Epic Mountain Gear — Local services in Lone Tree

TL,DR SUMMARY: I am an experienced skier, had miserable ski boot fitting from EMG, was led to believe toenails falling off was part of 'breaking-in process', was lied to about return policy of other stores (WHO ACTUALLY LET YOU RETURN BOOTS IF THEY WERE MISFIT!), other stores put us in boots that instantly fixed the problems of the boots EMG put us in and feel perfectly safe on extreme terrain. BUYER BEWARE of overly confident salesman claims of EMG staff, my partner and I collectively lost $800 on misfit boots, we will not shop here again!

EDIT: Shortly after I posted this, was contacted by store and was made a generous offer to return my partner's misfit boots. We did not have this expectation and very much appreciated the gesture and the fact that they took our criticisms seriously. Thank you.

DETAILS: This negative review is solely based on ski boot fitting - have bought otherwise quality gear. I HAVE NEVER LEFT A STORE REVIEW BEFORE, but, sadly, both my partner and I, on repeated occasions, had very negative experiences that were instantly fixed by going to another nearby store with more knowledgeable staff who listened, so I felt compelled to leave a review. Looking at other reviews for this store, we are unfortunately not alone, but that plenty of folks have had good boot fittings, so problem might be limited to a handful of sales staff.

My primary complaint is not that we were put in ill-fitting boots - while annoying, mistakes happen. My PRIMARY complaint was their arrogance and inability to listen to the very real problems I said I had with my boots, and my partner with hers. I now know that, fundamentally, the boots I were put in were way too narrow, and no amount of tweaking could fix that ( can't remove enough from liner). But over and over again, from separate staff, we were told that 'ski boots come with a level of discomfort', that the staff knew what they were doing, and that all our problems could be fixed! But, in trusting them, I had boots that ripped off my toenails two seasons in a row before I called it quits.

I ski hard, but from what I have learned from the other shops, the boots EMG sold me were even too small for a 'racing fit' where you just slide into your boots for a half hour or so to race slalom, then immediately take them off , in total only skiing for an hour or two- while some small customer subset may be doing this, it is absolutely not how I (and I believe probably the majority of folks) are planning to ski! And some very simple questioning on their part could have determined this, if the salesman had not simply been trying to ram through a sale as quick as possible. Very much regret not doubting what they were saying about what I 'wanted' and about my own comfort levels. The boot-wearer will ALWAYS know more about their own level of discomfort! Good fitting boots that can perform at an extreme level should not be draining all circulation from your feet! Boots can feel very different in a warm store versus 2 hours in the cold, and they need to be honest about that- the other store we went too allows return up to a year! Which had I known, I never would have bought from EMG!

Additionally, simple checks that other stores gave us (checking for hotpots in initial fitting, testing space between heel and back end of boot, and even basic discussion of tradeoffs of boot stiffness) were either completely missing or quite lacking in our boot fitting. Trust a local shop who actually cares about your experience instead.

In conclusion, I hope this review encourages EMG to be more honest with their own boot-fitting abilities, to CONSIDER CHANGING/lengthening return window on boots that are hard to get right, and to train bootfitters to an acceptable standard, so that no one has to go through this terrible experience again...

My wife and I both went through a boot fitting last year, spent ~$1500 on two pairs of new boots, and had a miserable outcome which had both of us reconsidering if we even wanted to keep skiing. The boots they sized for my wife were so unbelievable tight that her big toe nail fell off after 3 half-days on the mountain. Fortunately when we brought them back last year they up-sized the boot and she's having a better experience.

I've been trying to 'break in' my boots both on the mountain and around the house but my first time out this year I was in too much pain to do more than a single run. I was having a lot of pain on the top of my foot which caused numbness, cramps and spasms of my foot and toes while on the lift.

As the final part of the fitting they upsold us some $50 Sidas shoe insoles which they installed but never had us test out wearing. I just now realized that they sold me high arch insoles (I don't have high arches) and the increased foot lift from these insoles is what was crushing my ankle into the top of the boot causing all of the pain.

On the mountain yesterday I ripped out the insoles, felt a million times better and finally got to have some fun skiing again after a wasted season last year. Sadly they trashed the OEM insoles and now I've got to go hunting for something to put into the boot and trash the ones they upsold me on.

The boot fitter we had was a very experienced skier who later mentioned he had hammer toes from how tight he wore his boots. Not the the type of misery I like when I ski. Buyer beware, trust your instinct on fitting (i.e. they won't 'break in' as much as you think they will) and don't get upsold on the inserts without re-wearing them for the same amount of time you initially tried...

WOW! WOW! WOW! What a great experience we had shopping here!

It all started when we called over to find a specific size in some Burton blue Bibs that the Aurora Epic store did not have. The phone service was great, and Lone Tree found my size. We left Aurora after felling misled and not getting good customer service, and made our way to Lone Tree.

We came for Snow Bibs, Snow Jackets, Bindings, Gloves and some other accessories (and even stuff we didn’t know we needed). The apparel selection at Lone Tree was fantastic! They even have a huge sale and clearance section upstairs. We weren’t there for boards or skis, but they definitely had the best selection we’ve seen. The layout of the store was so nice and organized, and felt big and open. We love the mask policy, and felt safe to shop.

We were greeted by friendly people at the front, and then the Star of the show came out on the floor to help us, Judy! Judy was that sales person that knew just how to be with people. She was personable, informative, funny and so so so helpful. She hung with us, but never made us felt pushed or crowded. She was there finding sizes, and options based on what we wanted. She took us all over the store based on every little need. She helped us think of things we didn’t think of… like trying on the jacket with the gloves, to make sure we were sealed up from the snow. After having such a negative experience at the Aurora store, we are beyond grateful we made our way to the Lone Tree store.

We left with everything we came for, and more!

If you’re in need of any snowboarding or ski apparel or gear, this is the place, and Judy...