J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by tommie39

:)RIGHT.......Get Ready.......!!!
1st of all, Ive just this minute joined up to this site and long may I annoy everybody with my incessant questions (or whingeing, some might say).
Hello to everyboby & may u all have (or have had already) a FANTASTIC snowy & safe time on the mountains.
Hey Zwee....well......for years and years, (well.....10)I have suffered with excruciating, painfull feet on the slopes, but there's not a lot i can do about it cos I AM...."THE WOLFMAN", or at least some might say as they feast there eyes upon me doing my best impression of a hairy Boris karlof (can't think who played the wolfman on Telly, but you get the picture), complete with rolled up trousers and hands and arms in a state of fierce, readiness to pounceness, on top of the pool table in a packed bar in "Le Totem Hotel", Flaine.
And all that malarky is just one of many anecdotes regarding "my life with F****d up feet".
Back to the serious stuff, For a long time my feet have had a REALLY high arch and CLAW shaped toes that reach for the sky, I think me wearing "chelsea boots" in my youth contributed to this end (maybe).So upon placeing them in my first pair of nordica ski boots, within one hour I felt as if the spanish inquisition had gone to work on my toes with an engineers metal bench clamp,(TWO, in fact). Picture if you can a 40 year old butch male sat on the edge of the piste,half way up a mountain in timbuctu, frantically undoing both sets of boot cramps (now to be Yards of snowboard boot laces) whilst steam starts ariseing from his feet, hat, gloves and coat akimbo....CRYING....with the anguish of it all. (Oh...woe is me, woe, woe and thrice woe...an all that)....I kid you not!!.....
If you are in a similar predicament as me then you've experienced all this and then some.
As for remedies, You've tried regular shoe insoles, ski specific moulded insoles, Lineings with either a cork or resin injected into the reccess, Heated moulds (the one where you stand on the soft footbed machine thingermijig in the middle of the french ski boot shop, with all the kids sniggering at your hairy skinny legs, or better still....take your trousers off right there and then, sit on a raised seat above the machine thingy in your boxers whilst the footbed envelopes your plates....Fun. the "ELIMINATORS" (I bought mine in Canada, and they proceeded to numb not only my feet but also my entire lower leg, so i was limping and skiing at the same time, which.....is a drag !!)
As I had Good skiing skills but no joy in the pain department, I thought I would go down the comfy slipper Snowbording boot route and try my luck, (being a "surf dude" I thought it adds up) and although I have fallen in love with boarding, it exsasberates the problem, cos now it takes twice as long to get the Goddam boots off....!!!
I can probabally think of many other methods, you name it, i've tried it ...all to no avail (includeing a foot specialist, ski boot, mister fix it kinda guy who extricated the top, front layer from my BRAND NEW Saloman £220 werewolf specific snowboarding boots, leaving a micromillemetre layer covering my tootsies inside the boots.......And my toes nearly dropped off from frostbite, (a different kinda pain that one ) I will cut to the quick...Yeah right... as I have been swept up by the pure knowledge that I'm not the only "wolfie" on the mountain,(N.B. the whole idea of the "Eliminators" is to push your heel to the bottom back of the boot (which it doesn't do unless you are a contortionist) as yo know already.I think the ONLY way to go is to customize the ski/snowboard boot itself with a strap type ratchet thing, that is threaded from the left outside into the boot and out the right side and then ratchet it in. Sounds a bit conveluted but I've thought long and hard (as you can imagine).
Now Your ailment might be "Hammer toe" as the boot guy assured me but for me i think "claw toe" is more appropriate. Anyway......there IS a company that alleiviate foot problems for skiers/boarders (all about the "Bio-dynamics.........apparently) They mould and contort the boots to YOUR shape and i recon they probabally get most of it right.
I have intended to make an appointment but every year, the money that i saved for the fix, i spent on another foot pain specific solveing pair of boots, or new bindings. I rekon it'll cost a few hundred pounds but as we know, well worth it for pain free skiing.

O.K. I'm off cos its now 1.20 in the morning and i'm beat.
The name of the company alludes me but its something to do with the M25, I rekon its "M25 footworks" but don't quote me.....I shall find out and put the address on here and I promise not to waffle on...AGAIN... So, good luck with it all Zwee and.......Erm...skol

Tommie :roll: Jeeees, I'm sure "war and peace" was shorter.
Ohh...the reason i joined is because i'm trying to find a resort in europe without many "Draglifts" to satiate a girlfriend who won't do them full stop. So, any ideas ...fill yer boots