How to Size Snowboard Boots

The aim of this article is help you to learn how to choose the right size snowboard boots so that you can get the right fit for you.

As mentioned in the tips at the bottom of this page, it’s a good idea, more than any other snowboard gear, to try boots on in person if you can.

Even if you do try on in person it’s important to understand the fit that you should be looking for – and sales staff aren’t always that clued on with what to look out for (and can’t feel your foot), particularly if you are in a generic sports store that isn’t snowboard specific.

Let’s look at the specific things to look out for and we’ll take a look at some sizing tables later on too. To fit your snowboard boots right you need:

• The right length
• Fit
• No/minimal pressure points
• Minimal heel lift
• The right width

To learn more about other things to look out for when choosing snowboard boots, including lacing system and flex, check out the link below.

>>How To Choose Snowboard Boots

The Right Length Boots

The right size snowboard boot is not always the same as your shoe size. It can be, but it’s not always going to be the case, so you can’t assume that it will be. And how you select the fit of your snowboard boot isn’t quite the same as you would select your shoe fit.

The importance of the right fit can’t be understated:

• Too small and tight and you could experience painful pressure points or numbing of your toes and this will often be enough to have you quit your day early or have an unpleasant time on the board.

• On the other hand, if your boots are too big, then you’ll likely get too much heel lift and your response time will lag, giving you less than optimal performance. Not only that but if your feet are moving around too much inside your boots, then you are more likely to get cramping and/or blisters.

Mondopoint

Every snowboard boot comes with a mondo-point, as well as traditional sizing from different countries (e.g. US10, UK9, JP30.0 etc).

The theory of mondopoint is this: that a boot was designed with a certain foot length in mind. For example, a boot with a mondopoint of 28.0 is designed for someone with a 28cm foot.

If this theory worked flawlessly, then this would be a very short article and boot sizing would be super easy!

As great as that would be, in reality it’s usually not that simple. Sometimes it works out that way, but it’s far from foolproof. In my own experience and from hundreds, if not thousands of people I’ve heard from through comments on the website, it’s not always the case.

To use myself as an example. I have:

• a 27.3cm left foot
• a 27.0cm right foot

In theory I should always fit a mondopoint of 27.5 – and my right foot should fit well in a 27.0. Or in US sizing, this would be US9.5 (27.5 mondo) or US9 (27,0 mondo) – see chart below for all sizing conversions.

I do sometimes fit right a 9.5, but for most brands I fit a 10 better. And can get away with a 10.

Snowboard Fit vs Shoe Fit

Depending on how your shoes fit, I find it’s most likely that you’ll either be your normal shoe size, 1/2 a size smaller or 1/2 a size larger for your snowboard boot.

And half a size makes a big difference in snowboard boots, so you can’t just rely entirely on your typical shoe size (or on mondopoint alone), though those things will give you a good indicator of roughly where you should be – they give you a good starting point for trying on.

Using your mondopoint, rather than shoe size, is what I would recommend for your starting point, before you start trying on.

Measuring your foot to get your mondopoint

To get your mondopoint, to give you a good starting point, you should measure your foot (you can do this at home, or more accurately using something like a Brannock device in your snowboard shop or shoe store). See below for how to do this at home.

Once you have measured your foot, compare it to the table below. Your foot length equals the mondopoint. The table below shows foot sizes in inches & centimetres and translates those into snowboard boot sizes for US Men’s, US Women’s, UK & Europe.

Measuring your feet at home

To measure the length of your feet, place your heel flat against a wall and measure along the floor from the wall to your longest toe (which isn’t always your big toe).

One way to do this is to put your foot on a piece of paper and make a mark at the end of your longest toe – and then take the measurement between the  mark and the edge of the paper. But still do this with your heel against a wall – and the piece of paper flat against the wall.

Just remember it won’t necessarily be right on, which is why you want to try your boots on first (there are a couple of methods for trying on as we’ll get to soon). Continue reading to see how your boot should feel on your foot, when you are trying on. 

Euro Boot Size

Conversions to Euro boot sizes can vary widely between brands. The Euro sizes in table above are a guideline only and are an average of the sizings in the table below. The table below shows how the different brands convert to European sizes, based on Mondo-print.

Snowboard Boot Fit

Now that you have your starting point for your snowboard boot size, we now need to get the fit right – and make adjustments on sizing, based on fit.

Long story short, when trying on snowboard boots, your toes should just brush the end of the boot.

You definitely don’t want your toes crushed or having to bend to fit in the boot but they should touch when you’re standing up straight.

They should ideally just brush the edge or have as small a gap as possible when you are standing up straight. As you bend your knees and lean forward, as if leaning into a toe side turn, your toes will come back slightly from the edge.

More details on how to know if the boots are a good length?

It can feel difficult to make the right choice when trying on boots, since they will pack out after you start riding in them. So, you need to make some kind of prediction about how much they will pack out.

For this reason, you want the boots to be feeling a little tighter than you’d think when you try them on. This allows pack out as you wear them/ride in them. But you don’t them so tight, to a point of having your toes or another are of your foot go numb, or have are any painful pressure points. If this is the case, then they are likely either too small or you’re in a particular brand or model that’s not well suited to your foot shape.

The goal of your try on session is to get boots that fit nice and snug, even to the point of being a little tight, but with a little wiggle room for your toes. A small pressure point that doesn’t really cause pain is OK, as if it’s very minimal. It’s likely to ease off once the liner molds to your feet.

Rule of Thumb (or should that be rule of toes!)

A good rule of thumb I like to use, for sizing for length, is that your toes, or at least one of them, are just brushing the end the boot. So that you can feel the end of the boot with your toes, but there’s not pressure or pain on them. That’s usually a good indicator that the length is good.

But if your toes are so tight to the end of the boot that they start to feel tingly or numb or you have to curl them up a little bit to feel comfortable, then the boot is likely too small, and you should 1/2 a size up to see how they feel.

Just because the length is right, is not to say that the boot will feel good everywhere on your feet/ankles, but now you know you’ve probably got the right size on.

Pressure Points/Discomfort

If the length seems right, but the boot is uncomfortable in other areas to a point of being painful or an issue for you, then it’s probably the wrong brand or model for your feet. This might be that your toes are too cramped width-wise, it might be that they’re too cramped on the tops of the toes or it could be that the boot is too tight on your instep or there’s a pressure point somewhere around your ankles.

There are a variety of foot shapes out there, so one foot in a snowboard boot may have no pressure points but take that same boot and put it on another foot and there could be pressure points or other issues.

So never go with a boot just because your friend said it was a great boot – their foot may well be different to yours.

This is also why you should try several boots before you buy to get it right.

Heel lift

In terms of heel lift, there should be as little heel lift as possible.

To test this, stand with your boots firmly done up. Exactly how you would have them when riding. And stand in your snowboarding stance. Bend slightly at the knees as you would if you were riding and lean up onto your toes (as you would during a toe side turn).

If as you do this your heels lift up too much inside the boot then those boots aren’t a good fit. It’s important that you don’t try to rip your heel up – just lean up onto your toes naturally.

It’s likely that there will be some heel lift – but try to keep that heel lift to 1cm (1/3 inch) or less. You’ll have to try and imagine this, but you should be able to roughly feel how much heel lift there is. And you’ll be able to compare this between the different boots you try.

Having trouble with Heel Lift?

If you have problems with too much heel lift, also check out our article on how to fix heel lift.

Width

For the most part width is only an issue if you have wider than average feet. But some brands have wider and narrower feels to them.

If you know or suspect you have wide feet then there are special wide boots that some brands do and some brands just have wider than normal toe boxes too.

>>More on Wide Snowboard Boots Here

Brands/Models

Each brand tends to fit a little differently and some brands are likely to fit your feet better than others.

It’s also true that one size in one brand might be the perfect fit for you, whereas in another brand that same size might be too big or too small. It’s usually within half a size, but half a size makes a big difference. E.g. in brand A, the 10 fits you best but in brand B you fit better in the 9.5.

For me personally I find that some brands fit me best in 9.5 and some in 10. I can even get away with a 10.5 in some brands. For more on how different brands fit me personally, check out our article on Boot Fit by Brand.

Be willing to try on various brands of snowboard boot. It might be the case that one particular brand matches your feet really well. It may be the case that one particular brand is a poor match to your feet. So, in some brands, it won’t matter which size you wear, they may still not be optimal/comfortable for your feet.

Some Tips before Buying

The best way to really know how well a boot fits is to try them on before buying. It’s hard to know which boots will fit you best in terms of heel lift and pressure points if you don’t actually try them on.

If it’s all possible I strongly suggest going into a store to try on your boots before you buy. Even if you are buying online – which is sometimes easier and there are more options – you should try on in store first to make sure you get the right fit and then go back online. There is another way you can try on before you buy, which I’ll explain below, but going in store means you have access to try on a range of sizes and brands at once.

If you can’t find the particular model you want in a local store, but they have that brand, then try something on in that brand. The fit of different models within the same brands is usually similar.

What if There Aren’t any Stores in my area or None of them have the Boot I want?

Ideally you will be able to try on in-store. If not, then the process will be a little more difficult and take longer, but you can still pick a good boot ordering online.

If you need to order online, if you have the means, then it’s a good idea to order 2-3 sizes of the boot you want. Then when they arrive try them on, following the guidelines in this post, and keep the pair that fits best. Then return the boots that don’t fit. Of course, you’ll need to make sure of the stores return policy before you do this, to make sure it’s a possibility.

If you’re going in completely blind and have no idea how different brands fit your feet, then selecting 2-3 brands of boots is also a good idea. Of course this can end up meaning ordering several boots before finding the right one, which is why finding a store is the much easier option, but it’s still possible to do it this way.

If you can’t afford to order more than one pair at a time, then try to follow these guidelines as closely as possible and try to buy your boots well in advance of needing to use them. If they don’t fit right, then you can send them back and have something else sent out (or a different size if that’s the issue). Again, making sure of your stores return policy.

In my opinion snowboards, bindings and outerwear can all be bought without actually physically encountering the product – so long as you do your research but boots are the one thing that I highly recommend you try on physically first.

Summary

Trying on in store is the go-to method. It’s just easier and gives you a wider range of boots to choose and therefore a better chance of picking the best boot for you. But there are other methods when buying online, as outlined above.

Remember though, even if you can try on in store, it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get the right choice, if you don’t go in armed with some knowledge. Firstly, the salesperson can’t feel what your foot feels like in the boot. Only you can do that. And secondly, in my experience, there’s a wide range of expertise with salespeople. Some are highly experienced and knowledgeable and can be a great ally in matching you with both the right type of boot and the right fitting boot. But that’s not always going to be the case.

So, even if you’re able to get into a store to try on, you still want to be armed with the knowledge to help you pick the best size and the best boot for you.

Here’s a summary of the key points.

• Measure your foot and go for a boot that has a mondopoint the same as your foot size (in cm or mm) – see the table above for conversions in inches, and shoe sizes.
• Your toes should just brush the edge of the boot (but shouldn’t have to bend at all or be under pressure or be painful)
• The fit should be snug but not painful, it should be tighter than you think though as the boot will pack out a bit
• Watch out for pressure points particularly on the top of the foot, around and the ankles and on the sides of your toes
• Make sure heel lift is minimal. As a rule of thumb no more than 1cm (1/3 inch)
• If you have wide feet you might want to try some wide foot specific boots
• Try different brands. Different brands fit differently and your foot type may be better suited to some brands.

Over to You…..

Hopefully you are now armed with better knowledge about how to choose the right sized snowboard boots.

Some other articles that might also help (as mentioned above):

>>Boot Fit by Brand

>>Wide Snowboard Boots for Wide Feet

>>How to Fix Heel Lift