How To Ski Pain Free in Custom Fit Boots

It's the Christmas holidays in Sun Peaks Resort, and I've been invited to an après ski Happy Hour gathering with friends who have some very special Kiwi visitors. Armed with a bottle of wine and my best party sweater, the question begs: Why am I lugging my battered old ski boots with me?

A tough challenge for even the most expert ski boot whisperer

The visitors were Browns Ski Shop proprietor, Haggis Vaitkus and his wife Leanna. Haggis is famous as a boot-fitting guru in New Zealand, where skiers flock to his Queenstown store from far and wide to solve their foot issues. Although he was just on vacation in Sun Peaks, our mutual friends thought he could work his magic on my problematic feet, a tough challenge for even the most expert ski boot whisperer.

Having sent photos of my decades of downhill-damaged feet to him a few days before, he has summoned them in person as he can't quite believe what he saw. 'Unique,' he said, requesting my 15-year old, 1000 days-on-snow ski boots as well. His advice would go on to guide me through the long boot-fitting process ahead.

IF THE BOOT FITS

When I started the quest for new boots, I knew it would not be an easy run.

The last pair - my gnarly Nordica Dobermann PRO 130 racing boots took Donny Dion, master boot fitter in Fernie, four days to custom fit and me two seasons to get comfortable in before they became my most prized possession. His verdict: I had in one person every foot, ankle and lower leg problem that all his customers have between them.

Agony in off-the-shelf boots, rear entries, rentals and hand-me-downs

This did explain the previous 30 years of agony in off-the-shelf boots, rear entries, rentals and hand-me-downs. I have skied around North America in my dependable Dobermanns since 2009, travelling with them stashed in my hand luggage rather than suffer some disastrous baggage handling hiccup.

FIND A GOOD SKI BOOT FITTER

Trawling the Sun Peaks ski shops with Haggis's advice in mind, I settled on McSporties and, specifically, owner Matthias Schmid as my next long-suffering boot fitter who I hoped could work some magic to spell another 15 years of skiing longevity.

Matthias has a long pedigree in both boot fitting and racing, having raced and coached with Sun Peaks Alpine Club. And he is currently coaching the Masters Gate Training Program in Sun Peaks. I'm not a racer, by the way but, as both Haggis and Matthias reiterated, advanced skiers often choose to ski all terrain in highly supportive, aggressive racing boots.

 Every challenge that my bone spurs and hammer toes could offer

I warned Matthias I would probably be the customer from Hell who he would use as a benchmark for bootfitters' banter henceforth, but he claimed to be up to any, and every challenge that my bone spurs and hammer toes could offer. Luckily he has a sharp sense of humour and ineffable patience along with his detail-oriented expertise, otherwise I would have been banned from his shop after my sixth boot-fitting visit.

REGULAR BOOT CAMPS

Matthias is a self taught ski boot scientist - aka wintersports wizard - with almost 30 years of experience. There's no Boot Fitting Hogwarts per se, but he does attend regular boot camps. 'Boot Doc out of Austria, every year they do a boot fitting course,' he explains. 'You become friends with other bootfitters and you learn stuff from them as you go, so it's kind of a dark art but, at the same time, there's a lot of common sense.'

Tooling has changed dramatically over those three decades and the vices, presses, heat guns, sanding belt, lasers, boot opener, grinder and other tools in his McSporties workshop evoke a nightmarish vision of a contemporary torture chamber.

Able to help people who are knock kneed or pronated or supinated

'We've got the only laser set up in the village, so we're able to help people who are knock kneed or pronated or supinated,' says Matthias. 'We're able to set them up and make sure that their foot beds are working, like they're actually in neutral.'

This was good news for me, blessed with one foot prone to pronating and the other slightly supinating.

TESTING SKI BOOTS

Because there was no obvious rush for the new boots - apart from the risk of the ancient Dobermann tongues splitting in half or the snow-shocked shells exploding - we decided to do the assessments and fittings over a few weeks on my regular day off, Tuesdays.

I am a volunteer Sun Host every Monday, guiding groups of visiting guests around the Sun Peaks slopes. It's a long day usually preceded by five straight days skiing, so I take the next day off to rest my boot-battered feet. Maybe not the best day to try out new boots! But at least all the potential problems would be easily identifiable.

Of course, this protracted fitting period wouldn't be the typical timeline for getting ski boots customised. It is just a matter of a day or two for most people. But it is highly recommended to buy boots in resort in order to have easy access for customisation and testing them out on the slopes.

After that we find out how they ski in them

McSporties guarantees fit: 'Basically what we do is we help the customer find the correct shell that we can agree on, one that is going to suit what they're looking to do. And then we do all the fitting in-house and we include everything that needs to be used here to get them happy in the store, and then we do one follow up fitting. After that we find out how they ski in them. They can come back with any problems. and then we'll get that sorted and that typically is all that is need for 95 percent of people.'

A word of warning - don't get boots fitted right after flying as feet can be unnaturally swollen and appear bigger than usual.

THE BOOT FITTING PROCESS

The first boot visit included a kind of interview and assessment of my foot problems, my skiing needs, what I was hoping for in a ski boot, an investigation into what had been customised in my old foam-injected boots and a discussion on the latest technology - with me throwing in several of Haggis's suggestions.

Haggis couldn't, of course, fit my boots for me unless I flew to his home town in New Zealand - which, in my desperation, might not have been out of the question if Matthias hadn't agreed to take me on.

Moulds for boots cost upwards of a million dollars per model

'I'm not going to reinvent the wheel,' Matthias concludes after lengthy examinations. He decided to order a unisex Tecnica 130 flex Firebird race boot. 'It is a Tecnica, on paper - it is the exact same mould as the Nordica Dobermann, which seems to have worked for you for many years,' he explains. 'Moulds for boots cost upwards of a million dollars per model, so these are the exact same boot, just a different branding. Kind of like GMC and Chevrolet.'

Tecnica Group is an Italian company that owns Nordica along with other brands like Blizzard, Moon Boot, and Rollerblade.

CUSTOMISATION

Once the Tecnica arrived, the customising began, starting with shell/liner minor heat moulding. Next stage was an instore try-on in order to identify any obvious trouble zones, as Matthias says: 'Once pressure problems are identified, boots are moved to the boot fitting area and disassembled for punching and grinding,'

The initial work performed on my boots included making customised footbeds to accommodate the very different issues on each foot.

'Ski boots when manufactured are basically just different canvases for boot fitters to work with,' Matthias explains. 'Every customer needs a canvas that suits their specific needs and uses for that boot. Size, flex, sole type, volume, cuff height, all play a role in that decision. The insole - footbed - is no different.'

Skiing is a very unnatural thing to do in terms of physiology

The insoles that come with the boots are not actually meant to be used for skiing, just for initial trying on, as Matthias points out they are considered throw-away by the manufacturers. 'They don't offer any support of the arch, and do not help the foot in any way while skiing. Customised foot beds are much stiffer, warmer,  more comfortable, and help prevent foot fatigue during the ski day.'

Skiing is a very unnatural thing to do in terms of physiology, according to Matthias: 'To clamp a plastic boot around your foot and leg, and then subject your body to two to three times your own body's weight by bracing against icy conditions on steel edges is really tricky on the feet. They need as much help as possible. That's where the custom moulded and supported insoles come in.'

BATTLING BONE SPURS

Next came navicular and bone spur punches on both.

Matthias explains the process: 'Material was also removed from the Achilles area to alleviate pinching. The left boot was punched and ground in the instep area.'

A millimetre's a mile in the boot fitting world

This turned out to be insufficient for the bone spur inflammation in that area, so Matthias went on to cut a hole in the tongue, punching the shell more near the 2nd foot buckle. And he later had to shave the hole even further to one side, perilously close to the edge.

Customised changes to ski boots can feel dramatic but they are done in small increments, as Matthias says: 'We say a millimetre's a mile in the boot fitting world.'

HEEL HACKS

The heel area also pinched on both boots, so he removed the upper cuff from the boot, and ground it out using a precision dremel tool. Other work included a minor heel lift to stop tendons in my ankle from firing up during flexion; adjusting the cant laterally on the left boot to address pronation; and a medial side punch on the right, after grinding the plastic to allow the punch to stay longer. Due to my triangular feet - narrow at heel, very wide at toes - the boots were significantly widened during all of this customisation.

Another solution if the problem worsens, is known as 'buddy taping'

The key was to start with a boot that would be tight enough for narrow heels but which could be widened to accommodate the rest of the foot. The biggest no-no in boot fitting is to choose a shell and liner that is loose in the heel area.

For the increasing pressure point on my hammer toe, we decided to stick with my makeshift solution of padding it under the sock because it works. Another solution if the problem worsens, is known as 'buddy taping', strapping it to an adjacent toe, aligning it better in order to reduce friction and pressure while wearing ski boots.

TESTING ON SNOW

My first trial on snow led to numb toes on my right foot, which revealed that the boot was too tight all along on the right hand outer side, due in part to pressure points and also to my tendency towards supination. Matthias addressed this by removing material on the medial (inside) of the foot and punching out the lateral side of the boot to allow the foot to be centred in the boot, allowing the foot to be in a more neutral, natural position.

After this, the next run I tried showed that the customisation on the right boot was a success and that the wobbly feeling I had noticed previously in slushy snow could be rectified by significantly tightening up all the shaft buckles - which luckily did not cut off any circulation.

Further rubbing on the inside ankle area of the left foot became apparent, though, and this was then solved by Matthias minutely manipulating the cant sideways: 'For the canting, we removed the cuff one degree outwards, to relieve some of the protruding ankle bone, and added padding around the ankle bone on the outer perimeter to further alleviate the pressure on the area of aggravation.'

Otherwise, like me, it feels as if you are skiing in the back seat

A more intensive ski trial showed that the left ankle required a shell punch as well, there was still widening required for the outer toe area of both feet, and the footbed needed a riser. Those who have spent many decades wearing heels or wedgies in everyday life often find they need a slight riser to centralise their stance - otherwise, like me, it feels as if you are skiing in the back seat and getting thigh muscle strain.

The third trial on snow showed that the magic had worked and I could move on to the final stage: breaking in my new boots by gradually building up time and vertical on snow.

---

 

10 SKI BOOT TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

1) BREAK IN SKI BOOTS: To break in new ski boots, wear them skiing: This is much more effective than the mountain myth of wearing them around the house. It is better to be in the proper skiing position - knees and shins on front of boot, ankles flexed, pelvis correctly tilted - than sitting or walking around. You need to break the liners in for skiing Sun Peaks Laundry Runs not doing the actual laundry!

2) SOCKS: Find the right thickness socks - perhaps thinner to start with when the boots are tight and then gradually use increasingly thicker socks as they start to pack out. Merino or other warm but sweat-wicking fabrics are recommended such as those used by SmartWool.

3) COLD OR STIFF BOOTS: Make sure to warm ski boots up before skiing to make the plastic more pliable - on a heated floor, under a radiator or with an electric boot dryer. Hair dryers are OK but they don't reach inside the far toe area. Heated boot bags, like those made by Transpack, are also highly effective.

4) BOOTS TOO TIGHT: Spray with Eazy On Sports Spray made by Hotronic.

5) BUCKLE PRESSURE: Try loose buckle pressure to start with, and only tighten as needed. Loosen on lifts or during walking and rest breaks. Matthias suggests: 'Focus more on the upper two buckles for the first few days as the lower foot finds its new home.'

6) TONGUE POSITION: Make sure the boot tongue is in the correct position and not skewed to one side or the other. 'If the tongue is of the Velcro attachment style, play with the position until your instep area - top of the foot - is in the most ideal position,' counsels Matthias. 'If your foot is being crushed in a certain spot, move the tongue towards the front of the boot; if your toes are hitting the end of the boot, move the tongue towards the heel.'

7) WARM FEET: Add Hotronic Boot Heaters, easily installed in every ski boot brand and type. Wear Dry Guy Boot Gloves.

8) DAMP BOOTS AT THE END OF THE DAY: Always dry boots properly after skiing - with the Dry Guy Portable Boot dryer, for example. This helps extend the boot life as the liner is the first thing to wear out. It starts to break down from sweat and wear generally around 100 days of use.

9) OFF SEASON: Store boots in a cool, dry area away from sunlight, with the tongue perfectly straight, and all the buckles and strap closed.

10) WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS: There is a 'Last Resort' (and not just Queenstown!). If customisation of shells and liners just isn't working, there's another option: investing in Zipfit or Intuition liners. 'Sometimes they're magic and sometimes they're tragic - a $650 mistake,' quips Matthias. 'So, you gotta be damn sure of what you're doing before you do it.' NB. Check out ski shops' own brand intuition liners and eBay for less costly alternatives to Zipfit.

STYLE ALTITUDE has no affiliate arrangement with any brand or retailer and will not profit from any sales made through links in this feature.

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