J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by verbier_ski_bum

Trencher wrote:

verbier_ski_bum wrote:canting alone takes a minute and you probably won't even be charged for it.

Canting or cuff adjustment? Canting requires either removal of the binding and adding a canting strip, or adding material to the boot sole and planing. Neither is is normally free.

Cuff adjustment centres the leg in the boot cuff.

yup, my bad. This is what I meant. However on my boots the place where you put the screw in to adjust the caff is factory-marked as "canting". The canting you are talking about is indeed the last resort and usually for badly pronate people.

Tony_H wrote:

verbier_ski_bum wrote:

Tony_H wrote:

acarr wrote:I am a serial offender at not keeping pressure on my toes. No matter how much I intend to, I just can't. I seem to remember someone on a thread here suggesting that you can put something inside your boot to help with this, maybe a piece of cork tile or something. So would you put it under the heel, or under the toes in order to increase forward pressure? I'm assuming you'd put it under the boot liner? I can't afford to buy custom footbeds and I don't have time/can't afford to visit a boot fitter.
Any comments gratefully received.

Dave Mac would probably wibble on about using floor tiles or bits of carpet at this stage :shock:

I bought some footbeds for £35 recently, apparently they will change my foot inside my boot. I am yet to test this on the snow. I don't think £35 is a lot of money if it corrects the issue I had, which was one ski wanting to edge sometimes.

Why, as Bandit asks, do you want to put more pressure on your toes?

If one ski wants to edge you may want to take your boots to a bootfitter to check alignment. I had a tendency to ride a big toe edge on my right foot when off-piste, which created all sort of problems when I was trying to go faster - turns to the left while were easy to initiate had slopppy finishes (I couldn't dump speed immediately as instead of ending up on a definite slip I would be on edge and keep going) and turns to the right were difficult to initiate and I tended to lift the right ski. I checked my side-slips and they are very good when left ski downhill and way worse when right ski is down, so I went to a bootfitter and he canted my right boot and also made custom insoles with bigger support under my right foot arch to prevent it from rolling inwards. Problem solved! Now, while I am still some way off from doing a zipper line on Tortin I can keep up with boys while making nice smooth pivots with both my feet moving simultaneously. Maybe superfeet or any other ready made orthotics will work for you, but if you have time definitely visit a bootfitter. Very good investment of time and money.

Thanks VSB. But I asked about Canting as thats what I thought might be the issue, and was told in no uncertain terms that I should try an insole as canting is the "last resort". I've got a 100% refund policy so if theres no difference they'll be going back and I'll be asking about the canting. I have to say I was fairly sure canting would be the issue, not an insole, for catching an edge where IMO the boot was not sitting 100% flat on the ski.

Sure. This is a reasonable way to proceed. If the insole is ready-made, then the amount of support it offers is averaged out over a large number of arches. It may or may not be enough, and you might need a combination of insole (it will be better in any case than the stock insole) and canting. You will see when you ski. Try side-slipping, I find it a good way to tell. A bootfitter has a special device that measures alingment and determins how much support needs to be added or how much canting needs to be done. canting alone takes a minute and you probably won't even be charged for it.

This is quite a range. Totally different places for differeny skiing preferences. La Grave is off-piste guided skiing only, 3V is cruising. Also, there is quite a distance (relatively speaking)between these places, they are not exactly neighbours, so "anywhere nearby" by this standards can be quite far off:) Maybe it's better to decide where you want to ski first?

Les Arcs is about two hours drive from Geneva. Are you sure that Altibus doesn't go there? 500 euros is a price for a private transfers, but here should be group or even scheduled transfers available. Alternatively, you can rent a car.

TBH I don't care how the ski look like, colour etc., as long as it skis well. I just bought Armada TST and graphics look odd to say the least. But it skis really well. Pink bases are good if you lose your skis in powder. But whatever their names or graphics are I generally don't like K2 skis. I tried Lotta Luv's and just couldn't get why so many people rave about them, Heavy and damp. I tried my friend's Obseth's and didn't like them either. Weird skis - heavy and soft at the same time.

The men's version of Scott Maya is Scott Aztec, Scott Neo is women's Scott Realm I think. Not sure about men's counterpart to Rosa. Mission, probably?

Well, you can mess around by trying various things (as long as you don't try to mess with the construction of the boot) but really nothng can substitute a visit to a bootfitter. It may turn up that you are in a totally wrong boot for you and while you might learn to compensate for it you will never progress very far. I had a boot once with too much foreward lean and all I was doing while skiing as fighting myself as to not to seat back - I really wanted to as I felt I was about to fall out of my boots face forward. Skiing is an expensive hobby, and boots are the most important piece of your equipment. So if there is something bothering you about your stance, think about finding toe and money for a bootfitter. It may be a relatively easy to fix problem, and it may cost you next to nothing, but you do want a professional to assess it. Generally, all you have to do to put pressure on your toes is to flex your ankles. If you flex your ankles and don't get enough control of your tips, see a bootfitter. He's better fit to address the issue - you may need heel lifts, you may need toe lifts, you may need to have your boots softened some, and you may have a few miserable days on slopes while trying to resolve your issue by yourself.

Tony_H wrote:

acarr wrote:I am a serial offender at not keeping pressure on my toes. No matter how much I intend to, I just can't. I seem to remember someone on a thread here suggesting that you can put something inside your boot to help with this, maybe a piece of cork tile or something. So would you put it under the heel, or under the toes in order to increase forward pressure? I'm assuming you'd put it under the boot liner? I can't afford to buy custom footbeds and I don't have time/can't afford to visit a boot fitter.
Any comments gratefully received.

Dave Mac would probably wibble on about using floor tiles or bits of carpet at this stage :shock:

I bought some footbeds for £35 recently, apparently they will change my foot inside my boot. I am yet to test this on the snow. I don't think £35 is a lot of money if it corrects the issue I had, which was one ski wanting to edge sometimes.

Why, as Bandit asks, do you want to put more pressure on your toes?

If one ski wants to edge you may want to take your boots to a bootfitter to check alignment. I had a tendency to ride a big toe edge on my right foot when off-piste, which created all sort of problems when I was trying to go faster - turns to the left while were easy to initiate had slopppy finishes (I couldn't dump speed immediately as instead of ending up on a definite slip I would be on edge and keep going) and turns to the right were difficult to initiate and I tended to lift the right ski. I checked my side-slips and they are very good when left ski downhill and way worse when right ski is down, so I went to a bootfitter and he canted my right boot and also made custom insoles with bigger support under my right foot arch to prevent it from rolling inwards. Problem solved! Now, while I am still some way off from doing a zipper line on Tortin I can keep up with boys while making nice smooth pivots with both my feet moving simultaneously. Maybe superfeet or any other ready made orthotics will work for you, but if you have time definitely visit a bootfitter. Very good investment of time and money.