 Poster: A snowHead
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I love skiing but suffer from cold feet due to poor circulation. Could anyone give me some suggestions on how best to keep my feet warm ?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Wolfie09, electric boot heater things. Several different kinds available.
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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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sorry, should have asked - do you have your own boots?
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Wolfie09, well fitting boots, quality socks with a high merino wool content, possibly very fine silk inner socks too, a different inner boot such as an Intuition - very warm- and boot heaters maybe. Be sure though that your feet are actually cold and not numb due to another issue e.g. poorly fitting boots.
Best of luck 
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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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Wolfie09, if you have your own boots here's the sequence of important things (BTW I suffer from reynaulds and so when climbing have to be very careful):
- boots must fit properly and not be done up too tight
- it might be that your feet are getting sweaty and then chilling (boot heaters therefore wrong thing); remedy: wool socks (eg smartwool)
- sounds strange but (if your feet are not overheating and sweating and then chilling) that your core temp is too low: remedy better base and mid layers on your torso
- a reynaulds response can come from hands getting too cold; get gloves with heavy fleece inside - good wicking and insulation
- make sure that you can keep your core temp constant (that what inuit do - always removing and putting on layers when they work) so good venting and insulation
- eat enough; if you are prone to chilling it can be that your energy levels are too low; eat little things often
- keep your socks clean; new pair every day
- spare socks and changing them at lunchtime is a good idea
when climbing and touring these precautions are really necessary, and should be done in combination
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Wolfie09, think spyderjon had some boot warmer going cheap 
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Wolfie09, Whilst skiing in Alp D'huez a few years back the instructer we had, had invented some neoprene over boots, that went over your ski boots but still allowed you to clip your bindings on & off. They were TUV approved and she was going to market them in Japan & the USA over the summer that year - having secured a manufacturer after 7 years of gaining a patent, TUV approval, ce marking etc....
I have never seen them for sale either here or in France but maybe they are around.
Has anyone else seen them ???
She wore them herself, day in day out, as well as other instructors in Alps D'uez and they swore by them.
noisey
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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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The boot warmer has heat element cast into a sole to be dropped into any boot. It has a flat wire strip with a connection to an external battery. So no need to own your own boot if you don't want to but it is easier if you do.
You can buy extra battery to stay in the warmth all the time.
First got them from my brother in Norway. Since then found replacements in Austria and UK.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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snowgood, ....you are absolutely right ...I was very stupid to leave this off my list....completely right, essential to start with dry boots every morning. Forget the 'it will mess up the thermo foam on your boots if you warm them' - as long as you have standard liners you can heat them to get them dry. All our kids' boots and our liners come out every day and go on the radiators in the chalet (they are bog standard water radiators, not electric) and then they are bone dry for the morning. They are cold by the time we get them on, after the ten minute trip in the car to the bottom station, so do not induce sweating. It's a pfaff, since I have to take all the inners out and then back in, since no-one else in the family can quite get the knack, but it is indeed essential.
But boot warmers are not necessarily the answer, depending on the nature of the problem; they can actually make things worse.
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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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snowgood, ....you are absolutely right ...I was very stupid to leave this off my list....completely right, essential to start with dry boots every morning. Forget the 'it will mess up the thermo foam on your boots if you warm them' - as long as you have standard liners you can heat them to get them dry. All our kids' boots and our liners come out every day and go on the radiators in the chalet (they are bog standard water radiators, not electric) and then they are bone dry for the morning. They are cold by the time we get them on, after the ten minute trip in the car to the bottom station, so do not induce sweating. It's a pfaff, since I have to take all the inners out and then back in, since no-one else in the family can quite get the knack, but it is indeed essential.
But boot warmers are not necessarily the answer, depending on the nature of the problem; they can actually make things worse.
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...weird doubling of my post...apologies....
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You know it makes sense.
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I have never taken out the boot liner of my boot in 10 to 12 years of skiing for the purpose of drying it out for the next day. What I did was either
leaving the boots on the ski room knowing it would be warm, heated or temperature maintained
or
take the boots to the bedroom of the accommodation.
Don't normally bother with boot warmer either unless we go to Scandinavia or Canada to ski.
Most Italian, Swiss and Austrian accommodations I came across provide excellent facilities to store skis and ventilate the boots. Can't vouch for the French though.
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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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when you are in gondola or chairlift lift your leg up slightly then karate chop on your quads just above the knee that gets the blood pumping and sorts the feet out.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Guernseyfreerider, ...personally my feet seldom need sorting ... I usually have one left one (which I keep on the left) and one right one (which I keep on the right) - I can get confused when I cross my legs but I can usually sort it out....
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Despite having invented a thing of proper beauty, I did see a product on the shelves of Ski Bartlett this week - £29.99, but then that's the cost of not being able to steal a wetsuit from a hot chick or sew.
I can't find the thing on their website, but it looked similar to the Boot Glove mentioned in the thread above, seems to be a bit bigger to cover a bit more of the boot.
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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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1. Dry boot-linings 100% every evening after skiing.
2. The external boot-covers that people wear look tragic. They look like old people's slippers.
3. Get some boot heaters and turn up the heat to the max.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Whitegold wrote: |
1. Dry boot-linings 100% every evening after skiing.
2. The external boot-covers that people wear look tragic. They look like old people's slippers.
3. Get some boot heaters and turn up the heat to the max. |
Do 1 and you will still probably need to do one of 2 or 3 on seriously cold days, or if you have cold feet.
If you do 2, at a cost of £30 max (if not almost free) then you probably won't need to spend £100 on 3.
If skiing is a fashion parade for you, then you probably won't bother with going out when it is well below zero. It clearly is a fashion parade for you. Stay inside, where it is warm. The rest of us will enjoy the quiet pistes on cold days, and some of us will need to look "tragic" to do it 
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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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dry, warm boots at beginning of day, gradually tighten down your boots after a warm-up run or two (rather than full clamp right from the off), and the new compression style socks should (in theory at least) make a pretty big difference (maybe even more so with confirmed circulation issues?)
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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If you have really cold feet, all the well-fitting boots and nice socks in the world (and furry hats too) won't stop your feet getting cold. Electric boot heaters aren't cheap, but they can make the difference between having a miserable day, and enjoying it.
Certainly the boots need to be warm and dry to start with, but for many people that just isn't enough.
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Like Valais2 said, if you have poor circulation make sure your core body is at the right temperature. I'd try everything else, but don't overlook the benefit of good quality wicking base layers because as soon as your core gets cold it will reduce the blood to your extremities and bingo cold feet and hands.
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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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Mt, thanks....OP....really important to listen to the advice from folk who climb as well as ski - core temperature is SO important, and in climbing this can be the difference between losing toes and not - boot heaters are an option of last resort in many ways, the best thing is to fool the body into thinking it's really warm outside, and that means keeping head and core warm - and for that you need excellent wicking layers which avoid chilling the core - as I said above, if you are getting chilled on your upper body due to poor jacket which gathers condensation during the day - ie poor breathability - or your base layers aren't good, the first thing the autonomic system will do is shut down circulation to the feet.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Mrs Double suffers from cold feet so we bought some of the heaters and they work a treat.
One problem with the fitting is that the shop installed the plates on top of her comformable insoles which caused even more discomfort. We repositioned them under the sole and filled the small hole they made to feed the wire through.
Advise is that you turn them on whilst riding the lifts and not to use them when skiing, however due to the repositioning she finds that leaving them on setting 1 all day keeps her feet at a comfortable temperature.
If you have a pair of well fitting boots you may need to do as we did and remove 1-2mm off the base of sole support in the base of the boot.
In addition to the above get the best socks you can find, they really do work in terms of wicking moisture away from sweaty feet.
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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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Another counter-intutive trick which may help in addition to whats already been mentioned is to wash your feet in cold water, cold as you can stand, dry quickly and thoroughly, and it should trick your circulation into kicking into high gear. Try it at home, see how you go, works for some.
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| Richard_Sideways wrote: |
| Another counter-intutive trick which may help in addition to whats already been mentioned is to wash your feet in cold water, cold as you can stand, dry quickly and thoroughly, and it should trick your circulation into kicking into high gear. Try it at home, see how you go, works for some. |
mmmmm, that would just make my feet even more cold. I suffer very badly (spicey blood in my veins see) and getting my feet cold in the first place would just cause them to slow down and remain cold all day. my feet are even cold in teh UK on summers days. I used to ski without feeling my feet for years, every day was uncomfortable and some days the pain was imense. Since boot warmers I'm happy all the time and didnt realise how much pain I was in. best two hundred odd quid I spent . I have comformable's
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You know it makes sense.
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Morrissey, ...but richard s-ways talks sense actually....I am about to post on core temperature for those who have nothing better to read....
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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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People without enough cladding on their core are very likely to suffer from cold extremities. But that doesn't mean that wearing good cladding round the core will always eliminate cold feet. I don't suffer badly from cold feet - I have electric warmers for cold days though, and am very glad of them. I wear loads of stuff. Typically (on an ordinary sort of day) merino base layer, a good fleece and a warm jacket. All good stuff, wicking etc etc If it's cold, an extra base layer and maybe a fleece gilet too. Equally warm stuff on my legs and merino shorts. Helmet with silk balaclava, neck warmer, good gloves with silk inners. I'm toasty warm all over. But that doesn't mean the feet don't get cold. My boots are fine (Zipfits and top quality thin socks).
I have a tall thin friend who finally gave in to the boot warmer idea last year. He wondered why he'd not done it years before. Is struggling with Reynauds in the hands though - he got the warmest mitts which the Vieux Campeur in Albertville could produce, but they still get cold.
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Poster: A snowHead
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pam w, ....that all sounds very sensible indeed...boot warmers are fine if the rest is sorted, but it is sensible to sort out the things you have listed first.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's called the hunters (or huntsmans) reflex, and it's about tricking the body into using it's own central heating system, to your advantage. Basically you're cold so the body restricts blood flow to the extremities to proctect itself, and they go cold. Not Nice. However you can restart the flow by continuing the cooling past a certain point the capiliaries dilate back and blood goes back to the extremities again to warm them back up to prevent damage, cold blood will go back to the core, causing an overall drop in temperature, which in a survival situation is bad, but you're safe on the mountain as you're able to regenerate your core heat from excercise, eating, drinking, clothing etc.
Incidently, huskies have an interesting (opinions may vary) adaptation where they use the veins of warm blood to take the chill off of the returning cold blood in their paws as it'd stop their hearts if blood that cold and thick went straight back to the circulatory system... The more you know eh?
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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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Buy dark or black ski boots and gloves to maximise the solar gain on the extremities. I wear dark boots and gloves but light clothing, as my problem is getting too hot when skiing but don't mind my feet and hands being a bit warm on hot days if it avoids them being too cold at other times.
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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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Start telemarking. You'll never have cold feet again.
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