dave-dodge-and-bill-doble

The Dodge Story

Little has changed since 1959 when plastics engineer Bob Lange ingeniously used plastic to revolutionize ski boot construction and spelled the end of leather ski boots.  Sure, boot makers have tried many different approaches such as rear-entry boots and mid-entry boots; boots with many buckles and no buckles; boots with extreme flexibility and no flexibility; boots with heights ranging from ankle to knee; and many more experiments.

But, after 60 years, today’s modern ski boot is little changed from those found on the feet of `60’s ski stars like Jean Claude Killy and Karl Schranz. And, the performance of boots used by World Cup racers and Alpine touring enthusiasts falls woefully short of the performance delivered by modern skis and bindings.

The Dodge Founders

Dodge Ski Boots was founded on a simple, yet bold idea: Make the best ski boot possible.

As longtime ski racers, Dave Dodge and Bill Doble experienced first-hand many of skiing’s innovations and been frustrated that today’s boot technology hasn’t kept pace with ski and binding technology.

So, in early 2009 when “the stars aligned,” Dodge Ski Boots was born, giving them the opportunity to follow their passion, their gut and their experience, without compromise. A good friend and mentor of their’s said early on that they should concentrate on making the best boot possible and “don’t be fashion.” So you won’t see Dodge with glitzy ads or colors or anything else. We just concentrate on the boot. The Best Boot Possible.

For over 15 years DODGE Ski Boots have been on the feet of all levels of skiers, from World Cup racers to International Masters racer champions to recreational skiers looking for the optimal combination of comfort and performance to beginning skiers who wanted to advance to higher levels.  One thing that they all told us:  “I’ve never skied better than when I am in my DODGE Boots!”

We sold directly to our customers rather than through traditional stores to ensure we could provide the best possible fit and service at the best possible price. While we started out trying to do what the rest of the industry does, (selling to retailers and relying on them to, hopefully, have the right boot and fit it properly) we found too often that the traditional “two-step” distribution fell far short of providing our skiers with the best possible experience we demanded.

We needed to deal directly with our customers to ensure we could give them the best boot possible.

So, we developed our industry exclusive 3D Fitting System that uses a smartphone to scan the feet and create a 3D model that we use to custom fit every pair of DODGE Ski Boots. And, with the information we get directly from the skier, we are able to select the correct length and width shell, the best liner size and volume, the correct flex and other information to make the DODGE Boot truly custom fit for each skier.

And, we provide each skier with easy-to-follow instruction so they can actually fine tune the boot, right in their living room, for forward lean and lateral alignment (canting) to ensure their boots are dialed in for optimal performance.

And it works!

Most DODGE Boot customers are repeat customers, telling us they will never ski in any other boot.

We’ve had a number of major ski boot companies show interest in the DODGE Boot technology, fitting system, performance and manufacturing advantages. But, we’ve learned that too many of them are so entrenched in their current method of manufacture and sales that they are not willing to do anything different from what they’ve done for 60 years!

While we still hope someone with the ability to think outside the box will come along and take what we’ve done to the next level, we can’t wait forever. (We want to spend time with our families.)

So, it is with a heavy heart that we are closing the doors.

Thank you to all the members of the DODGE Ski Boot family (our loyal customers). We have truly cherished our experiences with you.