 Poster: A snowHead
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Just back from skiing for 4 days in brand new boots. They felt great, but after the 2nd day, i had huge ugly blisters all down my shins, and they're still not looking good now.
So, I'm looking for advice on what to do....
I bought the boots (Salomon Performa 7CF) from Snow & Rock last month. I skiied for 2 weeks in rental Salomon Performas last season and found them brilliant. I thought about eBaying some but decided on the security of a proper boot fitting. The "boot fitting" didn't seem to involve much. My feet were measured then I asked to try the Salomons. They felt comfortable and the fitter believed them to be an excellent fit so I went ahead and parted with £180.
Before going away, I wore them in round the house and on a dry slope with no problems. There's no obvious unusual pressure or bad fit around my shins.
So, with 6 more days skiing coming up in March should I:
1.) Do nothing. They're new boots so some discomfort should be expected, and they'll always be pressure on the shin. Wear some preventative plasters on skiing in March, and maybe try (2) or (3) if there's no improvement.
2.) Go back to Snow & Rock and get the boots adjusted. This seems an obvious first step on the one hand, but would there much point in this? The clips all seem correctly set up to me, so what more will the store do, and the round trip to the store will wipe out most of a Saturday.
3.) Cut my losses on the boot (The guarantee means I can get £120 back after up to 14 days skiing), and get refitted for a new pair.
Any advice appreciated, as this is my first pair. I have very "average" feet and legs and have never experienced problems with any rental boots, or with any other footwear come to think of it, so this new territory for me!
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Take them back of course. You def weren't fitted properly if it took you that short a time to buy them.
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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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JimiHendrix, what Helen said. Just a thought though, do you think they could actually be too loose rather than too tight - blisters sound like a lot of rubbing, your shin flapping around inside the boot cuff, which I wouldn't have thought should be happening with a nice snug fit. I think the general view is that, unless you're very lucky, a correctly sized boot will actually feel too tight to start with and need a little bit of tinkering with to accommodate the little nobbles etc that we all have. (Not that I know the first thing about boot-fitting of course - you need CEM or SZK for a more authoritative view).
You can of course do 2), and then still do 3) if your next week doesn't show an improvement.
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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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JimiHendrix, what sort of socks were you wearing? Was there anything else tucked into your boots (such as thermals, etc)?
Having more than one pair of socks, or other things in your boots can cause the problem, as can big thick socks.
Another possibility would be shin bang due to the boots being too stiff, but I doubt that.
GrahamN, from my experience, I would agree - it could well be due to looseness rather than tightness.
My recomendation is to take them back to S&R, as soon as your shins are back to normal. Ring them up before hand and see if they have a resident "expert" boot fitter. Also, take your own socks with you.
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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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...just had another thought - what skis were you on?
It's possible that if the skis were longer/stiffer/faster, that you may have been working too hard to ski them, and this, potentially, could cause shin problems.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Wear The Fox Hat wrote: |
...just had another thought - what skis were you on?
It's possible that if the skis were longer/stiffer/faster, that you may have been working too hard to ski them, and this, potentially, could cause shin problems. |
Tee Hee. Good advice. Tee Hee 
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Helen Beaumont, GrahamN, Wear The Fox Hat, thanks for the advice.
I wasn't sure whether this was at all standard for new boots, and from what you say it clearly isn't, so I'll definitely be heading back for a refitting.
I'm wondering though, why, having never had any trouble with a dozen pairs of hire boots, I got spectacularly bad blistering so quickly with these. Wear The Fox Hat may be onto something. Previously I'd always used £2 tube socks. Last week I was using, for the first time, a Xmas present of technical ski socks with various lumps and padding at every stitch. I don't think the skis were a factor - using Volkl S1's which are a very easy ski.
At the boot fitting (admittedly with my tube socks), they felt snug and comfortable, sitting, standing, walking and flexing. I've adjusted all the buckles so I'm clipped into the middle of each one. What did I miss at the "boot fitting"? If there's a thread on here which covers "what your boot fitter should do" I'd really appreciate the link.
Thanks again 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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JimiHendrix,
there are 101 and probably many more things that could be going on
1 the boot is too loose found the calf.... tighten the clips a bit
2 your foot is pronating heavily in the boot and twisting your shin into the front of the boot.....try footbeds the bootfitter should have least discussed them with you
3 you have a very sharp tibial crest(front of shin bone) that may just not fit well into the tongue of the boot...... may need additional padding to be fitted in two strips either side of the tongue to create a space for your shin bone
4 the boots are completely wrong.... take em back and start again elsewhere
in the first instance i would go back for an additional fitting (or bite the bullet and pay for some advice elsewhere) look at footbeds if you do not already have them
then if all feels well, invest in a pack of epitact (shin protecting gel pads) £20 ish and put this on your shins if the discomfort starts, then if all that fails take the boots back for the refund!
hope this helps a bit
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Thanks CEM.
Armed with the thoughts above, I should be able to work out on the dry slope whether i'm rotating, banging, or slightly sliding the shins vertically or horizontally. Then it sounds like I need a good fitter to look at the boots, and at me, and analyse what the most likely cause is.
I'll try S&R first, but if anyone knows a good store in Hampshire (where I live) or Berkshire (where I work) please share!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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JimiHendrix, this might sound a bit weird (qui. moi?) but after the PSB (2 days only on the LDA glacier in October, no chairs, drags only, so no respite) I came home with a delightful crop of blisters on both shins. Never experienced this before, but all sorts of other factors had changed.
Anyway, Hamish at ProFeet suggested shaving the fronts of my shins. His take being that the problem was due to friction from the hairs on my sensitive shins that hadn't been in ski boots all summer.
Whatever, 4 days hooning around Val d'Isere and a fortnight in Champoluc, etc. later and nary a problem nor pain in sight.
The solution might be as simple as a little Immac...
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Tue 10-01-06 19:02; edited 1 time in total
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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.
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| JimiHendrix wrote: |
Armed with the thoughts above, I should be able to work out on the dry slope whether i'm rotating, banging, or slightly sliding the shins vertically or horizontally. Then it sounds like I need a good fitter to look at the boots, and at me, and analyse what the most likely cause is.
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Your better instructor, dry slope or other, is your best analysis ally.
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JimiHendrix, just a thought but did you have to walk far to the lifts as this can cause blisters at the start and end of the day when you tend to loosen your boots off a bit.Once the damage is done, when you get in the shower at the end of the day you tend to assume it was the skiing that caused the blister?
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You know it makes sense.
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JimiHendrix, the fitter at Filarinskis in Havant seems to take his job seriously. Have not been v impressed with S&R Port Solent(presumably where you went). Tried to sell my son (who has fairly flat feet a pair of boots but no footbeds and tried to sell my wife a pair of skis which were above the level of skiing which we had described to him.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Thanks for the continued advice. Hmm....Immac... 
Nick L, , I didn't get that confident feeling from S&R Port Solent so I'll definitely take up your recommendation if my second visit is no better.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Nick L, a quick note to say thanks for the Filarinskis recommendation.
I went back to S&R, who were staggeringly useless. In the end I used preventative shin plasters for a few days, and despite some soreness (but no blisters) I was fine by the end of a week's skiing.
My wife, however, after considerable pain wearing in her new S&R boots round the house, works near Havana so went straight to Filarinskis for an opinion. She said they were brilliant - the fitter spent an hour with her, heated and stretched her boots and readjusted all clips. She then had a week's pain free skiing. There was no charge made for this - so a big thanks to Filarinskis!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
She said they were brilliant - the fitter spent an hour with her, heated and stretched her boots and readjusted all clips. She then had a week's pain free skiing. There was no charge made for this - so a big thanks to Filarinskis!
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Well done Filarinskis. They must be turning a corner or have some new staff as ive heard nothing but bad comments recently. Good to see an improvement
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