Staff

Jeffrey Rich, a practicing Pedorthist since 1982 who received Board Certification in 1993, owns the New York City-based U.S. Orthotic Center, a leader in advanced fitting techniques and orthotic and footbed manufacturing. He has served numerous world-class athletes including Carlos Beltran of the NY Mets, Stephon Marbury of the Boston Celtics, tennis players Ivan Lendl and Monica Seles, Olympic ice skater Michelle Kwan and Olympic skiing gold medalist Debbie Armstrong. He has been co-director of Ski and Ski Press magazines’ boot-testing programs and has written extensively about ski boots and fitting issues. Rich has also written for Biomechanics magazine and has lectured for the Professional Footwear Association and the PSIA.

Mark Elling, a Board Certified Pedorthist since 2005, is an accomplished outdoor and snowsports expert. He heads curriculum development and operations for Masterfit University. He is the author of The All-Mountain Skier: The Way to Expert Skiing, 2nd ed. (McGraw-Hill), a regular contributor and editorial review board member to 32 Degrees, the trade journal for the PSIA and recently served as Northwest Correspondent for Skinet.com the website for Ski and Skiing magazines. Elling has been a product tester for Ski, Skiing, Ski Press, and Snow Action magazines and is a level III certified PSIA instructor. He is based in Oregon where during the winter months he works as the head bootfitter at Mount Bachelor Ski & Sport and owner of Mercury Mobile Performance, a custom footbed and bootfitting service.

Bob Gleasonis co-owner of The Boot Doctors, specialty boot fitting shops in Telluride, Colo. and Taos, N.M. He has lectured extensively about boot fitting and created training programs for several major ski boot manufacturers. He has also designed ski boots and made custom footbeds for many top-level ski racers, mogul skiers, and big mountain “extreme” skiers. Mr. Gleason is a boot tester for SKI magazine. He has written numerous articles about boot fitting for various ski industry publications. Gleason conducts seminars in “boot balancing” for the PSIA Rocky Mountain division and has been an instructor with Masterfit University since 1994. He is co-creator of the program’s Backcountry Connection curriculum with Bob Egeland. He received his pedorthic training at Northwestern University.

Greg Hoffmann, a Board Certified Pedorthist since 1993, is the founder of the Vail, CO-based Ski Boot Fitting, Inc. which he now operates as a joint venture with Vail Sports in two unique locations: a full service retail location in Lionshead Village and also a mountain-top boot lab, the Skier Enhancement Center at Vail’s summit. Both locations manufacturer custom orthotics and provide bootfitting and stance balancing services to skiers. Mr. Hoffmann has worked with the PSIA’s National and Eastern Demonstration Teams on fitting boots, manufacturing orthotics and stance balancing. He has written about ski boots and fitting issues for Ski Press and Ski magazinesas well as for Skiing Trade News. He has lectured on boot fitting and stance issues for the Professional Ski Instructors of America, the Eastern Ski Journalists Assn., the New England Ski Areas Assn. and Ski Areas of New York among others.

Jack Rafferty has been a practicing Pedorthist since 1980. He attended Ball State University and is accredited through The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society and The American Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Society. Mr. Rafferty has been an instructor at Masterfit University for 14 years. He has lectured at the Aspen Sports Medicine Institute and written for Active Living magazine and Colorado Bowhunting magazine. He developed and currently fabricates orthotic supports for the Orthopedic Associates of Aspen and Glenwood Springs as well as the Roaring Fork Family Physicians group. He is founder and owner of the Thotics Inc. slopeside custom boot fitting in Snowmass Village, CO. Rafferty has worked with top professional athletes fabricating orthotics and modifying footwear for tennis champion Martina Navratilova, U.S. Olympic cycling gold medalist Alexi Grewal and PGA golfer Chris DiMarco.

Jim Schaffner, is a Board Certified Pedorthist and co-owner of The Start Haus, a high-end specialty ski shop specializing in custom boot fitting and alignment in Truckee, CA. He was a nationally ranked amateur and professional ski racer, a World Cup ski racing service technician, manager of Salomon’s North American Racing and Promotions Department and consultant for the race departments of several ski manufacturers. Mr. Schaffner has served as boot product tester for Ski and Ski Press magazines as well as independently for several manufacturers.

Nick Blaylock has a rich practical background in skiing as well as a formal education. He graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington’s acclaimed ski industry program in 2000. Starting in the winter of 2009 Mr. Blaylock will serve as director of boot fitting and stance alignment services at Mount Snow Custom Boot Works at Mount Snow Resort, VT. Previously he has served as head bootfitter with Green Mountain Orthotics Lab at Stratton, VT and for Ski Boot Fitting, Inc. in Vail, CO. He has lectured on stance analysis and bootfitting and conducted on-hill clinics for the PSIA Eastern and Rocky Mountain divisions. Mr. Blaylock has been certified as a Level III alpine instructor with PSIA and as a Level II coach with the USSCA. He has been teaching bootfitting with Masterfit University since 2001 and is co-creator of the Associate’s Plus workshops.

Charlie Bradley is an outdoor enthusiast who spends his winter skiing at Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico. He is the head bootfitter at The Boot Doctors in Taos Ski Valley where he has worked since 1992. He has assisted with the PSIA Rocky Mountain division’s stance balance workshops. As a graduate of the Professional Feldenkrais Training Program in Santa Fe, Bradley has extensive knowledge of functional skeletal movement. He has been an instructor with Masterfit University since 2000 and is co-creator of the Associate’s Plus workshops.

Bob Egeland is a Board Certified Pedorthist with extensive experience in footwear sales, retailer fit training and product design. He spent 25 years with a major hiking boot manufacturer before training as a C.Ped and subsequently launching his own private orthotics practice and Fit to You retail employee training seminars. He is currently a senior instructor with Masterfit University and is co-creator of the program’s Backcountry Connection curriculum with Bob Gleason. He is also the national sales manager, the medical sales representative and Rocky Mountain/Snowsports rep for Masterfit Enterprises products. An avid Telemark skier, hiker, mountain biker and fly fisherman, he lives and works in Niwot, CO.

James “Willy” Wilbur has been a Board Certified Pedorthist since 2003. He is manager of one of the tri-state New York area’s premier ski and cycle shops, Ski Barn in Paramus, NJ. He has been providing his knowledge of bootfitting, biomechanics and custom insole fabrication since 1990. He also competes at a semi—professional level in mountain biking races.

Bill Haight has been a Board Certified Pedorthist since 1999 and is the owner/operator of Green Mountain Orthotic Lab in Stratton, VT. Haight began his career in the ski industry in 1988 and has lectured for and provided on-hill clinics for the Eastern Division of PSIA. He has been a boot tester for Ski Press magazine and has been a Masterfit University instructor since 2004.

Craig Steadman is the owner of Alpine Edge in Queensland, Australia. He previously managed all boot fitting services for Snow Biz where he had worked for 22 years. Steadman is lead-instructor for Masterfit University Australia and has conducted Masterfit University seminars in partnership with Masterfit across Australia since 2002. Steadman has also worked many seasons in the United States as head bootfitter for The Boot Doctors in Telluride, Colo. since 2000.

Pat Sullivan is a graduate of the Spokane Falls Prosthetics and Orthotics program in Spokane, WA and is the owner of Alpine Pro Performance, a custom bootfitting and footbed lab based in Post Falls, ID. Mr. Sullivan has served as lead bootfitter at Mountain Gear, a specialty outdoor retailer in Spokane, WA, for 4 years after spending 6 seasons bootfitting at Mt. Bachelor Ski Sport in Bend, OR. Sullivan has been a Masterfit University instructor since 2003 and received his pedorthic training at the Robert M. Palmer Institute of Biomechanics in Elwood, Indiana.

Nicko Ferguson is Masterfit’s snowboard boot specialist. He learned to snowboard in the mid-90s at the world’s first indoor slope, Mt. Thebarton in South Australia—which he describes as “an ice rink on a hill.” For the past 15 years he has worked in snowboard shops as a fitter, buyer and manager bouncing between the North and South hemispheres in year-round winter mode. He is the snowboard manager and buyer at Boot Doctors in Telluride, CO where he has spent winters since 2003. He is a pioneer in custom fit techniques for snowboard boots and is constantly experimenting with new strategies to make snowboarding more fun and more comfortable for the masses.

James Choularton is head of Masterfit’s European education and distribution operations. A British citizen raised in New England, James has spent 23 years working in ski shops and was head bootfitter, boot department manager and buyer for Outdoor Traders in Greenwich, CT when he returned to England in 2004. Back in the UK, he established Outdoor Traders in Abingdon, Oxfordshire as a premier ski and bike shop. James has a comprehensive knowledge of stance alignment, custom footbed fabrication techniques and the art of custom ski bootfitting. He has taught the Masterfit curriculum in private training sessions in Europe since 2009.

Gerhard P. Reiter is the Associate Director of Masterfit University EU, the ski,snowboarding and alpine touring boot fit training centers. He edited and supervised translation of the MFU Boot Tech Bible German edition and will be assisting in conducting Masterfit University European sessions. Mr. Reiter is a graduate of the two-year ski program at the University of Innsbruck. He received his national certification in 1982 and has taught extensively in both Austria and the United States. He was the founder and director of the ski school “Ski Fever” in St. Michael, Austria from 1989 to 1993. He subsequently moved to the United States where he taught extensively at Stratton Mountain in Vermont. For the past 15 years, Mr. Reiter has concentrated his energies in the retail areas of sports equipment, specializing in the boot fitting industry. He completed studies at both the State University of Oklahoma in Tulsa, and the New York College of Podiatry and is recognized as an expert pedorthist.

Janine “J9” Winter is the Bootfit Manager at The BootDoctors Oak Street store in Telluride, CO. She has been fitting boots at the BootDoctors since 2003. She began her career in the ski industry in her native UK at the age of 16 as a part time ski instructor at her local ski slope. She went on to work for tour operator Ski France for three years which gave her the opportunity to explore a lot of the French Alps. She began her career in bootfitting with four seasons at Brown’s Ski Shop, Queenstown, New Zealand. She also worked one season in Australia for Snowbiz at their Gold Coast location. She has tested boots for Ski and Skiing Magazines and became an adjunct instructor with Masterfit University Instructor in 2012. Janine also achieved certified Sport’s Massage Therapist status in the UK in 2007.