Newbie saying hello / ski socks

Hello everybody.

Seeing the snow falling in the alps has really got me in the mood again. First trip in 5 years booked for February and I can't wait. :D

I saw an ad for Salamon ski socks. Do these really make a difference over normal socks, especially the shin protection?

Welcome Mickey...(the fish????)

You will be asking many questions soon about this "strange" and wonderful sport!

To answer your question, yes they do make a difference in many ways!

1. The well placed extra layer in shun and ankle area.
2. the tight elastic section near ankle area
3. the well placed toe area weave
4. The tighter elastic layer near top of socks

Would you believe that I even have a pair of socks ( not Salomon) that have a left and right section

Mickey The Fish wrote:Hello everybody.

Seeing the snow falling in the alps has really got me in the mood again. First trip in 5 years booked for February and I can't wait. :D

I saw an ad for Salamon ski socks. Do these really make a difference over normal socks, especially the shin protection?

Not seen those I think. But, X socks are widely recommended, http://www.x-socks.com/. I've had several pairs and they last a season long at least.

Hi Mickey,

Welcome to the madness that is J2SKI :)

I will gently slip my neck onto the chopping block and risk the wrath of others by venturing a view on this topic ...

If you hang around here long enough you will doubtless discover that I cannot answer a simple question with a simple answer … Sorry

Let me first ask a question: Why do you wear socks?

Ok, a mindless question you might think, but when applied to skiing it seems to take on a whole different meaning.

Let me guess some possible answers to my question:

1. To keep my feet warm
2. As a fashion statement
3. To protect my boots from my feet
4. Because I always wear socks
5. To stop my boots hurting
6. Because the ski-clothing industry marketing machine leaves me begging to wear their “ski socks”!
7. To stop the smell of my sweaty feet being transferred to my expensive boot liners
8. To protect my feet (shins) from my boots

As an aside, perhaps we should run a poll to gauge the most common answer to this question!

Personally I would probably answer this question with answer #3 but more of that later.

However, I would expect many people to answer with #1. This seems to be a fear that grips many, many skiers (and possibly snowboarders but I dread the thought of presuming to talk on their behalf – So boarders what’s the lo-down?) but is this a reasonable answer?

Well on the whole skiing takes place in a cold environment (if you exclude an August day on the dry-slopes of England) so wearing warm socks would seem to make sense. But why do feet get cold? There are probably 2 reasons: The surrounding environment is cold (well durr!) or the blood circulation to the feet is restricted or reduced. Ah, “Hey Presto” we have a winner! I would stake good money on the fact that 95% of skiers who have cold feet have poorly fitted boots! Think what is happening – Your foot is being crushed by the ever so cleaver designers of modern ski boot clamping systems, all it takes is for a blood vessel supplying fresh, WARM, oxygenated blood to the foot to be closed and you will get a cold foot!

So here is rule #1, if you want to have warm feet, get a boot that fits! (This probably means getting it fitted by a specialist – or cheaper but much more mentally challenging, subscribe to Pavelski’s boot fitting class!)

Now once you have a boot that fits you can probably dispense with answer #5 – Well fitting boots don’t hurt. What may hurt is the unaccustomed muscle activity that skiing provides but that’s not something I’m going to get into here.

Ok, so how about answer #8 (I think you alluded to this as a concern in your post). Well in some ways I salute you if your shins hurt when you go skiing. This suggests that you are flexing your ankles and exerting some pressure on your shins – This is a good thing! What shouldn’t happen is that this results in PAIN. I remember “back in the day”, when ski boots started to rise above ankle height (yes and stopped being made of leather) the front (plastic) part of the boot was solid and the point of highest pressure was right on the shin-bone – Ouch!

Nowadays (good) boot design tends to provide a channel down the front of the inside of the boot to allow the shin-bone to move forward whilst the “weight” of the skier is supported by the muscle structure on either side of the shin-bone.

This whole long and possibly boring dissertation comes down to one thing – Interference.

Let me explain, the two, true purposes of a ski boot are to transfer your wishes to your skis and for your skis to talk to you in return.

Now imagine wearing a big pair of industrial ear defenders and a bondage gag (no – you are still in the correct forum, so please be patient!) whilst trying to create an atmosphere of intimacy with your loved one. Your whispered words of endearment would sound very muffled and any reply you received would almost certainly not hear – Not a great start for a good evening!

Applying this to the sock question I believe that the thicker the sock the less your messages of love will be transmitted to your ski. In fact any message you try to send may be actively confused by “inappropriate” socks, not to mention the replies made by the skis – Hence “Interference”.

I have skied for 25+ years in thin “sports” socks and have never had cold or painful feet. For reference I class thin as the thickness that I could use whilst wearing my normal street shoes without feeling that they are tight.

In essence, thick socks will “detune” your ability to ski accurately, will “hide” poorly fitted boots and may well actively participate in causing blood to be restricted to your feet.

When choosing socks start by removing all other issues and then chose the thinnest you can find.

NEVER wear socks with a knitted pattern!

DO NOT choose socks to compensate for the failings of other equipment.

Enjoy skiing with warm, comfortable feet!

Jan

Hi Everybody.
Another newbie hear been skiing over twenty years now so a bit old in the tooth.Every year brings the same buzz tho, now checking out the webcams and weather reports and counting down
to xmas and new years hols.
Goff

im a smartwool sock man, make all sorts, try em you mite just love em haha

try to get FALKE SK4 Pro race- its the best socks ever (after the the 69 pounds pair with silk ...) At a price for a pair set 17.99 is a good buy. S&R are doing a deal 3 for a price of 2. ) :)

I think the salomon ski socks I have are what you are talking about, grey heel and sole and black around the instep and back of calves. The socks provide gentle compression around the calf area and compression of muscles does I believe help to relieve and offset fatigue.

Technical ski socks dry extremely quickly, I now take three pairs with me on holiday and wash each used pair with shampoo for drying on the radiators.

Don't make the mistake, like me, of buying a pair for each day's skiing because the coast adds up quickly and from experience washing and rotating works fine. Saves money and baggage allowance for other stuff. Of course if you want to buy for each day then do so.