in the office. My friends Rob and Glen had agreed to make the sacrifice of booking off work to help me test new skis…. The drive was smooth as we hit Montreal with “Circulation Fluide” and a smile when the Border guard asked when the last time was that I had been to Jay (35 years ago). I can say that they have done an amazing job, even making snow last week, to ensure great Skiing for the Easter weekend. The upper part of the hill had dry cold snow mid winter conditions, and at the bottom the sun had softened things but it wasn’t sloppy. I’ll make sure to get there again next season. The ski testing was very revealing and all the skis survived without even a nick….

 I have to say how impressed I am with my Boot Doc Soft Foam liners as even in the warm temperatures my boots held me securely without need to adjust the buckles all day( Plus I was the Sherpa hiking back to the car to switch our test skis).

 We had our first run at 9am and skied right untill noon when we planned to stop for a lunch break once we drove over to the other lift and lodge as the connecting snow was thin…. turned out the cafeteria was closed so we opted  to ski right through…. at this point I had tested the new products and settled on a 184cm Full rocker ski to use for the balance of the day….. It was the stiffest and most work of all my test skis but at 5’10″ and 194lbs I decided to put myself to the test. After a few runs I could hear the voice of my ski sensei reminding me of the technique and body position he wanted me to use. The more I skied the more I was able to bring my shoulders closer to my chest and displace my skis laterally.  By 2 pm my friends were exhausted and went to the Pathfinder to relax and sit in the sun but insisted that I should keep skiing as I hadn’t gotten in many days this season… It was an unbelievable feeling basking in the sun, blasting down a steep continuous pitch run after run…. with last run looming, I had a perfect run, with every turn in balance and skis arcing beautifully right to the bottom! Truly a great finish to the season.

 While Mother Nature started late and ended early I’m already looking forward to next season. To all my ski friends and clients start planning now to join me  for a great ski season next year.

Cheers

Frank

Here is a photo of us at Owls and my  “BOOT HISTORY” called “Evolution to Heavenly Feet” 

Boot History! – “Evolution to Heavenly Feet” 

As a coach and instructor I am in my ski boots for over 200 hrs a year!  -  Comfort is required! 

My boot experience in the Ottawa area started very miserably, this was due to going to the wrong store for new boots after my boots came to a timely death of overuse. This store while claiming to be fitting experts were unable to form and fit the new boots to my feet correctly.  After eight hours of fitting they had over punched, damaged and now concaved my boots which resulted in crushing pain on both arches of my feet.

 I needed to fix this ASAP!  

I was referred to Dinardo’s by a long time Ottawa area Racing Coach and decided to pay a visit to see if they could help me with my boot issues. 

Some work was attempted to reclaim the memory of the shell to reduce the pressure, which enabled me to get through a family ski vacation at Le Massiff, however the boots were past saving and new boots would be required 

I returned to Frank with a mission to get boots that would provide comfort and performance and work with me and not against me with my personal ski development.

WINTER 2008/2009 – Comfortable feet in boots from Dinardo’s 

• ·         Our first visit no. 1 was to decide what boot I required.  Franks direct approach had me quickly into a comfortable and high performance boot by Tecnica called the “Dragon”.   
• ·         Our next visit no.2 was customising my Kork “Superfeet” footbeds and marking out our first set of pressure points with a wax pencil
  • o        http://dinardoskis.com/products/custom-footbeds/   
• ·         Our next visits no. 3 was to put on the boots after being punched out and had to keep them on for ninety minutes to determine if more punching was required.  Then the real test. 
• ·         I took the boots to the hill and put them to use for a weekend and after 20 hours of skiing during night and days we determined we needed more work to be done
• ·         Our next visit no. 4 was the final touches on some other pressure points and one adjustment to an existing one
• ·         Took the boots back out for night skiing and came back before the weekend to confirm all was good 

I now had “Pain Free” feet and comfort in my Tecnica boots from Dinardo’s for the entire winter of 2008/2009 season.  I had never felt such comfort in my life and never new, I could ski without pain. 

Winter 2009/2011 – Out from the cold 

This season turned cold several times and having suffered one training day with frostbite on my toes I went back to Dinardos for assistance to prevent future issues with my toes. 

Frank immediately provided a “THERM-IC” heating system solution.  The boys at Dinardos installed the THERM-IC heating system in my Kork Superfeet and reinstalled them in my boots. A few weeknights later at Fortune and night skiing at -18 and a wind chill factor of -23 and skiing over 2.5 hours, I never felt the cold that I would normally have felt in minutes without the heating system.  Amazing, I could now add more hours to my yearly mileage on skis by no longer being concerned of pain when skiing on cold nights. 

Winter 2010/2011 – Heavenly Feet 

Now I thought I was at my ultimate level of comfort with my boots and heating system.  I was naive, as I soon learned about “Comformable Transfoam Performance Liners” for my existing boots.·         http://dinardoskis.com/product/pu-transfoam-liners/  

These liners were the “Piece des Resistance” to my experience and boot fitting evolution.  The visit was under two hours at Dinardos, (shorter than my drive from Montreal) the boys had me slip on the liners and stand in my skiing stance while they injected the foam into the liners that moulded to my entire foot , I now had a “Glove Like Fit” for my boot experience. 

I then headed off to use them at Lake Louise while working the World Cup event there, and this season at Owls Head and Jay Peak. In every condition and weather my boots were flawless and I didn’t feel any cold or pain. 

Thank you Frank and the Dinardo’s Team  for a wonderful experience and transition to “Heavenly Feet” 

PS Thanks to Adam for the “awesome tune” on my Volkls!  

Regards,

Eric B

Just a quick email to say I made it back from Austria safe and sound (this past Sun) and the RTM 80s were nothing short of amazing! We skied the Amade Region – 28 ski hills – 800 km of runs – 276 lifts, lots of snow and all accessible with 1 multi day lift pass. We skied 8 hills over 6 days. I terms of vertical feet all hills were between 3000 and 4600. Lots of snow and we got 2 powder days — see pictures of my buddy. The RTMs performed very well in the fresh stuff. Anyway, was fun!

Let me know when the store will be ready for bike tune-ups. I never did bring in my bike (KHS 300) for the free tune-up after I purchased it from you guys last spring. I’m thinking I would like to make an upgrade to my bike for this season and a new pair of wheels would be a good upgrade. Can you recommend something?

Cheers Jeff

ps. back to reality this Saturday — Calabogie Peaks

My family and I have been dealing with Dinardo’s ski shop for a number of years.

Last season, we went away from them and tried another local/larger ski shop; only to return to once again to experience the world class service we had come to enjoy with Dinardo’s

At Dinardo’s we were able to try a number of skis, at an on hill test and this was never offered or even spoken of at any of the other shops.

My family and I were able to acquire the type of skis that best suited our level of expertise and continue to enjoy the Dinardo world class experience.

When my bride decided to take up skiing this year,(again), Frank Dinardo, himself, spent over three hours, boot, ski and suit fitting until everything was just perfect.

But anyone reading this should not take my word for it… go and try it for yourself.

From

LBW the satisfied skier

Angie and I wanted to let you know how much we are enjoying our new skis and boots this season. Angie has never had the fit of boot that you have created for her and is now enjoying direct edge control like never before. My new custom foam (Black Project ) boots are unbelievable for both comfort and skiing control. You have helped us both take our skiing to new levels.

Great store and great people!

Cheers,

Rick and Angie Snedden

January 2012

Hats off to the area and operators as the snow quality and coverage were superb…. the new trails have added extra variety to what we’ve become accustomed to at MSM…. Plus the new southern exposure run, down to Ryansville rd had enough coverage for cautious skiing on your old skis. Bob Suderman was chatting about the run afterwards and indicated that a ski instructor would lead a group of skiers, sent at intervals to the shuttle pickup point followed by a ski patrol… stay tuned for all the details.

Cheers

 Frank