 Poster: A snowHead
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I purchased custom-fitted ski boots just before Christmas 2022, with custom soles (heat molded shell and liner). They felt tight, which was expected, but my toes kept getting frostnip due to blood circulation being cut off, and my quads would burn toward the end of the ski day. After using the boots three times, I installed the CARV device which made my toes even tighter. I then skied a few more times before a 5-day ski trip to Colorado. During the first few days of the trip, I experienced frostnip, which was frustrating as it disrupted my skiing. On the third day, I noticed a sub-hematoma on my right foot's big toe, adding to my frustration.
To try and alleviate my toe issues, I removed the CARV, but this caused my heel to slip out of the pocket. I tried to wear the boots tight but this didn’t help with the heel slipping and just caused my foot/leg to go numb. I tried putting the CARV back in the boot for the 5th day of skiing but the heel was still slipping and tightening the boots still didn’t help.
When I returned home from the trip, I took the boots back to the fitter, who informed me that the boots were at a 45-degree lean instead of the recommended 22-degree lean based on my calf size (around 15 inches). Additionally, the boot fitter forgot to level my short leg during the custom fitting.
The fitter recommended three adjustments: adding a heel lift to my left boot, shaving some parts of the boot by the ankle, and widening the toe box. Unfortunately, even after these changes, my heel continued to slip in the boot.
The fitter said I have wide calves and tiny ankles. While I agree I have wide calves, I've never been told I have small ankles. That said, the boot fitter's solution was to make a lever for me to be able to tighten the boot around my ankle more so than what I could ever do with my own hands, but this caused my leg to fall asleep in less than 30 minutes.
In addition to all of this, we tried adding a shim under the boot liner but that just made my toes tighter.
I left the boots with him again for him to add a C pad around the ankle to see if this would help fix the issue.
After reading more about boot fitting, I’m noticing a lot of red flags. For example, the fitter never had me try on any other boots and he only took 2 out of the 5 measurements to determine which boot/shell I should get. My foot was also never measured inside the shell without the liner.
This is my first ski season,I'm losing trust in my boot fitter, and don't know what to do. Can anyone offer some advice/suggestions? Or any insight to help me understand what's going on?
Boots - https://www.fischersports.com/us_en/the-curv-105-vac-gw-2961
CARV - https://getcarv.com/
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@sskenne, a few things don't add up there. If your boot fitter really said 45 and 22 degrees then I would walk away now and find another one. Forward lean is typically in the 15-20 degree range - just think about what 45 degrees would actually mean. I don't think I could flex my ankles that far! Quad burn might fit with excessive forward lean, but there are other possible causes too.
The lack of a shell fit is a red flag too - how does the fitter know that the shell is the right size and shape, if they don't look?
Padding the ankle may help, but really it's a poor fix compared to having the right boot in the first place.
Based on what you've described, I'd be taking the boots to another fitter (and be prepared to start from scratch with new, different boots). It's expensive, but you really don't want to be getting frozen toes on a regular basis.
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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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Overtightening, haematoma and numbness in toes, and despite all of this, still slippage at the heels.
It sounds like the boots just aren't a good fit for your feet.
I would try someone else. Yes, an expensive mistake but a bad boot fit can not only wreck your trip, but also put you at more of a risk of injury.
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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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@sskenne, so many things going on and not many of them are pointing me to think the fitter got this right... it is a tough gig and relies to an extent on feedback form the client but as has been mentioned
no shell check, always a worry
padding around ankle... too much volume in boot
carv will always affect the way a boot fits sometimes in a good way sometimes not... it is a 3mm plate in the bottle of the boot so it takes upma fair amount of space
ok the the forward lean comment.... a ski boot is designed to accept a calf of 13-14" circumference and the body to be balanced, for every 1" circumference more than 14" the leg is pushed forward by 1/3" the fitter is using some very large numbers and exaggerating a lot, but if you are out of balance due to the calf muscle then the solution is to flare the cuff of the boot backwards top get you back into balance, however i think you probably need to be starting with a different boot and having the whole thing assessed properly.... if your ankle joint range of motion is restricted, that along with the calf muscle size could cause a lot of the problems you are suffering
who was your boot fitter? and where are you located, it might take a bot of travel but i know a lot of the usa guys so might be able to point you in the direction of someone who actually knows what they're doing
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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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Another person conned by the boot fitter, always remember they are in sales first and some will try and sell you what's in the shop wither it fits or not. One just tried it on with me, I was wondering why he was determined the Dalbello was the best free ride boot for me. Some gentle interrogation revealed it was the only one in my size. He was lucky not to get it placed where the sun doesn't shine, as it clearly didn't fit.
However, I must say Blues in Edinburgh were great when I eventually went there and bought Salomon shift boots.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| nevis1003 wrote: |
Another person conned by the boot fitter, always remember they are in sales first and some will try and sell you what's in the shop wither it fits or not. One just tried it on with me, I was wondering why he was determined the Dalbello was the best free ride boot for me. Some gentle interrogation revealed it was the only one in my size. He was lucky not to get it placed where the sun doesn't shine, as it clearly didn't fit.
However, I must say Blues in Edinburgh were great when I eventually went there and bought Salomon shift boots. |
"conned by the boot fitter" seems that you have a vendetta against boot fitters, i am sure there will be a few folks on here that will tell you we have sent them away sans boot in the past few weeks, it really is a case of getting people in the right boots not just getting people in boots ..... sounds like the opening poster AND yourself maybe visited a boot seller rather than a boot fitter, but he didn't have an alternative option the only thing to do is say we can try this and see how it feels but....etc etc, personally i like to be able to at least let a client try 2 boots, and occasionally 3 but when we have done that most often we end up at the first one as i am not wanting to bring out a bad option to begin with, and sometimes a foot shape just lends itself to one specific boot and even that will need adjustment
in the case of the opening poster there are a number of red flags about the outlet they visited not really being a boot fitter
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I don't think so, if you try spec savers first, and then read my post again you will see I have just recommended a good boot fitter, but warned against a bad one. I'm sure there's plenty good ones, but there's also a few who will sell you anything in the shop, so beware.
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| nevis1003 wrote: |
| I don't think so, if you try spec savers first, and then read my post again you will see I have just recommended a good boot fitter, but warned against a bad one. I'm sure there's plenty good ones, but there's also a few who will sell you anything in the shop, so beware. |
nope you basically said they are all salesmen who will sell you anything
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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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| CEM wrote: |
| nevis1003 wrote: |
| I don't think so, if you try spec savers first, and then read my post again you will see I have just recommended a good boot fitter, but warned against a bad one. I'm sure there's plenty good ones, but there's also a few who will sell you anything in the shop, so beware. |
nope you basically said they are all salesmen who will sell you anything |
No he didn't. My bold "they are in sales first and some will try and sell you what's in the shop wither it fits or not."
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Attitudes like a that are the reason most people in the ski industry who could help on these forums don’t
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And for the record the “some” that will sell anything aren’t boot fitters they are boot sellers maybe working in a shop that claims to be fitters
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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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I meet back up with the fitter early this upcoming week but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has replied to my post. Y'all's replies have been very helpful!
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FAQ
