Jay Levitt wrote:
I'm 33, brand new skier, 5'9", 180 pounds, street shoe 10.5 to 11,
slightly wide (can't wear Nikes). My feet pronate significantly (3.5
degrees left, 3 degrees right), which naturally means I have either flat
feet or fallen arches (not sure how to tell which), and my legs are
externally rotated. I also have an irritated sciatic nerve from a back
injury last summer.
I spent a weekend at Sunday River last year and had a blast. This
Christmas, I went again, and after just a few hours my feet were killing
me in the rental boots, so I decided to take the plunge and buy a pair.
Buster Bean at the ski shop tried me in a few boots from Nordica,
Technica, and I think Atomic before settling on a pair of size 27
Performa 7's. I skied a few runs in them, and went back to have them
adjusted; another salesman added some SBS shims to help my pronation,
which really helped my balance.
This weekend I went to Sugarloaf, and within an hour of putting on the
boots, my (nonexistent) arches were in agony, and my pinky and ring toes
were numb. I went to the ski shop, which has won some sort of "best
bootfitting" award from Ski magazine, and Russ spent about four hours
with me, blowing out the toes, cutting the SBS shims better (they were
curling), adding a heel shim, and heating the boots. I was still
getting numb after 15 minutes or so in the store, but we figured it was
time to try a few runs to loosen them up.
So the next morning I went out, and while the arch pain was mostly gone,
my toes were still getting numb after an hour or two. Back to the shop.
I didn't feel the boots pressing anywhere except the ankle, so Russ
ground the ankles. Went back out, still getting numb. Came back, and
Russ was gone, so Ian helped me. We tried a few things, and finally, I
asked - is it possible that the boots themselves are the wrong size?
Sure enough, they were too loose; I should really be in a 26. They
won't normally exchange boots from one ASC shop to another, but the
manager was coming in the next morning and could do it. I decided to
take advantage of the opportunity and upgrade to X-Wave 8's since I knew
I'd outgrow the Performas rapidly. At first they were agony, but after
swapping the footbeds for wintergreen Superfeet they were wonderful.
Stock footbeds in boots are generally made to be replaced. I have
used Superfeet in the past with some degree of comfort but still
prefer custom foot beds. Read further down.
Yes, X-Wave 8's WILL have a significant improvement in performance
over the Performas. The 8's should also be stiff enough for the
next several years of skiing which, as you guessed, the Performas
simply wouldn't.
Monday morning: Manager exchanges the boots for me. We put in the
Superfeet and I hit the slopes for a few hours - sans SBS shims since
they won't fit yet. Big improvement in control, but my outer toes are
still numb. Back to the shop, where Ian blows out the toes, grinds the
ankles, and heats the boots. Still numb. Adds back the heel shims
temporarily, since outer numbness can be from pronation stressing the
metatarsals. Still numb! I have to catch a bus to go home, so I don't
get to hit the shop on my way off the slopes.
Numbness in extremities may be due to pressure further up your foot/
ankle. Someone who REALLY knows what they are doing can diagnose
and correct this.
I am really frustrated with this. What, if anything, can I do? Options
include:
First, since you have upgraded and resized you boots, I have
to assume that the shell fit is correct, then...
- Just ski through the pain for 5-10 days before revisiting it. The
boots are new and relatively stiff, and both the boots and footbeds will
adjust to my feet. And once the boots expand, I can reinsert the SBS
shims.
Although the liner of the boots will pack out some during the
life of the boot, plastic, since it's resilient, does not
"break-in" like leather. IMO don't try to "tough it out".
It's not worth the pain and you may cause some damage that
will give pain even after the boot is fitting OK. Ask me, I
know. Tried some boots which I KNEW were too narrow. Damage
on the outside knuckle prevents me from wearing my favorite
boots which fit right and make me use my OLD (3 years) boots
that are really too loose.
- Try custom footbeds. Ian doesn't recommend this; he says that
footbeds improve performance but diminish comfort compared to Superfeet
since they're firmer.
Custom footbeds, as you might get from SureFoot (as I did) or
another boot/foot specialty shop will NOT give diminished
comfort compared to Superfeet footbeds. The improvement in
fit will ADD to comfort.
- Try orthopedic footbeds. Apparently there are some things doctors can
do that ski shops aren't allowed to do in terms of shaping. Again, Ian
recommends against.
As I understand it, someone who is licensed to make "orthotics" or
orthotic foot beds can correct some of the mis-shape in you feet,
namely the flatness where custom foot beds only hold your feet to
the shape they are most comfortable with. I've never had true
orthotics in my boots, only in my walking shoes. Again, what I
said about custom foot beds.
- Try a fancy shop with the scanning machine. Internet FAQs make these
sound fairly common, but Russ said that they were only at "super-
specialized" shops for high-performance skiing.
Clearly the shop you went to doesn't have a scanning machine,
otherwise, "Russ" would be extolling its virtues. Right?
AND if boot/foot shops were "super-specialized" for "high-
performance skiing" there wouldn't be so many of them. Right?
There are so many of them because they do a good job of
making skiing comfortable for the large mass of general skiers.
I've found two so far. One is SureFoot at Killington, but be
aware that not all SureFoot stores (it's a chain) are created
equal. And Tahoe Boot 'n Ski Works in South Lake Tahoe, CA.
Now, there are truly "high-end" bootfitters. There is one in
Aspen whose name escapes me and Greg Hoffman at Green Mountain
Orthotics Lab
http://www.gmolfoot.com/ who not only makes your
boots fit correctly, he can shape your boots so that you/your
legs align correctly with your skis. GMOL is right at the
mountain at Stratton so that you actually ski with the fitter
as the work progresses. I've had friends who have had Greg
work on their boots but I have not felt the need.
- Something else...
That pretty much covers it. There are the options, see where
you want to go. Monique on rec.skiing.alpine.moderated has
had a fairly lengthy thread on her tales of woe and wails of
toe about her boot fitting episodes. Curiously enough, she
also bought X-Wave (8 I think) boots.
There is a certain amount of work involved in getting boots
to fit right and be comfortable, especially for people with
feet like yours and mine. I'm not satisfied until I
can wear my boots for 8 hours straight and get up the next
morning and do it again.
Help! Ideas?