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Ski Boots... shrinking?!

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
hi all... dunno if anyone has any thoughts on this issue of mine

I do usually have an issue with ski boots being too tight in the lower foot. I wear corrective orthotics in my shoes which have been building up my arches again from being flat footed to having more similar arches to normal people. This has unquestionably made the 'height' of my feet a bit bigger, over time. So it is expected that, between uses, there might be a bit of tightness develop in that region.

But the last 2 seasons I have had a bizarre observation I cannot work out. Both seasons I have finished the season at EOSB with a wonderfully fitting pair of boots. Both seasons I've done the snowHeads Octobertest with a wonderfully fitting pair of boots. Then both seasons, I've gone for a 2 hour session in the Chill FactorE in December, just to prove all my gear is happy etc... and found that my boots have been outrageously tight around my lower foot, to the point that they've been both more difficult to put on, and also quite painful to wear for the non-skiing components (ie being on lifts) of the day. Even with the catches fully undone.

It makes no sense to me. I know that my feet are getting a bit thicker, but surely not a noticeable amount between the October test and the December ski so that on one I'd have a perfectly good fitting boot and then on the next I'd have a boot which fundamentally doesn't fit. Last season the only fix was to have them in a shop overnight to be stretched (I took them to Livigno hoping they'd work themselves out and they didn't, they drove me to quit by midday because they hurt so much).

But this isn't really just a thread about ill-fitting ski boots because I swear to god, these boots have fitted me absolutely fine during the season!

Can anybody suggest anything that could be going on here? Is there any cause for a boot shell to shrink between uses so that it might have that effect?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Feet change size over the course of a day, starting off smaller. If I spring out of bed & jump into my narrower 'business/work' shoes everything is hunky-dory. However, if I go for a walk in my bigger hill-walking boots or mooch about home in sandals for a few hours then try to put on the work shoes it's a bit of a struggle. Something similar perhaps for you?
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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?
Potentially a valid suggestion... my December Chill Factore is always an evening session after a day on my feet, vs skiing in resort where I start in the morning. Maybe a morning CF session is worth a punt for comparison.

EDIT: Cancel that. When I got to Livigno I was putting them on first thing in the morning and they'd definitely got way tighter. So I guess that theory is out.
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Temperature? Plastic stiffer when cold.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Is Chill Factore colder sometimes than others? They were harder to put on too - in the perfectly warm boot room.
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I sympathise with you @dp
I don't know why it is but you can spend hours getting the perfect fit in a shop so you are absolutely happy with your feet and boots, but a couple of hours of wearing them on a slope they turn into the cruelest method of torture invented.

The only good thing about it is the relief of the double barreled orgasm you get from taking them off at the end of the day.
You almost want to smoke a cigarette with them. Razz
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
It's just weird because basically both this year and last, they've been fine all season, fine on the Oktobertest, then absolute agony 2 months later. I cannot understand it at all. So it's not that the shop fit is not translating to the mountain - because it is! It's more that the mountain fit isn't translating to the fridge. But I'm feeling like it has more to do with time moving on than temperature irregularities. I'm kind of wondering if, when you mould a ski boot, does it relapse towards it's original shape over time if not frequently used?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I've a foot width change issue, but not in the same way as you. I had a pair of boots perfectly foamed in 2013, and skied without issue for 3 years, and I'm talking boot done up in the morning and left that way all day until they are taken off, including lunch time. Then after 2 weeks last season I was having to un-clip my left boot lower buckles occasionally, which was unheard of for me. On my next trip I had to take my boot off one lunchtime, as my foot had gone numb.

I didn't think anything more about until November this year. I always start wearing my boots around the house to start getting my feet/shins 'worn in' ready for skiing. Within and hour of putting them on I could feel the numbness starting. Anyway, a return trip to Profeet who fitted them, and a quick shell check revealed that my left foot had expanded to the point that it was touching the shell without the liner. They stretched the shell by a small amount, and the problem was solved.

With hindsight my problem was due to the fact I started walking 4-5 miles a day (10,000 steps on all that) in July 2016, so in the following 6-7 months my left foot had spread enough to cause an issue.

@dp, So back to your issue. Does anything change in your exercise regime during the Autumn / Winter ?
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dp wrote:
It's just weird because basically both this year and last, they've been fine all season, fine on the Oktobertest, then absolute agony 2 months later. I cannot understand it at all. So it's not that the shop fit is not translating to the mountain - because it is! It's more that the mountain fit isn't translating to the fridge. But I'm feeling like it has more to do with time moving on than temperature irregularities. I'm kind of wondering if, when you mould a ski boot, does it relapse towards it's original shape over time if not frequently used?


I'd guess at your foot simply not being used to being in a boot after time, but the gap from end of season to the Oktobertest bugs that theory unless you are a regular fridge goer?
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Yes I did walk a lot more long distance in the summer. But possibly not last year. Last year my exercise regime was actually pretty constant through the year. I certainly don't recall an exercise change between Oktobertest, and my subsequent trip to CF which must have only been 6-8 weeks later. (It is the oktobertest to chill factore anomaly which is confusing me most, since they're relatively close).

Like you - when my boots have been correctly fitted, they are as comfortable as trainers. I loosen the power strap and top clips for ease of walking but besides that I don't touch them. Both years I've done a season of 4 weeks and they've been faultless.

There is no doubt that my feet are changing shape - the NHS want them to! Based on your message I'm thinking that the short answer might be to schedule in a day at Chill Factor in January, for a morning session to see how they are, lunchtime in Snow and Rock to give them a shot in the oven, and then an afternoon/evening session to see if I can find an improvement.
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@endoman, I'm not a regular fridge-goer so you're right in that the Oktobertest factor is the spanner in the works!

One thing I haven't mentioned so much is that really the issue of things being very tight there (and thus feeling very cold / numb) wears off over the day. In a 2-hour fridge session, the last 40 minutes have been OK both times. Likewise, Livigno was proving alright in the afternoons but not the mornings. So I do wonder whether once the boots have been flexed a bit, the issue is reduced and whether that provides any clues as to the root of it.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
dp wrote:
I'm kind of wondering if, when you mould a ski boot, does it relapse towards it's original shape over time if not frequently used?

I think it depends on the boot - some are designed for moulding, others aren't. For example. my first ski boots were Atomic Wayfarers and the salesman at Snow & Rock dutifully stretched them out for me but over time they returned to their original shape. On the other hand my Atomic Hawx retain all modifications. I imagine they are quite different plastics.
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