Boot issue

A snowHead

I bought new boots last summer and have an interesting problem. When I am skiing using my old zipfit liners I have no issues. However when I am teaching on the dry slope and spend more time walking up the slope, with or without skis, I can end up with pressure points on both sides of the ball of my right foot. I have tried the stock liners and have the same problem.

Before I go back to the boot fitter does anyone have any suggestions about the cause. I have assumed that my bunions are pressing on the boot but wonder why it's not happening when I am skiing.

Any suggestions on how to fix it or do I need to revisit the fitter?

A snowHead

@tarrantd, there could be a couple of things happening... if you are walking up and down the slop then it is unlikely your feet are perfectly parallel the foot can be trying to twist also walking "up" the slop will put increased loading on that lateral side of the ball of the foot, equally walking like that might tighten the calf muscle which can cause the same pressure points

the key is going to be to strike a balance, if the issue is not there when you ski, how much of an issue is it when you are walking up the slope and how much time do you spend doing that? creating space might solve the problem for the walking up the slope but cause more of an issue when you ski

if there is a tailors bunion then the boot should be modified around that, even a slight modification could make the difference, but as above it needs to be a balanced approach

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@CEM, thanks for that. I will persevere for a little longer. The problem is worse when I spend the whole day teaching and can leave me with sore feet for a few days.

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@tarrantd, well I'm not a boot fitter but I have had more than my fair share of boot fitting issues. I would have thought it's a combination of two things:
1) When you ski, your heel is consistently further back in the boot but there will always be an element of forward slide when you're walking so the forefoot will get compressed more in the toe box.
2) If you're teaching on a UK dryslope then presumably the temperature is in the mid teens for most of the day. Feet swell up naturally during the day anyway but more so with exercise, sweat and temperature. So there simply may not be enough room in the boot for a summer sized foot as opposed to a winter sized one.

My own boots that I've skied 20+ weeks in were ok in winter but absolute agony by 1 pm in the recent very warm end of season temperatures.

An extremely good boot fitter spent a couple of hours doing some very precise and specialist stretches (really, I've never seen a fitter check circulation space and do such precise stretches the way he did before) to sort them out.

Help!!

Boot issue

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