I can't snowboard because..... my heels are too narrow???!!!??

            Previously, I’d mentioned that I had issues with my new snowboarding gear. It turns out that my heels are narrow. After spending about two hours working on this problem with me, the incredibly patient and helpful Tim at Sports Chalet Mission Valley found me a pair of boots that worked like a charm. Well, once he inserted a magic combo of shims, and lifts, and glued them in place, the boots worked like a charm. We adjusted my bindings, strapped these new bad boys onto my board, and WALA- the board actually responded to me. The problem, it turns out, was that my heels were lifting out of my boots. Although my boots were technically the right size, my heel is apparently too narrow for most boots. After countless, and I REALLY mean countless, combinations of boots in three different sizes, shims, inserts, and whatever else poor Tim could think of, we solved the problem. Now the board actually lifts when I shift my weight.

            I didn’t have my receipt, I bought the boots over Labor Day, and I’d used them and Sports Chalet still did a simple boot swap for me. They can look up anything you’ve purchased if you use your Action Pass (their equivalent of a Ralphs Card) and they don’t make an issue out of it at all. This probably sounds like an advertisement, but it seems like I so rarely receive good customer service that I can’t help but sing their praises. Tim and Sports Chalet may have saved the season, and an element of the B.L.L. for me.