Need help to stop my feet falling off

A snowHead

Hey Snowheads. Need your guidance please.

Skiing hurts my feet. Always has but was bearable in the past.

10 years ago I got custom boots (which I no longer have )fitted to deal with pain in my big toe as well as a sore little toe. The boots were blown out and lessened the pain but didn’t get rid of it completely. I think I fastened my boots too tight across the toes and it may have made things worse.

We’re going skiing in Jan so we warmed up at Chill Factore last weekend and I was in agony!

The problem: The outside of my foot (5th metatarsal) hurts like hell. My pinkie and the toe next to it go numb and then hurt like hell.

I will have no choice but to wear the boots I’m given at UCPA.

What should I buy to try and lessen the pain? I can’t get new custom boots so need an off the shelf option I can at least try!

TIA

A snowHead

Get your shells stretched as required at a boot fitter.

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

I don’t have them anymore sadly

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Unfortunately I don’t have my custom
Boots anymore

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In spite of your comment that you can't get new custom boots: it is indeed past time for you to get new boots custom-fitted by a capable person/shop, and don't stop working with them until they fit without pain. If you start with the right boot and put in the effort to tweak them, which may well take some trips back and forth to get it right, you will solve your problem instead of kicking the can down the road. Messing with your ten year old boots that hurt you seems like a waste of time. Your bod may be different now as well.

Boots don't have to hurt. I have the same foot issue, and I buckle my boots in the morning and don't touch them again until I unbuckle in the afternoon. No pain. Its worth the effort it took to get there.

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Don't put up with foot issues - they only compound and steal the joy you get from a ski holiday. That unfortunately probably means spending on your own boots and getting them punched/stretched around the sixth toe. It's a fairly standard mod so most bootfitters (as distinct from sellers) should be able to do it. Otherwise you're at the mercy of whatever wide fits they have in the fleet at UCPA or trailing round rental shops looking for something more suitable.

Alternately you could snowboard.

After all it is free

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@bezthespaniard, I found similar issue at MK before skiing in March, it did however ease off when skiing as I think my boots loosened slightly and my feet grew used to it. Again this was a 3-year gap due to Covid

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@bezthespaniard, buy some new boots from a respected boot fitter.

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Obvious comment, but you should wear the thinnest of ski socks.

You know it makes sense.

There isnt an easy answer except for a well fitted pair of your own.
Anything else will be sheer luck!

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

A snowHead

A snowHead

Cheers everyone. Think I will just risk the marital trouble and get some custom fit.

Snow and rock offer a free fitting and custom footbed with a new pair of boots. Anyone can recommend them?

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

@bezthespaniard, Manufacturers do make 'High Volume' boots - they might help ??

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Collin at Solutions for feet in Bicester is one of the best. A bit of a trek but worth it.

After all it is free

For Manchester Rivington alpine

https://rivingtonalpine.co.uk/

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Ok, if buying boots is not an option, the best you can do is get your feet properly measured and work out what size/model of boot are a reasonable fit for your foot width, instep, etc. Next, how flexible are your ankles/how tight are your calves? A lot of foot numbness comes from inflexible ankles/tight calves meaning that when you flex, instead of moving at the ankle, your foot lifts into the upper of the boot. Muscle rolling your calves might help a little.

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£600 one off, or £70? a week rental and no enjoyment due to pain. Think about it, it makes all the difference

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You know it makes sense.

@bezthespaniard,

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

Use your persuasive skills, custom made boots are a game changer. Until I bit the bullet, I’ve often had painful feet (insteps) in owned or rental boots, overnight that disappeared. The boots, fitted in St Anton, are still going strong 15 years later.

A snowHead

A snowHead

The op along with most replys assumes the issue is solely equipment fault .
Bootfit from someone like S4F is the answer to bootfit or that question .

The footpain issue can largely be a physical lack of flexion in the 1st instance which is a personal physical issue..... where bootfit is a secondary equipment issue .

Timmych5 above mentions a lack of flexion above I bet he is at least partly if not 100% correct
Cem also mentions a lack of flexion/physical cond to ski in every footpain thread over about the last dozen years on here actually its probably longer than that

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

@bezthespaniard,
Don't do it at Snow & Rock, I don't think the staff would have enough experience to do a good job on you.
I have spent an afternoon in Snow & Rock having boots fitted that were fine in the shop but killed my feet after 1 hour of skiing.

It would be worth a trip to Cambridge to "Ski Exchange"
Excellent boot lab, but you have to ring up and make an appointment.

Someone must know if there is a good boot fitter near Manchester?

We had a great presentation from Ski Bartlett about boots a couple of weeks ago, I learnt a lot about ski boots that I just did not know.

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@bezthespaniard,
it’s not worth it for the one week every other year I go skiing.
[/quote]
The cost of the boot will be spread out over many trips. Work out how much it is per trip. How does it compare to renting?

Provided you got your new boots fitted by a GOOD boot fitter, your feet will be far happier so you could ski a long day, day after day. Perhaps the extra skiing will be “worth it” already?

In the end, the cost of the flight, lodging, lift pass, hired skis/boots… all adds up! It’s probably cheaper to spend a week at the beach instead of ruining your feet by skiing in ill-fitted boots.

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Rivington Alpine is the place to go for boot-fitting if you live in Manchester. I wouldn't trust Snow and Rock to do a proper job of it.

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

After all it is free

Some people don't have feet issues. I have a friend who buys boots and then skis in them - I think last time he didn't even bother thermoforming the liners. No problems for him.

Whereas in the past I've had to keel over in the snow and scream due to pain in my feet, and not just once (and even worse, it sometimes happened on powder days, robbing me of that enjoyment)

Properly fitted boots solved that. It did take several trips to the bootfitter (and for that reason I'm in awe of bootfitters who can do it all in one session in the UK - I wouldn't have thought it would work but it clearly does given the number of satisfied customers).

There is absolutely no way I would go back to poorly fitting boots. In your situation, I would suggest explaining this to your wife, and if money is really an issue try to find some savings somewhere else.

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Help!!

Need help to stop my feet falling off

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