 Poster: A snowHead
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@snowpony12. I have had similar problems as you in the past also. I have been skiing for the past 3 years, twice a year, and hired boots every time. Some boots have been fine. Some have been agony. The three makes of boots that have been fine have been Rossignol, Atomic and Lange. I have had Head, Dalbello and Salomon all cause me intense pain.
Very similar symtoms to yours: starts off fine, after a couple of hours starts to feel numb, then goes cold and then intense pain. I have to remove the boot to get sensation back and for the pain to go away. I haven't had numbness last for multiple days though.
I recently went to Snow and Rock in Canary Wharf in London and got a pair of boots fitted.
Here is what I learned, when talking to the technician about my symptoms, my feet and my experience.
1. Certain boots are better suited to certain feet. I have very high insteps, so its not surprising that I get along better with Atomic and Lange, as apparently they are roomier in dimension from heal to top-of-foot
2. How your feet pronate makes a big difference. I overpronate and so when I bend my legs my foot naturally slips towards the outside of the boot, putting more pressure there and causing numbness. I chose to buy some custom footbeds, which provide support for my instep and help to correct my pronation. Contrary to posts above, the technician 'forced' my feet, legs and knees into the proper forward-skiing position (not my naturally standing position), so hopefully I've not been scammed 
3. Socks. Make sure you have thin, technical socks. Thick socks also contribute to poor circulation and thus numbness and pain.
4. Ankle 'size' also makes a difference. Again, something too roomy round the ankle will cause your foot to move around in the boot and potentially contribute towards pressure, numbness and pain.
5. Toe buckle does nothing apart from keep the water out. Keep it on the lowest setting. Instep buckle should be thumb tight, no tighter. Ankle buckle is most important, to keep ankle stability.
6. My feet are slightly different sizes. So my left foot fits like a glove, but my right needs the custom footbed and also the boot needs moulding to create a bit more width.
Thats about it. I haven't skied in them yet, so obviously I can't comment on their real-world performance. But a lot of what I was told made sense bio-mechanically. And by the time I was standing in the boots in the shop after about 90 minutes of being in different boots, the ones I ended up with felt a lot more comfortable than when I first put them on.
I ended up with a pair of Atomic Hawx Prime 100s for reference. I am not brand / colour loyal one bit. I just want a pair of boots that don't cause me agony. Roll on February!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I am booked to get my boots fitted at Bartlett's in London over the Xmas break. After enduring the last 2 seasons in hire boots which oscillated from loose enough to curl my toes to foot numbingly tight to have cramping in the soles of my feet - enough is enough. My theory is that every half day lost because my feet hurt is £20 worth of lift pass - across the last 2 seasons its at least £100 if not more. Whilst hiring boots is a cheap up front costs the waste of time and cost associated with it means for a little more up front I can get my feet sorted and spend more time skiing!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| FrediKanoute wrote: |
| I am booked to get my boots fitted at Bartlett's in London over the Xmas break. After enduring the last 2 seasons in hire boots which oscillated from loose enough to curl my toes to foot numbingly tight to have cramping in the soles of my feet - enough is enough. My theory is that every half day lost because my feet hurt is £20 worth of lift pass - across the last 2 seasons its at least £100 if not more. Whilst hiring boots is a cheap up front costs the waste of time and cost associated with it means for a little more up front I can get my feet sorted and spend more time skiing! |
Having your own boots is not a comfort guarantee.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| snowpony12 wrote: |
I have had pot luck with hire boots over the years and after 2 very painful weeks skiing last year I went to Snow and Rock and had a pair of "Salomon X Pro 90 W" in 23.5 with moulded insoles.
Fast forward to last week, had a good first day, 2nd day got cramp on the sole along the 4 small toes (big one was fine!) and then after a couple of hours it went numb. 3rd day had to take the insole out because of the pain, this made it a lot better but felt a bit hard so put shoe insoles in to try and soften it a bit, but this made it very painful again so took them out and just had the liner.
I didn't want to waste the rest of my holiday so went to The Boot Lab in Courchevel 1650 who said the boots are too big, which does make sense because I can move my foot around a lot when I don't have the insoles in and am constantly pushing my foot back, but with the insoles in they don't move around as much but it is agony. He measured them and with account for the heel lift with insoles they come up as a 22.5. But also said it was hard to get 22.5 boots as they are made with the same moulds as 23.5's just with the toe blocked off slightly.
I got back yesterday, 2 days of not wearing ski boots and the top of my left foot is still numb (the kind of feeling you get before you get pins and needles), I did the boots up tight for 1 hour when he told me they were too big but the pain was too much so this was the only time in the whole week that they were done up tighter than the loosest setting on all 4 catches.
I am going back to Rock and Snow this week to try and get it sorted, but does anyone know a brand that makes a 22.5 mould but that are still wide enough?
Also has anyone had prolonged numbness and will the feeling come back?! |
Ive had a pair of boots and liners from the Bootlab in Meribel which is the sister shop to Courchevel- very competent fitters who know their stuff. IIRC my old boots were 2 sizes too big and the liners had packed down. The new ones were very snug and the footbeds needed a bit of work doing for a metatarsal problem I had - but they totally changed my skiing, the first day I thought they were too small but after that brilliant. Moral of the story is its what the boots feel like when you are skiing not standing around. Boots being too big cause all sorts of problems and its common for them to be fitted this way in the Uk at the likes of S& R etc because they'll feel comfy in the shop. If you tighten big boots too much you distort the shell which causes more problems. Solution go to a proper fitter ( like CEM) and get a proper fitting opinion., if they're too big they'll never fit properly. You can't polish a turd!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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So have been to Barlett's who confirmed what I already know that my feet are abnormally wide and flat - think Neanderthal/Hobbit.
Settled on a pair of Head Advant Edge 120 Flex - which is going to be interesting since I doubt I have ever skied on anything that stiff before. they need a stretching as well as a heel lift and a insole - the difference these last 2 bits made to the basic fit were amazing. they were still tight, so hence the stretching.
Fingers crossed they are bearable.
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