On Rue des Moulins in Chamonix is another link in the Irish ski network – FallLine Bootfitting, run by young Irishman Johnny Conroy.

With business partner Kai Palkeinen, Conroy has a strong business customising ski boots to fit people properly. It sounds basic, but as Conroy says: ‘‘A rented boot might be easy to get into and out of, but does it give much control or performance? No.”

Conroy, who has been in Chamonix for more than five years, saw a niche for someone who could create specially moulded footbeds for ski boots. He compares the footbed of a boot to the foundation of a house – if it is not properly built, the structure of your skiing will never be right.

FallLine’s customers are people who have bought their own boots and want to get the best performance out of them. He and Palkeinen take detailed measurements of a customer’s foot and create a silicon mould using specialised equipment.

About 70 per cent of the customers are British or Irish, 25 per cent are Scandinavian and 5 per cent are French, according to Conroy. He says people – particularly irregular skiers – complain that their boots are too tight, without realising that ski boots are not built for comfort. “It’s tighter than a shoe, but it’s not a shoe – it’s a piece of equipment,” he said. “A boot that is too big is a lost cause.”

Conroy reckons that 80 per cent of people are wearing boots that are too big. The reason? ‘‘They are easy to sell and they are easy to buy. In urban areas, no one comes back into a shop with ski boots. Here, we don’t sell a pair of boots without expecting to see them again.”

In an experiment with our group, Conroy finds one person wearing boots at least two sizes too big. They were bought in Ireland after ‘expert’ advice from a shop assistant in an outdoor equipment shop.

So what are his options? Conroy thinks for a while, then says: ‘‘eBay.”

E-mail: info@falllinebootfitting.com