Boots slightly too big - remedies?

A snowHead

Hi all,

I'm sure this must come up a lot on here, but I'm new and thought I'd put the question out there.

First a bit of background:

I've just got back from my first snowboarding holiday in Flaine. I really enjoyed it and, despite the pain, definitely plan to go again. However, I fear that the boots I bought (Vans Encore from a few years ago) are slightly too big. I found this out the painful way. By the second to last day of the trip I was getting fairly confident and getting some clean runs in down some of the long blues back into Flaine. Boarding back to the hotel I was heading down an easy green carrying quite a bit of speed, so tried to break slightly on my toe edge. The inevitable happened (luckily this happened where it wasn't too steep) and I caught my heel edge on a lump of hard ice, sending me flying backwards. Fortunately I was wearing a helmet (now cracked) or it could have been much worse.

The last day of the trip wasn't fun at all. I was still nursing a headache from my fall, and my nerves were gone with the result that I was falling as much as I had been on my first day. I also noticed that I was having to really push my shin into my boot to get a response on my toe edge. I hadn't noticed the heel lift until I found out the hard way what it's consequences could be.

So - my question. Is there any remedy for this? Any way to pack out the end of the boot - it's only about 1/2 a size too big. Or would you advise I bite the bullet, sell my boots, and invest in a new pair that are a perfect fit.

At the moment I'm thinking of giving them another go, as I'd removed the insole thinking that it made the boots too tight. Now I've put the sole back in, I don't notice the lift so much when I've got the boots on. However, there's still a gap of 5mm or so from my toe to the end of the boot.

Any advice gladly received.

A snowHead

Where did you buy the boots and what kind of advice did they give you?
Leave the insole in, it's meant to be there, as you said yourself it stops the heel lift.
Did you get the boots heat fitted?
You should have a small gap at the front of the boot, the pressure should be on the shin not the toes otherwise you'll end up with bruised toes, numb toes and possibly frostbite due to restricted circulation.
Might sound silly but make sure you do the boots up tight enough, both inner and outer.
Finally, what socks do you wear? They can be played around with to help get a snug but not restrictive fit.
Hope some of that helps, I'm sure others will have plenty to add.

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

I was having the same issue with my Burton boots but it was caused by them being well worn, over 70 days, I went to a boot fitter in La Tania and he made a foam insert which he taped to the back of the boot, it helped a lot, but in my case it got me through the week and I got a new pair for my next trip. It felt better to spend Euro 12 on the fitting than lash out Euro 250 or so for new boots without many choices.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

timmychimp, given how easy it is to catch an edge on a snowboard, are you certain this is a boot issue?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Are the Encores using the Boa lacing system or the normal lacing?
Kind of with FlyingStantoni here, an icy cat-track can hand you your a*se to wear as a hat, good boots or not...
Are you experiencing any other problems riding with the boots - are you getting heel lift, are you having problems initiating turns etc, are you getting blisters/friction sores on your feet?

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

After all it is free

Rob - I bought the boots from ebay (I tried them on before I finalised the deal though). They haven't been heat fitted, but I think they can be. I was wearing salomon merino wool socks which are pretty comfortable. However, on the day this happened I was wearing two pairs of socks, which I think I won't do again - seems to decrease the amount of friction between foot and boot.

rggdxb and kruisler - thanks for the tip.

FlyingStantoni - I think there's definitely an element of inexperience involved here, and it was later in the day and starting to get a little icey, so I can't lay all the blame on my boots.

Richard_Sideways - they're BOA. I'm haven't noticed any other problems. My feet were getting a little cold, but that could have been to do with having removed the insole. There is a little heel lift, but I think I was much more aware of it once I'd had my crisis of confidence. Re-inserting the sole has improved this slightly.

I've got 3 days booked in Davos for the start of March so I'll persevere I think. Hopefully it should be time enough to get my confidence back. Thanks all for the help.

timmychimp, as you've found out - 1 sock good, 2 socks bad.

I use Vans Encores with the boa too, mine are now suitably ancient - maybe time for new boots sometime soon... anyway something you may want to try to do to see if it helps is a trick someone told me when I bought them about how to tighten them. If you tighten them up standing 'normally' they can tighten unevenly (grab around the cuff of the boot before the cable across the top of the foot is tight enough).
Try and apply some forward lean pressure (like in a toe-side turn) while you tighten up. This'll tighten across the top of your foot. Once their tightened up, relax back a bit and finish winding them up. It gives a more even tighten to the boot and may help with the lift you're feeling. Hope that made some sense.

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Also bear in mind that we all have off days. Can be any time in the week and make you slide like a muppet no matter what you do. The odd thing is you go out the next day and it all seems to be perfect. Maybe yours just happened to be the last day.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

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Thanks again for all the helpful comments gents. I'm feeling much better about the boots now, and I'm happy to put this down to inexperience and the difficulty of boarding on narrow icey cat tracks. Already looking forward to my next bout of concussion.

I got a bit of heel lift in my boots. Cured it by putting volume reducers (couple of quid at a hiking boot shop) under the insole in the bottom of the boot. I also wear two pairs of socks notwithstanding all the advice to the contrary because i prefer it.

Help!!

Boots slightly too big - remedies?

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