Le Feet Lab, located in downtown Winter Park, off US 40, specializes in making custom orthotics / footbeds and selling Dalbello ski boots and ZipFit liners.
Owner Jacques Thomas founded Le Ski Lab (since renamed Le Feet Lab) in 1979 to offer skiers and snowboarders and other sports enthusiasts the same state-of-the-art custom bootfitting that's provided to the top athletes in the world. For two years, Jacques worked with renowned orthopedic doctor Biff Kramer, and his intense interest in feet led Jacques to develop his own line of custom orthotics.
With a background in aeronautical engineering, Jacques is constantly experimenting with new products and techniques to come up with the perfect fit.
Jacques has over 40 years experience in the ski industry. His achievements have included:
- Ski instructor
- Ski coach
- Technical advisor for Rossignol and other elite ski manufacturers
- Technical advisor for Look Nevada bindings
- Founder and recruiter worldwide for Rossignol's Junior Ski Racing Program and working 3 years with French National Team
- Team manager and coach for Rossignol's Pro Ski Team (twice World Pro Team Champions)
- Racing manager for Nordica U.S. Ski Team
Early in his career, Jacques realized that the ski boot was the most important piece of equipment and that 90% of a racer's performance came down to the boot fit. Using his boot fitting skills as an important component of his coaching, he's helped improve the performance of some of the top skiers in the world, including racers on French and U.S. national teams, World Cup teams, and Olympic teams.
Thanks to his engineering skills, Jacques has designed two ski tools used by ski manufacturers (such as Rossignol, Dynastar, K2, and Head) and ski shops worldwide - the Edge Sensor (an automatic variable edge beveling machine) and the first Bevelmeter (a precise instrument to read precisely the edge angle). He's also designed a proprietary line of custom orthotics / footbeds.
Jacques Thomas has achieved the highest level of certification from Masterfit University and has been recognized as one of
America's Best Bootfitters for seven years in a row. He's also worked with many world-class professional athletes (including football players, golfers, cyclists, ice skaters, and runners) and has worked extensively with the first in the nation, National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) program created by world renome Hal O'Leary in Winter Park, Colorado, program that trained many top national world and Olympic champions.
He continues to consult with ski boot manufacturers and also writes articles for local and national ski magazines and footwear magazines.
After opening, owning, and operating four ski shop locations in winter Park, Colorado, Jacques decided to pursue what he really loved. In 1997, he downsized to one specialty shop, rebaptized "Le Feet Lab." Today, he's exclusively dedicated to custom ski boot fitting, custom orthotics, and giving his customers the best fit anyone could ever dream about!