 Poster: A snowHead
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I have feet that are flat and my shoes wear out on the heel more on the outside than the inside. AND my second toes are longer than my big toes. (that freakiness aside, the rest of me is rippling man meat)
I bought and had fitted a pair of boots at Lockwoods exactly a year ago. I was there for ages, and felt that they'd done an okay/good job. I only skied 6 days last year and it took until day 4 before the boots felt good when at rest. When skiing they were fine, but when at rest eg lunch it was bad enough to undo buckles. As I said, on day 4 it all felt brilliant and actually sat, ate lunch and got up to ski before I realised I hadnt loosened them at all. Figured they were broken in.
Last weekend I skied for 3 days at Kaprun. Every day my boots got progressively worse, until the last day was sheer agony ie ripping boots off at end of runs etc. Okay I did a real dumb thing by wearing the thickest of thick socks and it really squished everything in. Having said that the squishiness was just an exaggerated form of what I was already experiencing on the previous days.
In short my feet were feeling cold (and I am a hot blooded sweater at best of times) so think it might be a circulation thing. My toes felt squished together as though I am wearing pointy womans shoes (a friend explained how that would feel, honest!!). The worse thing was the underside of my feet where the toes begin - the ball I guess - sheer agony until it is rubbed for about 30 seconds then its okay.
I am going back to Lockwoods in a couple of weeks to check things out. Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated prior.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Yes, you do wear boots when you ski, however you also ski when you wear those boots. The described physiology of your feet would suggest even the best fitted boots wouldn't be enough to get your feet through the first few days. Sometimes we asume our feet hurt because of our boots when it can often be the forces of sking that cause our feet to hurt. A generous dispoition will help the guys at Lockwoods sort the problem out.
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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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SMALLZOOKEEPER, thanks. Can you be a tad more specific as to what you are thinking?
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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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Peter Leuzzi, thick socks ? I did this on one trip & did the 2nd clip up that had been tweeked down on the previous trip ans result = agony & 2 days lost skiing.
A minor boot widening on one side & now I never use the 2nd clip & I can wear them all day, including lunch at full tightness ! 
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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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Peter Leuzzi, can't stress enough what lampbus, has said about thick socks.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Peter Leuzzi, if your feet have not been in ski boots for many months it may take a few days for them to get used to being bound up very tightly? I know that the first day or two of wearing ski boots is fairly painful for me if I've not had ski boots on for six or seven months, even though the boots are fully broken in. After a day or two things get back to normal.
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Actually, my collection of ski socks are all fairly thin but do vary - so I start the week with the thinnest and progress to thickest as my feet compress. Then I do it all again the following month.
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lampbus, chris, rob@rar, thanks for that. Sound advice and will put it into action at Morzine in january
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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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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Peter Leuzzi, if your feet have not been in ski boots for many months it may take a few days for them to get used to being bound up very tightly? I know that the first day or two of wearing ski boots is fairly painful for me if I've not had ski boots on for six or seven months, even though the boots are fully broken in. After a day or two things get back to normal. |
Yep, found this myself after two months without skiing this year. Slippers became vices very quickly.
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Peter Leuzzi, Personally I'd spend £20-£30 on a visit to a podiatrist who can provide a prescription for your feet BEFORE going to the bootfitter, I have flat feet and found this to be invaluable
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Frosty, hate to say it, but if you can get a podiatrists appointment for £20 you are either seeing someone who is not specialist or there is a really good deal on the south coast.
IME the average proce of an initial consultation is min £30 probably nearer £40 and that is just for them to say you need a full assessment @ another £40-£80
I work with two or three podiatrists and there is a mass gap in specialties and educations like bootfitters, ski instructors and indeed every proffession there are good ones and bad ones 
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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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CEM, To be honest with on going flat foot problems like mine I've seen numerous experts over the years some with little idea of how to help and others with lots of helpful ideas and foot orthotics. My most recent visit to a newly discovered podiatrist (he's a state reg podiatrist and chiro ) was £20. To be fair this is the least I've ever paid, the norm has been £30ish at least and I've paid between£50 and £160 for a variety of orthotics and ski boot footbeds of varying quality and effectivness using all sort of construction and moulding methods (I have a bag with them all in that I carry most places on holiday  , I know, weirdo). This chap has made me (at further cost) nice foot beds for my ski boots that seem to be fine. This chap is also a skier and seemed to understand all of my issues quickly but I agree from personal experience it is really hard to find experts.
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Frosty, I went down that route last year. Some crook in Muswell Hill charged me £60 for the pleasure of his company and wouldn't even give me a clue of a diagnosis without some sort of video analysis that he wanted to charge £2-300 for. (Attention don't use the only podiatrist in Muswell Hill, N10). His attitude to taking money off me didn't make me want to go back or confident of anything he said.
Nevertheless, if Lockwoods recommend it this time I guess I will have to seek out another.
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You know it makes sense.
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Peter Leuzzi, if they do recomend one it will be Dr Patrick Shelton in Sutton Coldfield [nr Birmingham] he is one of the most if not the most qualified Pod in the UK [he is a DPM doctor of podiatric medicine, [USA qualification taking about twice as long as it takes to qualify over here]
Frosty, you have hit lucky...keep his number handy and don't move house 
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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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I'm probably going to get hammered for this, but here goes anyway:
I skied for many years in super close fitting race boots, quite often in agony with foot cramps etc particularly at the start of ski holidays. Usually they'd feel great for the last few days and then I'd have to go through the pain cycle again on the next trip!
So I finally decided last season to experiment with a slightly more compromised "comfort" fit i.e slightly bigger size. I got fitted out at Lockwoods, with this comfort idea in mind, and chose a boot that felt pretty comfortable when buckled up, right from the off. I've now skied in them for a total of 23 days and they feel superb. I can wear them all day buckled up without a single thought. Yes, they did pack down a little after the first week or so of use, but I just tightened the buckles a little more and the fit is still pretty good. If I was racing (which I'm not) I'd want another closer fitting pair, but for all-round tooling about on the mountain these are the business. I'm not saying that slack boots are a good idea, but don't get too carried away with precision fit if you're not skiing every day. Everything is a compromise and I've found that any advantage from very close fitting boots soon disappears if you end up with sore, numb feet. If I ski very aggressively I sometimes feel a little unwanted foot movement, but at least I can feel it!! On the whole though, I think my skiing has improved due to comfortable pain-free feet. Pro skiers can probably achieve the same comfort levels in closer fitting boots due to their long term foot conditioning, but it's not the same for holiday skiers who have to recondition their feet every trip.
Just my opinion, but it works for me.
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Poster: A snowHead
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uktrailmonster, interesting that you didn't go for a close fit race boot then blow selected target areas (oh, big toe say) out just a little more than usual.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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No, I kind of blew out the whole boot slightly 
My feet are prone to cramping, so they struggle with anything too close fitting. But we're talking relative here. My boots do fit well, they're just not super close, especially around the toe area. I actually blew them out a little more across the widest part of my foot as they're a bit wider than average.
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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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My experience is very much the same as Uktrailmonster's on this one. I don't race but like to ski all day so comfort is an important factor. Also, I reckon if my feet are nice and comfy I'm more likely to be concentrating on important stuff as I career down the slope rather than wobbling down fretting about pains.
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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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I've seen a few 'interesting' fits but by far the most fascinating was Mike Wakefield's set-up.
He came from rollerblading, switched to snowblades and then to full-sized skis, whereupon he won the British halfpipe championship with a series of spins and twists so vigorous that no-one came near him for a season. He's still only 20, by the way...
But what caught my eye more was that he skied in beginner's boot that weren't done up. I've watched his entire boot and ski fall off his foot when he landed wrongly on rails... after a 540 spin onto the rail...
I've had a few runs with him and he can ski faster than me - backwards - down a run he's never seen before in boots that he just slips on like slippers. And then he'll backflip and spin through 180 degrees off a roller, land forwards, and really put the hammer down. On skis that have mismatched bindings set centrally, no edges and are utterly, utterly shot.
He broke his back the other day but should be OK by April. Really unlucky accident not, amazingly, caused by crap kit. Hit a powder stash at speed and went down like a sack.
Mike does, now, wear boots that vaguely fit and he has been known to wave the clips together. You just wait; he'll be doing them up soon and then we'll see some action...
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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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I've noticed that in this thread there are several references to eaten lunch with boot clips done up. From other posts I'd gained the impression (mistakenly?) that it did no harm to release the clips during periods of rest to let the circulation get back to full strength. Which is the recommended course of action please?
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