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How to fit skis for child with extremely outward turned feet

How to fit skis for child with extremely outward turned feet

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Started by Linchuan in Ski Chatter - 1 Reply

J2Ski

Linchuan posted Nov-2012

One child was born with hip/femurs turned out. He walks well, but skiing is not fun for him. Due to the femur issue, both feet turned outward, a bit less than perpendicular to the skis. He needs skis with boots attached the way he stands, not boots parallel to the skis. Hope this makes sense and appreciate any suggestions/help you can offer.

Trencher
reply to 'How to fit skis for child with extremely outward turned feet'
posted Nov-2012

My daughter has external tibial rotation of about 25 degrees. With the right footbed, she is able to ski normally. this works because the alignment can be corrected.

From your description, my guess is that no amount of boot work or specially mounted bindings are going to make skiing on two skis a good proposition. So if skis are out, then the alternatives might be a sit ski, or some form of snowboard.

Snowboards are actually very adaptable in terms of stance. although most snowboarders mount their bindings flat, it's possible to add all kinds of canting, and heel/toe lift. The bindings can be set at any angle as well. If snowboarding is possible, then at some future stage, a custom snowboard might allow even more tailoring of the binding positions. At the same time, it's important that the forces involved would not cause injury.

I know in the US there are several adaptive ski centres that specialize in teaching people with disabilities to ski and snowboard. I would contact such a centre, as they may well have worked through this particular disability before.

because I'm so inclined .....

Topic last updated on 27-November-2012 at 03:55