Help - I can't feel my toes!

Jay Levitt wrote:
In article , says...

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.


Well, the bootfitter at Wilderness House is only in on Tuesdays, and I'd
rather work with someone right on a mountain where we can tweak
together, so I made an appointment for this morning at GMOL. (Stupidly,
I didn't feed the cats, so rather than staying to enjoy the aftermath of
the blizzard, I had to drive home this evening.)

Greg is off at some big conference till February, but Bill there took
good care of me. He's not a podiatrist, though, and I had some
confusion about that; when I made the appointment, I asked if making an
appointment with someone else was losing out on Greg's ability to
prescribe corrective (as opposed to compensative) footbeds, and was told
that "so-and-so is also an orthopod"; I wasn't sure if that was the same
as an orthopedist (doctor) or a pedorthist (footbed maker), and so when
I asked Bill about corrective insoles for daily wear and he demurred, I
didn't press the matter. That said, I learned:

1. Yes, 26 is a very aggressive fit for my foot size. Not too small,
necessarily, but as he put it, a "race fit" - it's quite snug for a
beginner and it's going to take some getting used to, and some
stretching. However, I can move my toes vertically and horizontally
when I'm flexing the boot, so it's ok.

2. Arch cramps can be caused by calf tightness. Arch cramps can be
relieved by calf stretches.

3. Nerves don't cross, so lateral numbness means lateral nerve
compression, and ditto for medial numbness. The Sugarloaf bootfitters
weren't sure about that, so had we spent some time grinding out the
medial ankle pressure points in the hopes it might alleviate the lateral
numbness. No such luck.

4. Much of the numbness is worse when I'm sitting, say for lunch, and
that's just the way it's going to be with tight boots. Solution: Take
off the boots when I'm sitting, say for lunch.

5. I have a leg-length discrepancy. Actually, as we discussed, I know
that I don't really; when I go to PT and she stretches my hip out
properly, my apparent leg length is fine. But, as he pointed out,
"that's nice." In general, I'm always going to be tighter on the one
side, so he added a post to one boot and planed the other sole so I'd
feel balanced. Should some miracle occur and I become permanently more
flexible, he'll just do the converse.

6. An interesting test that covers both internal canting and external
sole thickness is to rock from side to side in the boots and feel the
edges of your "ski" (e.g. boot). When both boots lift and lower at the
same time, you're all set.

7. Despite what some bootfitters say, it IS a good idea to break in the
boots by walking around the house. Bill said he doesn't even ski in
boots till he's given them 10-12 hours.

Total bill was roughly $300 for custom footbeds, heel lifts, and labor
for the post, sole planing and grinding. As far as I can tell, my boots
are now as good as they're going to get from modifications, and it's
time to ski and walk as much as I can in them.

Thanks, all, for the suggestions, and I'll report back later in the
season!

Please do report back. $300 is a great deal if everything
works as advertised. A full treatment at SureFoot is
$200 with much less customizing.

VtSkier