Thanks for this one Elliott! I've been hitting up their team with no luck as well. Can't wrap my head around a $600 liner unless it's guaranteed to last longer than two seasons. I don't mind my stock liners. I usually pack out a liner in a season and with some j-bars I can get two seasons out of a liner. A boot shell only lasts me about 2-3 years anyways before I wreck them. Buying a new boot with a new liner might continue to be the most affordable strategy for me.  Excited to hear your thoughts on the durability of the cork a few years down the line.

I got on ZipFits at the end of last season, and I'd give a similarly glowing recommendation. My boots now fit significantly better—they're more responsive and far more comfortable. Before ZipFits, I often had to unbuckle my boots after skiing 3,000+ vertical feet in a single run or when skiing with slower groups, especially early in the season. That’s no longer the case. Going through a full ski day without foot pain has been a game-changer.

I’d also push back on the idea that ZipFits are only worth it if you ski a certain number of days per year. Right now, I live near the mountains and expect to get around 50 days in this season. But I’ve also lived far from skiing, getting 15 days per year through 3–4 trips. In that situation, every ski day feels more valuable. I'd often ski bell-to-bell from 9 AM to 4 PM, which made comfort and fit even more important. They also could last 10-20 years for that skier, making the cost per use relatively inexpensive.

I break down my skiing life into two eras. Pre-zipfit and Post-zipfit. I also found them to be life-changing. Here's a couple things to know: they will take longer to break in than you think, and they will likely take more cork than you think. But, once you get them right, they will be the best ski related purchase you've ever made.

RIP Sven Coomer. Inventor of the modern plastic ski boots, custom Superfeet insoles ... and maybe best boot liner ever in Zipfit? Legend.

as a 50+ days a year skier, zipfits have been by far my best ski purchase ever.

I love my Zipfits! I only ski 15-20 days a year but since my time is limited, I go hard and ski the whole day with only bathroom breaks. The more I ski the better I feel. plus they are supposed to last, so if I get a new boot, these will follow. And my surefoot foot beds fit perfectly!

Thanks for watching everyone! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

"Just trying to get my hands on this product."

'Ok, our store's right there.' 🤣

I instruct and ski 6 days/week and have over 200 days in my Gara HVs so far. My initial fit wasn't too difficult and I don't mind the extra two minutes it takes to get them on. I think that many bootfitters that sell them will give you a discount with their services.  I believe they're an outstanding value over the long haul.

The crazy thing about ZipFit is that they've been on the market for 37 years (since 1989) but only really broke out after Sven Coomer turned the business over to people who actually knew how to market them.

I was first exposed to ZipFit in Mammoth. Sven founded Footloose there back in the day, and I had some boot work done by Corty Lawrence, who was basically Sven's protege. At the time I was into plug boots with injected-foam liners, and the Corsa 92 didn't exist, so I didn't really give ZipFits a second thought. While that might have been the right move at the time I'm bummed that I didn't reconsider once I was out of racing. I suffered through stuff that didn't work as well for like 20 years until I finally popped a pair of Gara LVs into my Raptor 140's.

It's a day and night difference in terms of stability and control IMO.

I got the gara HV this season. I have big feet and skinny ankles and finding ski boots that accommodate both has always been tough. With the ZipFits my ankles are completely locked in and my feet are happy. I bought them at a ski shop and the Bootfitter spent almost an hour with me getting them dialed in, so break in was quick for me. I’d say there’s another piece of the cost calculus- the more pain/ trouble with boots you have, the more that ZipFits are worth it- even if fewer ski days.

I picked up a pair of purple GFT ZipFits mid-season (Jan 2025).  I've put about 20 days of skiing onto them since.  They definitely are not a panacea, so they are getting overhyped in my opinion, but they are a quality product and do offer comfort, fit, and performance in a single package.  Elliot's Rickety review is fair.   They haven't solved completely the pain problem I was having when evaluating my problem foot, but have improved my un-injured other foot which is better overall, but it's a subtle improvement in degrees and not in "kind".  Consistent with Elliot recognizing the last 10% of your day is better now.

Importantly they did allow me to ski days I could not have if I hadn't bought them IMO.  Just my reality didn't match my expectations (or the initial in-store "fit") after the custom zip molding.  As is normal with ski boots, on-hill skiing brings up problems not found at the store.  I will still need to be buying a new pair of boots regardless.  At this point I wish I had just started with that step first (getting new boots) you can't bring a dead-horse back to life basically.

My Path/Recommendation:
I've done 4 series of boot punches, at my local store, on my two shells (in each of 2 pairs, matching punch for punch, so 8 total) since installing Zipfit GFTs and I'm now getting closer to a complete solution but in one of my existing boots it's on the 10th season and is exceeding 500 days and my other pair has only 50+ days. So I put the cart before the dead-horse (liners = cart, shells = horse).   That's just two spots hitting them twice each, going further the second time.

I'd recommend start with new boots, before adding liners if your boots are very old and/or aren't fitting great to begin with (my low mileage alternate pair).  Also do it early in a season before any foot pain crops up.

Can confirm:
*Pros:  Solved shin pain I had accepted for years (on right foot, never had that pain on left but both shins are comfier at the end of the day now with GFTs),  Restored/Reversed the packed-out liner problem (vs. the 480+ days on stock liner) as expected, Fit is better overall (but is also different, so other issues have cropped up now i.e. entry difficulties). Re-moldability & build quality of ZipFit is noticeably better.  Handles my sweaty feet problem better, my toes stay warmer longer, I attribute this to the merino wool toe cap both wicking better and the low-volume neoprene fore-foot allowing more air volume to act as a better insulator.  Locked-in feel at ankle and shin provides/restores/unlocks boot's power transmission.
   
*Cons: Did not solve my ankle bone pain completely, (left foot only) fitting them takes time (budget for 3-4 instore sessions) and can't solve problems from the shell itself. Getting into them is difficult, I had to adopt the World Cup method immediately (liners on first, then step into shell). Price is very high (I got them -25% off as customer returned them after 2-days to the ski shop, so I got them "lightly used").  They don't come with a footbed at that price it seems like a miss...like how much can it cost in materials, gotta be like a few $ only (at scale).  Takes about 4 full ski-days to "break-in fully" even-after an in-store heat-molding session.  My days are longer than some, 4500-6000+ vertical meters (15,000-20,000ft+) skiing Kicking Horse BC, so could take longer for other skiers before you unlock fully their fit after initial break-in.  True the bulk of the shape is fit in a "zip" thru a single heating session and the liner's cork flows quickly around your foot, however the complete system definitely has a break-in period for the other elements in the liner and the "dynamic redistribution" the cork goes thru while skiing.  Those materials are more substantial over OEM liners, so they must necessarily have a break-in, to the shell and to your foot.  Hence logically it helps the longevity of the liner (claimed), but if your injury is acute, it will not solve it instantly (though it might feel that way in the store).  

Core reason for my purchase:  After a burly day of many bootpack hikes, something had shifted in my oldest boots (daily driver Freeride boots), and I developped excrutiating ankle pain on the left interior ankle bone/knuckle.  Prior to that day the boots were fully dialed and the fit was "good", I had in-excess of 480 days on those boots with stock liners...yes they were packed-out, but still skiing "well", buckles were deep into the range but not fully maxed out.  With hindsight I should have recognized the slight lack of protection, due to the extreme-packing out, that I was now exposing my ankle to injury and slowly a "bone bruise" was developping bit by bit.  That big day just blew the lid off a nascente problem.  So I'll be more vigilant in the future on replacing high-mileage boots, even if my fit is dialed.  

Learnings: I now have a baseline of what a good boot feels like, and how ZipFits can make them slightly better (when a shell is aged), and what it feels like to go too long into the odometer of a boot, and also how they might not make a poor fitting shell better by itself.   Moving my GFTs between two different shells has not been seemless.  It's possible that if you have two shells (say a resort boot and a walk/tour boot) you may not be able to share the ZipFit liner between them perfectly.  If you can select the correct volume of ZipFit for a shell, you will likely get to a better fit sooner for your foot.  But your next boot may not be seamlessly compatible with your existing ZipFit Liner.  My next test is buying a new boot based around the GFT from the get go...

Great review Elliot. I ski in British Columbia and usually get 50 plus days a season. I have a narrow foot and bone spurs on  both heels with boney ankles. I was almost ready to give up on skiing a few years ago because of foot pain until I decided to give Zipfit Gara LV a try. It changed everything for me, comfort and performance unmatched. I did add a little cork to problem areas after 12  & 24 days of using, very easy to do, and since then I've had over a hundred days on them. By the way before these I had all kinds of shell and liner modifications by bootfitters with minor results. Highly recommend for anyone that skis a lot of days or is having boot pain. For me it was well worth the money. Also you will get many more days of skiing in theses liners compared to stock liners so you have to add that into the cost.

Kudos to Elliot for being honest, genuine and balanced.

Shell to shell is something I've just done very successfully - admittedly from a 98mm Salomon X-max 130 to a 98 Nordica pro Machine 120 - these boots had an identical width and very similar foot plan and profile. I had shin blisters due to shin bang from previous loose boots . I tried shin gels plasters ( 2 brands) and other Liners but eventually I tried the Zips . I have the lowest volume Gara WC and they were a initially a real squeeze to buckle the boot up.
But they've been fantastic ever since - ski in them all day and they still fit like a glove at end of day. They will not overcome a bad fitting shell though.
I strongly suggest putting the liner on first, lacing up, then sliding foot with liner on into the shell - it's so easy that way.
Also I strongly suggest airing the liner and keeping it's leather polished for easy in and out of shell with the lowest friction possible. Make sure the shell internals are smooth - plastic shells often have internal rough areas ( or protruding screw threads)  that will scratch and actually cut your shin or the liner surface - smooth these down, make flush the screw ends or place tape in recesses to protect the liner or your hand skin. Please care for the liner and it will last for years and years.

Zip Fits are without a doubt the best money I ever spent on ski gear!  Nice review!

Hey Eliot, been watching for a while and really appreciate your reviews, they have been really helpful for getting my kit together this season! If I could give you one tip for your videos, it would be to not vent about the brands you are trying to work with (at least to the camera) unless you have some real, specific beef. It's not fun to listen to (Unless you want to actually go for it and start putting DMs on the screen) and really just sounds like you're complaining about not getting free Zipfits. Keep up the great reviews!

Food grade silicon for liner in boot. Makes it so easy. Spray a couple spurts in the shell and liner slides right in.

My local mountain is big on zipfit. The local boot fitter loves them and as a consequence there are dozens of people using them.  Some, for over 7-8 seasons.  I took 3 seasons talking to everyone till I pulled the triggger.  I was always skeptical about the hassle of putting the boots on.  Anyway, I went for it.   Breaking in was a dog.  I'd say 10days.  After that, its been probably the best ski investment I've ever done.  I ski around 70/80 days a season.  Just finished 3 seasons with them.  They look like new.  No signs of them getting worn out.  I highly recommend.  And after a few days, putting them on becomes second nature.  No more than 2mins penalty vs a normal boot.

I got a pair of these this season because my stock liners were nearing the end of their life but I'd agree with pretty much everything in this review. People should priorities a good boot fit and good footbeds before considering this product and they're definitely for people who ski 20+ days a season but considering it's common for these liners to get hundreds of days on them these are definitely a buy one cry once item for people looking for a comfortable yet responsive liner.

You mentioned it in your review but I would like to re-iterate since I struggle with it but these liners take an eternity to "break in" and you may have to play around with adding or removing cork. It took me about 15 days and removing a little bit of cork around the ankles since I have large ankles to get mine to feel comfortable but once I got them to that point they are the most comfortable ski boot fit I've ever had and the responsiveness of the ski in turns and jumps is unmatched. I'd highly recommend these for a high mileage skiier.

Also the Gara's have a higher back plate that acts as a built in spoiler vs the model you got.