Fexi ski boots for 11yo child with big feet

A snowHead

My 11 year old daughter is of average height for the age but has large but narrow feet which are a size EU 38 (mondo 23) which is similar to that of an average female adult. As such we are struggling to find ski boots that allow her to flex as most of the boots available for hire are either suitable for teenagers and adults. The cuff is often too high and flex rated at minimum of 60 which she is simply not strong enough to flex / dominate the boots to sustain forward skiers position for long periods which which affects short turns and speed through gates as she works towards her ESF sliver medal. Would be great to hear from any parents with similar situations or from anyone with boot fitting experience.

A snowHead

Can't help, but following with interest as my 11 year old son is in size UK 8 shoes/boots (adult). He seemed to cope okay on our last trip in December with the hire boots he was given, though he did change to shorter skis midway through the week, which he said helped. We don't have enough experience to know how much the boots affected his skiing, so I'll be interested to read any replies. We also couldn't get his salopettes to fit over the boots as he's still only 150cm, so in children's salopettes with adult/teen boots, but that's another issue.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Bumping this as keen to hear back. Thanks

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I can't help either, but interested in the question because my 11 year old grand-daughter has discovered that a pair of boots we had for years in our apartment after a nephew had grown out of them before he came on holiday, fit her well. She has worn ski boots quite a bit, she's not a beginner, so she's probably right. She's tall but very skinny and with long feet. The boots are old but never been used - Head Edge, 80 flex. We're hoping she'll manage in them, though renting skis for them might be a problem as they are not Grip Walk. Her big sister, 13, also fairly slim but not so skinny and with short wide feet has discovered that her mother's Rossignol boots fit her (mother finds them too squeezy having had two kids since she had the boots). I can't find a flex rating on them, but we do have a pair of skis which are set up for them, so I'm hoping that will save us a bit of cash in April. They are driving out in a VW van, so plenty of room to carry all this stuff.

Both the girls like skiing, but they are not very skilled and not "competition" skiers so might not have the same issues as the OP's daughter. I generally find that kids are quite good at hacking round on whatever gear they are given. One of them did half a lesson with boots on the wrong feet, back in the day (that was my fault..... Embarassed

). The instructor eventually noticed.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Ozboy, have you (she!) tried the ubiquitous Lange RSJ60? I know it gets given a 60 flex rating, but its very soft compared to the RS70 and the "proper" junior race boots. Seems to be made out of a very different plastic. My kids used them fine from age about 6.

Is this the Chamois/Fleche that you're referring to? Or normal ESF, which I thought went straight from bronze to gold.

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@snowdave, thanks - we’ve tried various rental boots and to be fair I didn’t recognise this as a problem until last week. Will look into the Lange. ESF have now introduced silver but often run a composite group of not sufficient numbers. The difference is Silver is making 50pct of the instructors time.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@ozboy - my son was using the Atomic Jnr 60, from about 8 years of age and they come up narrow and flex fairly easily. He was also small and light, so I'd be surprised if they were too stiff for her. Atomic also do a Hawk which is aimed at the recreational skier, which is even softer.

After all it is free

@Ozboy, You're looking at it the wrong way.
It's gods way of saying she's born to snowboard.

@OuatteDePhoque, they have license to snowboard once they’ve completed their gold. And I will start with them. Smile

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@pam w, renting skis that are compatible with alpine soles (i.e. not Gripwalk soles) should be fine as Gripwalk compatible bindings work with both.

@Ozboy, I've always found that not doing up the top buckle and strap as tight as usual makes a huge difference in how easy it is to flex a boot. This might be an easy and immediate solution.

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@Ozboy, I would not get too hung up on boot flex numbers. At that age and size your daughter should be fine in an adult beginner ladies boot in terms of being able to flex it enough. Also as she progresses it should be less of a problem, my daughter has always been small and was in full on race boots at that age. The cuff being too high is probably more of a problem, I will have a think and see if I can remember what we did for one of my sons who was slight but tall with huge feet at that age.

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Zikomo - If you buy kids boots they have a short cuff and they go up to mondo 25ish, so will be ok for Ozboy's daughter for a while yet. If you do want to step-up at some point to a stiffer, better performing boot, then most of the makes do a higher performing boot in a short cuff version. eg. any Lange boot with SC after the number.

You know it makes sense.

@Ozboy, When are you next going skiing by the way?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@zikomo, Easter

A snowHead

I can also vouch for Lange Rsj 50/60 being soft. 7 year old daughter uses them and she can wear 5-6 clothes to give you idea of how light she is. The Fischer rc4 60 is quite a bit stiffer and harder to get on. I compared the Lange to the dalbello 25 flex daughter used as a beginner and I'd say the Rsj 50 was probably softer and had more range of movement.

A snowHead

@Glosterwolf, Thanks checking out the Lange 60.

Could someone please advise how the sizes listed on the Lange site as per pic relate to mondo size?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Put a decimal place after second digit, I expect the starlet 60 is exactly the same if a girly look is desired Laughing

mine is mad about blue for some reason so went with race look boot.

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You could have a look at the Roces boots as they are adjustable https://www.roces.com/en/winter-sports/children-adjustable-ski-boots.html and aimed at the kids market so would, I'd have thought, be inherently smaller in volume and potentially have a lower flex - they have a range that goes to mondo 25.5. My boys used an older model and they both have skinny feet and legs and never complained about them.

Help!!

Fexi ski boots for 11yo child with big feet

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