 Poster: A snowHead
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Snowheads,
New member here, first time poster. I'm also extremely new to skiing, as I'm just about to start the Intermediate ski school stuff at Chill Factore.
I have been using the rental ski boots, and they are perfectly comfy, but I am finding that from the moment I put the boot on until the moment I take it off, I have a terrible ache on the bottom of my foot between the ball and heel. An extremely distracting ache, which means I'm constantly dancing around when on skis just to take the pressure off the feet, but I can last the two hour lesson. It is taking away some of the enjoyment and I guess it also means I'm not getting the maximum out of my boot.
Yesterday I was at Ski Rossendale (my son was on a trip there with cubs) and I thought I'd join my son on the main slope (he's 8 and far ahead of me) whilst the other cubs were on the nursery slope.
I told them I normally have a 28.5 boot, and they gave me a 29.0 which was like slipping my foot into a bath. I quickly learned about well fitting boots from that as I simply couldn't control the ski. They also mis-set the bindings on the ski so that kept coming off. I went back, they reset the binding and gave me a 28.0 boot which did fit (I'll try a 28.0 at CF tonight. Snow & Rock measured my feet and also suggested a 28.0). However, the agony on the sole of my foot got me to the point of coming off the slope early: the agony was actually worse when going up the button lift unless I really bent my knees and took the pressure off my feet. But the SkiRos skis and boots were utterly dreadful, delapidated knackered old junk.
I'm quite prepared to buy myself a decent set of custom fitted boots, but before I do that I want to see that there isn't a better way of sorting my sole pain out (I'm thinking that as I haven't even been at the top of the CF main slope yet, I don't want an advanced boot, but I don't want to buy a beginner boot that I'll outperform in a year or so). I'd be quite fussed if I bought custom fitted boots which didn't resolve my foot pain issue. And if I were to go down the fitted boot route, would Snow & Rock be the right place for my awkward foot or would there be a better place for me? I live in the Bolton/Wigan area.
Thanks for any advice.
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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 far from anything like an expert (in anything) but would suggest:
1. Calf stretches
2. Rivington Alpine.
Tight calfs equals nasty burning pain underfoot and Rivington are boot fitters.
hth 
Edit: there are loads of decent examples of lower limb stretches on here. Have a search & enjoy
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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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@slopemad, to be honest you or the forum don't know if you have problem feet, only someone qualified can tell you that. A snowdome (imv) exacerbates boot issues as you spend more time upflifting on a drag than skiing. My boots fit well but I still get some pain on drag lifts which I can get around with adjusting stance or keeping the feet moving.
Snow and rubble have some good bootfitters as do others but they, as other chains also have some sales staff who aren't really boot fitters, or at least in my experience what I would call a boot fitter.
Ski boots should never be akin to slippers, but pain can be minimised or avoided by getting the right boots that fit properly and suit your ability and feet.
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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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rental boots have no arch support - buy a set of superfeet green insoles and take them in and out of rental boots until you buy some (they can be good in your own boots as well if you don't what to pay extra to have custom foot beds made) I think you will find a huge difference straight away. good luck
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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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@slopemad, If you eventually decide to go down the new boots/custom footbeds route then you should head over to Rivington Alpine in Adlington.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I was in S&R in Leeds yesterday passing time while waiting for a train. I saw a pair of boots being tried on. No measurement, no shell fit, customer said what size she wanted and that was it. I think colour was the driving factor!
Agree with Kittya, Rivington Alpine sounds geographically perfect for you. It's in Adlington.
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Thanks for the replies. Back at CF tonight and I asked for a 28.0 boot. It turns out they don't do that size, only full sizes so 27.5 or 28.5. I stuck with the 28.5s. I did some calf stretching exercises before booting up, and the pain was not there straight away, not until about 15 minutes on the slope and even then was not as bad as before. The boots were definitely roomy, plenty of room to wiggle my foot around. Not good. Maybe I'll give the 27.5s a whirl next week. And I'll give the Superfeet green insoles a go as well, rather than rushing into a purchase of boots and custom liners 
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I would suggest that you possibly have collapsing arches. Collapsing arches in ski boots is really painful. Superfeet green are possibly not the right thing for you... I would consider getting some custom insoles made that you could swap between rental boots until you buy your own.
Don't cheap out on your feet. I did, it got bad, and now it's really expensive.
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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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@slopemad, the boots sizes are a bit of a maze, but essentially they don't make half sizes so the boots are 27/27.5, 28/28.5, 29/29.5 etc same shell, same liner and SOMETIMES they might put a thicker insole in the .0 to make it feel tighter...... what size UK shoe would you buy normally? the conversion chart for ski boots is so far out it should be ripped up
for example i am a uk 11 and ski in a 28/28.5 boot, i can squeeze into a 27.5 in some models but it would take too much work to get it usable long term so unless i was back racing i wouldn't even go there
the next issue is volume, most places rent big wide boots because you can put a narrow foot or a wide foot into them, if you have a slim foot it will rattle around inside the boot and never be comfortable
custom footbeds should be moulded to your foot AND interfaced to the boot they are being used in, so moving them form rental,boot to rental boot is certainly not ideal (i have a couple of clients who do this, but it is a bit of a gamble) an off the shelf product like the superfeet green may or may not help, from what you describe the pain sounds like it is because you are gripping with your toes and tensing your foot, an insole wont help for that, only the correct size and volume of boot will solve it, it could be a number of factors going on
i would pop in and see Graham at Rivington, tell him you are not looking to buy right now but pay for an assessment and see if he can get to the bottom of at least why you are getting the pain, that way you will know if it is a foot issue, a boot issue or something else altogether. in the long run boots is the first bit of kit you should be buying and trying to do it cheap is normally not the best way to do it (cue the buy at decathlon as you can take them back comments) a ski holiday is not cheap so you want to get the best out of it
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I have fallen arches and had Superfeet green to start with, but I did still get foot pain, and it caused me to ski in a slight snowplough constantly. I just had some custom footbeds made and will ski on them for the first time tomorrow - watch this space!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Screaming Dave I look forward to hearing how you get on then It looks like a trip all the way to Adlington is the order of the day.
@CEM I have pretty wide feet - a rough measurement just now with a tape measure suggests just over 100mm, and my ski socks are pretty thick, so it is quite a surprise how much room I have in the rental boots, both side to side, up and down and beyond the toes.
Last night was the first time off the top of the main slope at CF, I had pretty achey upper legs this morning which is probably a factor of both my general unfitness as well as having to work harder with a roomy boot.
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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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@slopemad, most rental boots are 102 mm / 104 mm last in size 26/26.5 which means in 28/28.5 they are 10 6mm or 108 mm wide, width is just one part of the volume equation
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Update time. I popped along to Rivington Alpine today. It turns out I have a very high instep and that I'm pretty flat footed, hence the pain. The idea was to get some advice, maybe some insoles to see how they go in rental boots but it would seem that I'd never really get on with rental boots. So after 3 hours in the shop, now I have some K2 BFC 100 boots in 27.5 - down from the 28.5 rentals! No need for a custom insole though, at my level, but I have a Superfeet green insole in them. I was getting foot ache in the shop without the insoles, but no pain with them.
I'll get to try them out on Monday night, but so far so good.
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You know it makes sense.
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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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So far my new insoles are good. I still ski with a slight snowplough but the foot pain is far less. Just that little bit early on then it’s perfect.
BTW, the snow’s really good here in Meribel!
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