Five things you can do to make boots better.

Skiers take the time to get "fitted" for ski boots, but rarely do they then make the boots "better"! No two feet are alike. You must individualize the boots to make them even more comfortable and even better performing! All ski pros do it! Here are some of their secrets!

Boots are the vital link between your skis are you, take the time to learn how to "modify" boots for your needs.

I will assume you have great boots and you were smart enough to buy orthotics for skiing.

I will assume you know that ski boots are comfortable in the shop or not. You can not "break in" modern ski boots! However you can improve them! These are the five procedures you can do at home or with help to make ski boots your best friend.

1. Buy a boot warmer. May I recommend a ceramic heater unit not a electrical /fan model for two reasons. The element models heat up quickly but may damage liner. They also make noise.
The ceramic models are silent and over night will make boots toasty warm.
The goal of using heaters is not primarely due to heat for comfort but rather to make liner and "foam" more flexible thus making boot perform better. All modern boot liners have heat activated padding, by heating boot before skiing you are allowing boot to be more "giving"! If I have to drive more than 2 hours ( I am ski fanatic) I have a unit in the car which works very well.

2.Modify buckle placement.
All modern ski boots have micro-adjustments which often are screws and slots, however in some cases you have a great boot but you are at limit of screw. That is you can not "open" more!
This happens often with woment that race since they want a high level boot ( not wome'n soft boot) yet the top bucklet is too tight due to their longer gastronemius ( imagine you are getting biology classes also)! Bucklet can be moved!
You can do it easily.
Here is an example. I have a pair of Salomon boots that fit me like a glove, but the second buckle from toe is badly placed causing me too much top pressure at lowest setting!

Do not touch buckle part of unit! Just drill out serrated unit, move it 5 mm in, drill hole in shell, set pop rivet! All is done in 15 minutes.

The same is true for buckles that are set at a "poor" angle. Some boot companies set buckles in strange angles ( more for robot installation issues). The third buckle from toe often rubs on upper cuff when skier flexes forward too much! Just repeat same procedure!

3. A racer's secret
Many top level boots have at rear a system for flex adjustment. That is the fore/aft travel you have while skiing. There is a set distance which is allowed!
With modern skis, if you have mastered the correct technique you do not have to have "hard" or rigid boots!
You may want just a little more flex travel if you are skiing out west ( Rockies, Lake Tahoe, Heli skiing), or in powder in glaciers , here is how some racers make their boots more flexible.
Take out linner
Spread top boot shell
Look in the back of boot where top shell and bottom shell meet.
At very center there is often a line or dots indicating where you can cut out lower shell into a inverted triangle! Start with small triangle, ski awhile and see effect!
This cut allows boot shell to "flex" more. You will se effect in very cold weather.

4.Often you will have a boot that fits very well but at top of arch, it is ever soo tight! Not hurting but that pressure is there!
Shops will tend to sell you a "larger boot" ! A real no no since you will feel great in store but while skiing you will begin to float inside the boot as foam compacts!
Try this.
Upper pressure just above your arch can be solved by you by doing the following;
First take liner off
Take sole platform inside the ski off
Grind down this platform ( very slowly mm by mm)
If you have orthotics, you also sand or grind down the external ( bottom section) part of sole. Also just do 1-2 mm. ! Do not touch the part that touches your sole!!!!!
As last resort you can also grind down the inner part of the upper boot shell just above where the pressure point is. Again do just a little first!

4. Power Straps
Those velcro straps at top of boot cuff are called power straps. Great inventions since they allow you to make boots snug on to Tibia!
However there is on short coming to the way ski boot companies have installed these straps.
Ski racers ( if you look very carefully at ski racing pictures or videos) have discovered a way to make boots even more responsive by using extra power straps that you can buy.

Try this.
Put on boots. Buckle them up to your skiing tension.
Flex forward and back.
If you look carefully while you flex, there is a "gap" between your Tibia ( leg) and the liner! This play is noticed by racers and top level skiers. It is like the play you feel while you drive an old car between the steering wheel and the tires ( or as spelled in UK tyres)!
Expert skier want constant "feel" in their boots!
The problem is that the power strap is inserted unto the boot's shell!
The solution is to get "old" strap or buy power strap and have it only on the liner. That is,,,, now the boot tongue is hugging your tibia and rear boot linner is "hugging" the rear calf muscle! Any fore/aft pressure from you is transmitted DIRECTLY to the ski! No loss of time or pressure!
You now have Porsche-like boot steering system! Just be careful on first run!!!!

5.The last modification has nothing to do with boots but rather with socks! Most skiers have no idea of the importance of socks in skiing!
YOU DO NOT NEED thick socks for warmth! The foam lining in modern ski boots is the equivalent to three thick wollen or silk socks in terms of insulation!
Feet warmth comes for your blood which comes from the body's core. If your torso is warm your feet will be warm! Use thinner rather than thick ski socks! Use socks that have thicker weaving in the sides -ankle area!
Use socks that have a tight weave in the upper ankle area ( you know where socks flex upward).

Never but never wear socks TO,,,, ski resort
Never but never wear old ski socks (skied more than two days)
Never but never wear cheap all purpose socks.
Never but never wear street socks

Always use baby powder in the socks and ski boots!

What you do not know how to use this powder!
Next message will discuss the correct use of Baby powder!!!

You can always tell the skiers that took the time BEFORE skiing season to adjust their boots. They do not constantly adjust boots on lift.
They do not take boots off at lunch!
They do not loosen boots while sunning themselves on terasse. In fact they do not stop until lifts are closed.

Take the time to get to know your boots. The time you take with them to soften them up, will be returned to you on the ski hill ten fold!
Just like a man!!!

They are your door to skiing heaven!
Just like a man!!!!

My "on the cheap" boot warmer consist of an large insulated freezer bag, a towel and one of those corn filled heat pads that you microwave. The boots go in the bag facing each other and the hot corn bag (wrapped in the towel goes between the fronts of the boots. I normally carve the best of the cord on an alpine board and a skwal for two or three hours befor swithing to skis. Even after three hours of sitting in a cold car, the ski boots are still nice warm and easy to get on.

Trencher