About us - ZipFit
Zipfit

Helping skiers ski to their fullest, all day, every day, season after season.

Handmade in Italy

Handmade in Italy

ZipFit liners are handmade in Montebelluna, Italy by the world’s best artisan boot makers. Using the highest quality materials, a complete understanding of foot morphology in skiing, and our proprietary OMFit cork, we craft ski boot liners that are uncompromising in their performance, fit, and durability.

The price of a pair of ZipFits reflects the labor of our master boot makers, the cost of premium materials, and a construction that has no planned obsolescence.

The value of a pair of ZipFits improves with every day of skiing in comfortable boots. Skiers who ski in ZipFits say it best.

Our brand values

Sven Coomer founded ZipFit and designed an incredible product. He passed the torch to our team to build a brand that is equally uncompromising in our commitment to our products, community, and our planet.

Build the best product

Innovate, research, and test materials that perform better, delivering the best products to skiers. No compromises, only intentional changes to give more skiers better ski boots.

Foster Community

Build meaningful relationships with our manufacturer, dealers, and customers further promoting inclusivity in skiing. Be accessible both as a brand and as employees of ZipFit.

Keep skiing alive

Pursue practices and materials that have minimal impact on the environment. Learn from our grandparents and teach our grandkids. Endorse athletes, ski shops, brands, and nonprofits that share our goal.

ZipFit heritage - the Sven Coomer story

ZipFit heritage - the Sven Coomer story

ZipFit Founder, Sven Coomer was selected to the 2021 class of the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame for pioneering the art of boot fitting and for making plastic boots comfortable and skiable. His influence is universal and timeless: boots he designed 50 years ago set the pattern for all race boots right down to today. Sven is a true innovator, shaping our sport for over 60 years. Sven knows a lot about ski boot liners as he designed the first boot that featured one.

Committed to the craft

Committed to the craft

He continued improving his designs, always seeking balance between comfort and performance, the ultimate fit liners. He sought perfection, developing the first foam injected liner and then abandoning that project, developing Superfeet orthoses and still wanting more — ultimately developing a super material he called OMFit cork while working on his masterpiece, the ZipFit liner. He’s not done either. Sven still works on new liner designs with ZipFit and continues to craft the perfect combination of footbed, innerboot, and ski boot. That's a life committed to making skiing better for everyone.

Early boot design

1961

1961

Sven’s six years of international modern pentathlon competition was the groundwork for his focus on foot biomechanics. On a spring break trip to Åre in 1961, Sven tried alpine skiing, an experience that changed the course of his life. He was hooked.

Gear Testing

Gear Testing

Sven tested the first plastic boot for SKIING magazine’s ski reviews. Most importantly, Sven learned that the inner-boot is essential as a protective medium from unforgiving plastic shells as well as the “unseen powerful energy transmission system” for skiers.

1965
1965

1965

Just four years after learning how to ski, Sven is part of the first team to ever ski across the Alps, 1000km in leather boots and pin bindings.

1965
1965
The gear can improve the form

The gear can improve the form

In the late 60’s, Sven tested the first plastic boot for SKIING magazine’s ski reviews. Most importantly, Sven learned that the inner-boot is essential as a protective medium from unforgiving plastic shells as well as the “unseen powerful energy transmission system” for skiers.

Gear testing

Gear testing

Sven was the respected voice in ski boots for over a decade, not only working on designs to make plastic boots more comfortable, but testing every boot on the market to hone in on performance and design.

"Banana Boots"
"Banana Boots"

"Banana Boots"

In 1969 Sven designed the Nordica Sapporo, truly the last great leather boot and the first to feature a high back spoiler and high tongue. In 1972, he translated that design into the Astral, the first two-piece plastic shell with a separate liner. The “banana boot” as it was called, made all other performance boots seem obsolete and placed Nordica at the top of the ski boot industry.

"Banana Boots"
"Banana Boots"
The foundation for the modern ski boot.

The foundation for the modern ski boot.

In 1975, Sven struck gold with his design of the Nordica Grand Prix - a two-piece, four buckle boot with near perfect dimensions. This boot has survived and been copied ubiquitously for close to 50 years and it’s what we know of today as the modern ski boot.

Footloose!
Footloose!

Footloose!

In the 1980s, Sven moved to Mammoth and opened Footloose, a ski shop where he continued to build the toolbox for the art of boot fitting and designed Superfeet orthosis. During this era, Sven designed the first three-piece boot in the Raichle Flexon, and made the first foam injected liner for Koflach. He didn’t like working with the caustic foam and sought a natural alternative, landing on OMFit cork composite.

Footloose!
Footloose!

Mastering technique

Mastering technique

Mastering technique

Always the student, Sven learned to ski from the greats on the French National Team and soon thereafter taught skiing in Australia, Utah, Nevada, and California. He wrote prolifically on form and skiing style.

A model example

A model example

Sven taught clinics worldwide on boot fitting and skiing form. He was such a dynamite skier that magazines often featured his skiing as exemplary style.

The Legacy Continues

The Legacy Continues

Sven and his wife Mary operated ZipFit for over 20 years with the trusted help of Mountain Peak Designs and some of the best boot fitters in the world. In 2020, they asked Mary’s grandson Chris to take the helm of ZipFit, keeping the business in the family and in the Roaring Fork Valley. Chris and the current ZipFit team work closely with Sven, the manufacturing team, boot fitters, and skiers alike to continue Sven’s legacy and deliver the best liners to skiers. In 2021, Sven was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame for his contributions to boot design and his role in developing the art of boot fitting. In 2023, Sven released his memoir called Sea to Ski, with the help from his dear friend Seth Masia.