J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by Dave Mac

Ise, I obviously could not say if my case is exceptional. Had a chat with a couple of ski buddies on the issue today, and they both concurred with me that they would not expect to have any pain problems with boots. I don't accept that this is luck. My wife also bought boots on the same day as me, and she too has never had problems, in terms of pain/breaking in.

Maybe...this is something to do with the boot design. You correctly identified that we bought our boots 15 years ago, from the fact that they were rear entry.

I have never accepted the guff that ski gear companies put out without a great deal of scepticism. I am an engineer, I know how things work. Rear entry makes significantly more sense to me than any multi-clip design.....providing that you have set the boot up right. They are easy to get into. One rear cam clip pushes the foot forward into a held position.

In the Gondola, release the same clip, ensuring good blood flow, and at the top, tighten one clip.

Do you remember Pavel writing about skiing his first run of the day with loose clip? So why do we need to clamp the blood vessels?

You use the term "footbeds". I have not heard this before. Most sportsmen/persons bottom arch changes shape over time. So if you have a gap under your arch, and buckles clamping the foot down, it isn't difficult to see where pain may emerge.

My boots are standard Raichle, not foamed.

Tony, I would still consider having the boots set up for you. Something maybe has changed, but I re-iterate my point that if they worked before, it ought not to take too much change to make them right now, particularly since the issue is too roomy, and not too tight.

Hi Johntin,

Bandit is right, accomodation is the big issue.

However, I would first carry out some quick research on the main transport aspect ~ do you have a low cost way of getting to Innsbruck, Salzburg or Munich, with acceptable flight times. (Times may change however)

Then I would go through the group, and list requirements.
Do you need close access to the ski school location.
Will you require ski hire.
Do a significant number of your party require access to night life.
Can your party all use a T bar ~ this opens up edge of village locations which tend to be quieter and lower cost, and often more interesting.

Having defined your needs and boundaries, this will assist you in checking the suitability of a location.

Then, as Bandit suggests, contact the tourist office, ask them for suggestions and ask them also to mail an accomodation brochure. This should organised in such a way that you can relate property locations to your check list locations.

When looking for accomodation, be aware that properties that can accomodate 30-ish people are often already tied in with a travel operator. So perhaps consider two or three properties in the same area.

Availability of accomodation is strongly affected by the time of the season that you wish to go. This also affects other things like travel costs.

If I was doing what you are considering, I would take a short summer holiday in June, when the summer walking is fabulous. Let the tourist office know in advance, and you can fit in some great alpine walking, with several visits to prospective guest houses, chalets, hotels. You can also talk to the lift company, and discuss lift pass discounts, on the basis that you are undecided if you will go to the ski-welt. It helps a lot if you can set up personal contact.

The transit is the easieast because there are so many options.

Finally, look carefully at Bandit's second main point, what can go wrong? On another thread we have a lady who has a dilema of injury, and her insurance will not cover her. In Austria there are rules set down about what happens in the event of cancellation. You may be charged where the accomodator has incurred costs, but not for things like loss of profit. These are clearly laid out, and the tourist bureau should be able to give you a copy of the rules. If you bok Easyjet/Ryanair type flights these are non-refundable. You cannot cancel. Having recognised the risk areas, you have to set up an understanding with your clients.

Good luck

Beg to differ Ise, I guess we all base on our personal experience. My boots felt like carpet slippers when I bought them, and they still feel very relaxed. I did spend 3 hours in the ski shop, before paying.

Haven't counted the number of days usage, but it is somewhere between 300 and 400 days.

They are rear entry, so I am usually half way up the T bar, before my ski buddies have finished latching their boots up.

I weigh 14st, so cannot be too kind on the liners.

Maybe I just don't ski quickly enough, but then I did break the Niederau day run record in 2001, with 32 runs. (He said modestly)

Hamish, you need to look in an Austrian carpet shop... (or under the bed) I digress here, but in Worgl, there used to be a shop that sold feathers!

Your boots were good in previous four week usage, they should be good now.

In my humble, but reletavely experienced view:

You should not have to overtighten the clips

You need not go through a week of pain in order for the boots to fit for life, they should fit from the outset.

Clips do stretch slightly, and inners do compress slightly, but not normally in a way that sounds to be significant.

Something may be different this time from previous trips. Different snow or slopes, you have made a step change in speed/ability, you have developed a back/knee problem that is changing pronation.

A knowledgable boot fitter, with good measuring equipment should be able to assist. You will have your under-foot shape checked, and an internal inner sole made to measure.

I confess to the odd diy measure, eg the application of patches of "Second Skin" fitted to the outside of the liner, where required.

A much bigger confession follows..... and this is the first time to be related outside of a pub..

During my second full season in Niederau, the liner in my Kastinger boots, (lord, I may be giving my age away), starting to get compressed. I thought about this for a while, and then my engineering training came to the fore.

What I need is a pair of inner soles, says I, not the namby pamby supermarket stuff, but real inner soles, made from authentic Austrian carpet.

I often wondered after the end of the season, at what stage did the Haus Frau spot the carpet tile under the bed, with a left and right size 10 foot shape missing.......

If that is the definition of an expert, Pavel, then I cannot claim to be one, mainly because I have'nt yet done all the errors. I am fairly sure that a good few surprises remain.

One of the advantages of experience, (as opposed to capability), is you will do anything to avoid a fall. Earlier this year, on a back run in Niederau, I trailed off the edge, sampling some nice, but heavyish powder, got bumped, and landed with my weight back. A big forward heave is usually enough to get back on course, but then the ground fell away, and my dodgy knee refused to take part in the required heave. Not to worry, I knew this run ended in a run-out, I would be OK.

As a group of trees approached at an increasing speed, I thought about the merits of a helmet, instead of my "Dave Mac" woolly hat. Made it past the trees, steadied myself on the run-out, and skiied on, whistling. (Always a sure sign of a close miss) Forgot all about my thoughts on helmets.

Pavel,

You create spring dreams.

"Where the sun plays hide and seek with you!"

evoking memories of gliding through sun-dappled glades, rocking backwards and forwards, on hardpack, slush, marble, thick lumps, trying to ski softly.

My addition to your "carry with you" would be wax. It doesn't last long, but you feel smooth on take off.

Start skiing early in the day, ~ doncha just love rattling over the frozen piste machine tracks, knowing on the next run you are going to get the best grip of the winter.

As for domination of the mountain, I retain an everlasting memory of daily eyeing a potential jump above Soell, and planned to take it on the last run down on the last day. I gave it some respect, but flew over the edge of the jump. ....to discover that this was the March day when all the snow for 30 metres below that bank had melted, and all that awaited was sticky, ski-grabbing mud. Back at the Hotel Gansleit the old Haus Frau made me strip off my all-in-one outside in the street, and I snuck up the back stairs in T shirt and Y fronts.

Happy days

Eurasia,

Just scanned the lift company brochure and web site, and the closing date for Oberau is not there,which doesn't surprise me.

I had booked a flight back on 8 April, having read that the lift system would close on the 6th April. However, when I was in Niederau in January, I found that the Niederau Gondola and lift system closed on 30th March. Hence, I ended up buying an extra Easyjet flight.

Even if Oberau is open, there are only a couple of T-bars there, servicing short runs. The only real options are to go to Auffach, or if the ski-welt is open, head off to Hopfgarten, and buy a weeks pass there.

I am not a helmet person, (yet). However, I would caution on any restrictions that helmets place on one's hearing.

I have a vivid everlasting memory of racing my son down the Niederau schuss, in the egg position, but, due to the extreme cold, and the consequent wearing of a Russian type hat, I could not hear.......

.....the piste machine coming towards me, until I looked up, and saw the churning blades, around 15 feet from me, with the white face of the machine driver in the cab.

I can verify that was the sharpest left turn of my skiing career.

Whatever head gear you wear, make sure that you can hear.