Boot flex/construction question, for instructors and gear people

[lisamamot]

@bounceswoosh, congratulations on your new boot! I tried that boot on, and although it didn't fit my foot properly, from what I read it sounds like an excellent choice.

I admit to being terribly confused with flex...my previous boot was a Technica 90 which felt the same as your new 95 in terms of flex, but stiffer than the Lange 90 I got. The Lange 90 I got is far stiffer than my daughter's Rossi 90. In the end I trusted the experts on how they say I flexed the boot. I loved my first day in them and they are such a positive move for me. My forefoot did not move around which led to such increased confidence and control. Hope you feel the same about yours!

 

[Jilly]

That's the problem. There is not set standard for flex. So the number in one company is different than another. Also what I think is soft may be stiff to another person.

Why a boot fitter is soooo important. I'll be on the hunt at the end of this season. Got to wait till the fitter gets back from Whistler.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Status report: first day on new boot.

Performance - absolute success, although terrifying. The first few runs, I felt like I had no support at all. I also realized how much I'd adapted my skiing to a stiff boot and kind of using the front of the boot to bounce off of. An instructor said, "Look, Monique has ankles now!" Later in the day, after I'd started getting used to them, DH watched me ski a run in Horseshoe Bowl and said he'd never seen me ski that well. So apparently, yeah, appropriate flex makes a huge difference.

Unsurprisingly, my quads got sore much more quickly than I do just parking and riding my old boots. Now that I'm out of my boots, I can tell my calves are also very sore.

Comfort - the first few hours were surprisingly comfortable, although my toes were half numb. But after that, my right foot started screaming the way it used to with my old, old boots. Radiating sharp pain from the middle of the ball of the foot up into the toes. I suspect this is related to my "sixth toe" area getting pressured. Unfortunately it still hurts now, more than an hour later, although it's gotten better. This is the pain that I remember and that led to surgery in my other foot. I hope, though, that if they were able to make my old boots so comfortable, they ought to be able to make these work, too. I'll see them this week. This pain counts as the "can't even ski, hurts too much" variety.

Still, for a first day, and knowing that these liners don't heat mold as thoroughly as the Intuitions did, I'm pretty happy.

 

[Skisailor]

Hi @bounceswoosh.

Very cool that DH thought you were skiing so well in the new boot!

Do you suspect the quad burn is related to the greater forward lean? That's what got me for years! Thought it was just me and that I needed to get my thighs stronger. And I worked so hard at it during the off seasons. But that exercising never really fixed the issue. And a more upright cuff solved it instantly! So LOL! You won't catch me doing anything that resembles a squat or any crazy muscle strength training during the off season these days. A little biking is about it for me. And I added some inline skating for the first time - not very good at yet though. Ha!

But at least, with your new, greater cuff angle, you could experiment with leaning forward more from your hip socket to match that new lower leg angle during your greater ankle flexion moments. Sounds like you might have fun trying a slightly new movement pattern to get rid of that burn.

Going to a softer boot is brave and really makes it a challenge to stay over your feet in the sweet spot, IMHO. But wow . . when you do it, you will rock! You go girl!

 

[bounceswoosh]

Hi @bounceswoosh.

Very cool that DH thought you were skiing so well in the new boot!

Do you suspect the quad burn is related to the greater forward lean? That's what got me for years! Thought it was just me and that I needed to get my thighs stronger. And I worked so hard at it during the off seasons. But that exercising never really fixed the issue. And a more upright cuff solved it instantly! So LOL! You won't catch me doing anything that resembles a squat or any crazy muscle strength training during the off season these days. A little biking is about it for me. Done.

Or at least, with your new, greater cuff angle, you could experiment with leaning forward more from your hip socket to match that new lower leg angle during your greater ankle flexion moments. Sounds like you might have fun trying a slightly new movement pattern to get rid of that burn.

Going to a softer boot is brave and really makes it a challenge to stay over your feet in the sweet spot, IMHO. But wow . . when you do it, you will rock! You go girl!

Yeah, I asked him to demonstrate what was different when we were back in the condo - basically I'm not A-framing anymore. Both knees bend in the turn. Wahoo!

The quad burn could be related to the greater forward lean (although it's not that much), but actually I think it's more just the softer flex - I can't park my shins and coast, because it's not stiff enough to hold me fairly upright. The worst burn was on long flat runouts. But then again ... it may also just be from relearning how to pressure my skis, and also my foot pain may have made me just feel more worn out than I normally would if I just had sore quads.

DH was impressed by how quickly I adapted to the new boots and different flex. I'm still struggling to remap my brain for bumps, but steeps seem good. I mean, today I was skiing the steepest stuff I'd been on all season, and feeling good. Go figure.

 

[SnowHot]

So what's the difference between the Mach 95's and the Crush's?

The Mach is a completely new design for the medium width boot. It replaced the old Demon series with a MUCH better shape and actually created an ankle pocket and toe box that works for someone with this volume foot. If you take a look at Phil's article on EpicSki that I linked, you can see pictures of the built in vernacular and ankle. It is a great design for the person with that foot. !

 

[bounceswoosh]

I went back to Larry's, explaining my excruciating pain. One of the techs (female! I keep forgetting to ask her name) made some room in the liner and did a few other small adjustments but said I really do need to just tough it out as much as possible for 2 more ski days. I asked why the other boots were so damn comfy from day one, and Larry said it was because of the Intuition liners. So, those who are wondering - they really do make a difference! At least, supposedly.

I'll ski with these boots again next weekend; if they're still terrible, I may consider moving my old Intuitions (wrap) over or even ordering the ones with a tongue.

 

[litterbug]

Certainly true, sorry. And interesting comments. My observation comes mainly from people in 10 year old rental rear entry boots who simply cannot lean forward because of the boot.

You know, I don't even know if I've seen anyone in a rear entry boot, so I wouldn't know!

@bounceswoosh, hopefully the quad and calf stiffness is just from actually bending ze knees, as they say. Isn't it a nice feeling to be more dynamic?

 

[bounceswoosh]

@bounceswoosh, hopefully the quad and calf stiffness is just from actually bending ze knees, as they say. Isn't it a nice feeling to be more dynamic?

It went from weird to subtle. But I know it will be a huge help. DH was shocked - neither of us really could believe what a difference it made. He's been telling me to just, like, straight line a bump run to force myself to flex and absorb, and when I told him I'd just hurt myself doing that, he thought I just wasn't committed enough, or something. Now he gets it. It's pretty eye opening.

 

[climbingbetty]

OK, so after reading through the thread, I am now confused about the issue of 'thigh burn' as it relates to technique/boot fit.

My understanding was that 'thigh' burn is bad; it's a sign that one's weight is too far in the back seat. My instructor from this weekend even went so far as to email this to me yesterday:

I skied Saturday & Sunday. On Saturday, I was apparently skiing in the position of photo 1. Despite what the caption of photo 1 said, I had very little thigh burn, so I thought I was doing 'well'. I have a pretty low volume foot. My boots fit much better with a pair of Superfeet insoles in them. Even at that, I have to have the ankle buckle cranked down. When it's cranked down, my heel stays much more firmly in the heel cup of the boot. When its not, my heels rise up as I pressure the tongue of the boot. This will also result in some pretty painful cramping in the arches/plantar aspect of my foot. Again, on Saturday, I had little to no thigh burn and no foot pain. It was the most comfortable my boots had ever been- I didn't even unbuckle them at lunch!

At the end of the day on Saturday however, my instructor pulled me aside and was explaining that my weight isn't really over the sweet spot of the boot. We tried a few exercises and he had me focus on skiing with my hips more forward. It *felt* like I was in a position like that in photo 2. While I did notice more control over my ski tips, this was also terrible for my knees. It's the kind of pain that makes me afraid I'm doing serious damage to my patellar tendon, and I think if you look at the photo, you can see that happening in photo 2 as well. So simply moving my weight forward isn't exactly the answer either. Also, this gave me excruciating thigh burn by the end of the day. Which, according to my previous assumption that thigh burn is 'bad', had me feeling like I was 'doing it wrong.'

We did some experiments with my flexing the boot and even though their flex is only 80, I can't really flex them properly. Part of this appears to be construction issue where the plastic shell underneath the ankle buckle just hits the top of the foot part of the shell and just won't let me flex them anymore. I could flex them more when the buckles were loose and only the power strap was snug. So on Sunday, I tried skiing with the upper two buckles loose-ish and just the power strap snug. I was getting a lot of heel rise and the subsequent pain & cramping in the plantar surface of my feet.

So questions...
1.) It seems, from reading this thread, that sometimes thigh burn is a symptom of a problem with boot fit and sometimes it just means your muscles are not in shape for skiing. Is there anyway to know when its your boots that are the problem vs. you are the problem? I always just assume I suck and its me. That's my MO in a lot of things though...
2.) Regarding above, from what I learned this weekend, it seems that the only way to really discern that knowledge is to have skied properly fit boots before. Once you know what works, its easier to figure out what *doesn't* work. But how are you supposed to figure this out if you've never skied in properly fitting boots before?
3.) If you go to a boot fitter, they make a recommendation for a boot in the shop, but after several days of skiing you really just hate it and it doesn't work for you, is there any recourse??? I mean, I assume you can't just simply return the boots and get a refund. But you still need to purchase boots that actually do work for you. Do most boot fitters have any sort of guarantee or policy for dealing with this sort of situation? I have my first ever appointment with a boot fitter at the hill I will be working next weekend. My instructor spoke pretty highly of him, but I'm worried that he tell me my current boots are ALL kinds of wrong for me and I simply need to buy new boots and start from scratch. The problem with this is that my husband will kill me if I spend the money on new boots this season. And with me not really having a base of knowing what proper fit should feel like, I'm worried that even if I do find a way to get hubby on board with making the investment, I could purchase boots that are all wrong for my anyway. I just don't know what I don't know!
4.) Are comfort vs. proper fit generally mutually exclusive??? There was a comment made early that too many woman's boots are too upright- make for comfort and looking good at apres, not skiing well. This just seemed to imply that a properly fit boot will have some degree of discomfort...?
4.) Final question. I have a well-endowed posterior region. (As Snoop Dogg would say, "Damn baby, you've got a bright future behind you!) Is it possible that I'm actually in the position of photo 3, but maybe in snow pants, with the extra junk in the trunk, appearing like I am in the position of photo 1? I haven't seen any profile shots of me on skis on the snow, so I can only go on feel....and I feel like I am in position 3, but getting feedback that I am more like position 1...

 

[tinymoose]

O

We did some experiments with my flexing the boot and even though their flex is only 80, I can't really flex them properly. Part of this appears to be construction issue where the plastic shell underneath the ankle buckle just hits the top of the foot part of the shell and just won't let me flex them anymore. I could flex them more when the buckles were loose and only the power strap was snug. So on Sunday, I tried skiing with the upper two buckles loose-ish and just the power strap snug. I was getting a lot of heel rise and the subsequent pain & cramping in the plantar surface of my feet.

3.) If you go to a boot fitter, they make a recommendation for a boot in the shop, but after several days of skiing you really just hate it and it doesn't work for you, is there any recourse??? I mean, I assume you can't just simply return the boots and get a refund. But you still need to purchase boots that actually do work for you. Do most boot fitters have any sort of guarantee or policy for dealing with this sort of situation? I have my first ever appointment with a boot fitter at the hill I will be working next weekend. My instructor spoke pretty highly of him, but I'm worried that he tell me my current boots are ALL kinds of wrong for me and I simply need to buy new boots and start from scratch. The problem with this is that my husband will kill me if I spend the money on new boots this season. And with me not really having a base of knowing what proper fit should feel like, I'm worried that even if I do find a way to get hubby on board with making the investment, I could purchase boots that are all wrong for my anyway. I just don't know what I don't know!

A good boot fitter should guarantee the fit of the boots they put you in. This usually means that they'll make modifications to the boot to get it to work for you, and if they can't fix the problems in that specific boot, then they'll replace it with something else at no cost to you. Now, if you're going to see a different boot fitter from the one that sold you the boot, then yeah no guarantee there unless you buy boots from your new boot fitter. He may not think your current boots are a lost cause, but you're going to pay for any modifications he has to do. Do you mind my asking who you are going to see? I know you're skiing in the Catskills. Mark at Windham is really good.

If your problem is flex there are things they can do to soften them, including shaving the underside of the bottom buckle if it's hitting the top of your boot.

 

[pinto]

OK, so after reading through the thread, I am now confused about the issue of 'thigh burn' as it relates to technique/boot fit.

My understanding was that 'thigh' burn is bad; it's a sign that one's weight is too far in the back seat. My instructor from this weekend even went so far as to email this to me yesterday:

I skied Saturday & Sunday. On Saturday, I was apparently skiing in the position of photo 1. Despite what the caption of photo 1 said, I had very little thigh burn, so I thought I was doing 'well'. I have a pretty low volume foot. My boots fit much better with a pair of Superfeet insoles in them. Even at that, I have to have the ankle buckle cranked down. When it's cranked down, my heel stays much more firmly in the heel cup of the boot. When its not, my heels rise up as I pressure the tongue of the boot. This will also result in some pretty painful cramping in the arches/plantar aspect of my foot. Again, on Saturday, I had little to no thigh burn and no foot pain. It was the most comfortable my boots had ever been- I didn't even unbuckle them at lunch!

At the end of the day on Saturday however, my instructor pulled me aside and was explaining that my weight isn't really over the sweet spot of the boot. We tried a few exercises and he had me focus on skiing with my hips more forward. It *felt* like I was in a position like that in photo 2. While I did notice more control over my ski tips, this was also terrible for my knees. It's the kind of pain that makes me afraid I'm doing serious damage to my patellar tendon, and I think if you look at the photo, you can see that happening in photo 2 as well. So simply moving my weight forward isn't exactly the answer either. Also, this gave me excruciating thigh burn by the end of the day. Which, according to my previous assumption that thigh burn is 'bad', had me feeling like I was 'doing it wrong.'

We did some experiments with my flexing the boot and even though their flex is only 80, I can't really flex them properly. Part of this appears to be construction issue where the plastic shell underneath the ankle buckle just hits the top of the foot part of the shell and just won't let me flex them anymore. I could flex them more when the buckles were loose and only the power strap was snug. So on Sunday, I tried skiing with the upper two buckles loose-ish and just the power strap snug. I was getting a lot of heel rise and the subsequent pain & cramping in the plantar surface of my feet.

So questions...
1.) It seems, from reading this thread, that sometimes thigh burn is a symptom of a problem with boot fit and sometimes it just means your muscles are not in shape for skiing. Is there anyway to know when its your boots that are the problem vs. you are the problem? I always just assume I suck and its me. That's my MO in a lot of things though...
2.) Regarding above, from what I learned this weekend, it seems that the only way to really discern that knowledge is to have skied properly fit boots before. Once you know what works, its easier to figure out what *doesn't* work. But how are you supposed to figure this out if you've never skied in properly fitting boots before?
3.) If you go to a boot fitter, they make a recommendation for a boot in the shop, but after several days of skiing you really just hate it and it doesn't work for you, is there any recourse??? I mean, I assume you can't just simply return the boots and get a refund. But you still need to purchase boots that actually do work for you. Do most boot fitters have any sort of guarantee or policy for dealing with this sort of situation? I have my first ever appointment with a boot fitter at the hill I will be working next weekend. My instructor spoke pretty highly of him, but I'm worried that he tell me my current boots are ALL kinds of wrong for me and I simply need to buy new boots and start from scratch. The problem with this is that my husband will kill me if I spend the money on new boots this season. And with me not really having a base of knowing what proper fit should feel like, I'm worried that even if I do find a way to get hubby on board with making the investment, I could purchase boots that are all wrong for my anyway. I just don't know what I don't know!
4.) Are comfort vs. proper fit generally mutually exclusive??? There was a comment made early that too many woman's boots are too upright- make for comfort and looking good at apres, not skiing well. This just seemed to imply that a properly fit boot will have some degree of discomfort...?
4.) Final question. I have a well-endowed posterior region. (As Snoop Dogg would say, "Damn baby, you've got a bright future behind you!) Is it possible that I'm actually in the position of photo 3, but maybe in snow pants, with the extra junk in the trunk, appearing like I am in the position of photo 1? I haven't seen any profile shots of me on skis on the snow, so I can only go on feel....and I feel like I am in position 3, but getting feedback that I am more like position 1...

I had a similar issue with my knees when trying to move more forward ... I wasn't having pain, but they felt very vulnerable, as if I were just in a really unstable position.

The reason you get thigh burn in position 2 is because if you are bent too far forward at the knees, you must counteract that (ie balance) by getting the butt back farther. You might have been more forward overall, but you still probably had your legs bent too much, if that makes sense. I have been there, and after getting more upright boots, it is much better, more similar to what you see in photo 3.

What you need your bootfitter to do is to get you into position 3 without having to make weird gyrations from your ankle up, which is what is making your legs hurt. This may include a heel lift, or not, it just depends on your particular body type.

 

[bounceswoosh]

1.) It seems, from reading this thread, that sometimes thigh burn is a symptom of a problem with boot fit and sometimes it just means your muscles are not in shape for skiing. Is there anyway to know when its your boots that are the problem vs. you are the problem? I always just assume I suck and its me. That's my MO in a lot of things though...
2.) Regarding above, from what I learned this weekend, it seems that the only way to really discern that knowledge is to have skied properly fit boots before. Once you know what works, its easier to figure out what *doesn't* work. But how are you supposed to figure this out if you've never skied in properly fitting boots before?
3.) If you go to a boot fitter, they make a recommendation for a boot in the shop, but after several days of skiing you really just hate it and it doesn't work for you, is there any recourse??? I mean, I assume you can't just simply return the boots and get a refund. But you still need to purchase boots that actually do work for you. Do most boot fitters have any sort of guarantee or policy for dealing with this sort of situation? I have my first ever appointment with a boot fitter at the hill I will be working next weekend. My instructor spoke pretty highly of him, but I'm worried that he tell me my current boots are ALL kinds of wrong for me and I simply need to buy new boots and start from scratch. The problem with this is that my husband will kill me if I spend the money on new boots this season. And with me not really having a base of knowing what proper fit should feel like, I'm worried that even if I do find a way to get hubby on board with making the investment, I could purchase boots that are all wrong for my anyway. I just don't know what I don't know!
4.) Are comfort vs. proper fit generally mutually exclusive??? There was a comment made early that too many woman's boots are too upright- make for comfort and looking good at apres, not skiing well. This just seemed to imply that a properly fit boot will have some degree of discomfort...?

Excellent questions, all, and exactly why new boots are so terrifying to me. Comfort and proper fit - I do not believe these must be mutually exclusive. I wish I could take the upper part of my new boot and graft it onto the comfort of the "foot" part of my old boot, but alas, I cannot.

Ask your fitter about their guarantee. They should guarantee the boot. Of course, who knows what sorts of hoops you might need to jump through to get them to honor it. I have heard a fitter tell someone who was dead set on the wrong boot, "Look, we'll sell that to you, but we won't guarantee it. That's not the right boot for you." If someone can ignore a warning that clear ... *shakes head*

 

[climbingbetty]

I had a similar issue with my knees when trying to move more forward ... I wasn't having pain, but they felt very vulnerable, as if I were just in a really unstable position.

The reason you get thigh burn in position 2 is because if you are bent too far forward at the knees, you must counteract that (ie balance) by getting the butt back farther. You might have been more forward overall, but you still probably had your legs bent too much, if that makes sense. I have been there, and after getting more upright boots, it is much better, more similar to what you see in photo 3.

What you need your bootfitter to do is to get you into position 3 without having to make weird gyrations from your ankle up, which is what is making your legs hurt. This may include a heel lift, or not, it just depends on your particular body type.

This makes sense to me. Since I'm unable to really get the boots to flex properly, instead of the position of balance coming primarily from ankle flexion, I am overcompensating by over flexing the knee & hip joint.

 

[Skisailor]

Hi @climbingbetty.

I really want to direct you back to the the "Ski Porn" thread below where @Ursula took this topic on with her series of stick figure pictures.

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/some-ski-porn-for-us-snow-deprived.18334/page-2

I see that you posted there, so I know you've seen it. But Ursula's post there truly does answer most or all of your questions. The key is not muscle strength. And it is related to, but not bound by, any particular boot construction. The whole key to being over the sweet spot on your skis AND "stacking" yourself for maximally efficient (i.e. no "burn" or muscle fatigue) skiing is the concept of the matching angles.

You should be striving to be balanced over the balls of your feet while matching all 3 angles - ankle to knee - knee to hip (in backwards direction) - hip to shoulders.

To my eye - none of the the 3 pictures you posted above demonstrate this. The closest might be photo 3, but she is still not angled forward enough from the hip socket to match her ankle to knee angle in the picture. So that is still a recipe for quad burn.

So . . really . . any boot will work. It's just that some boot flex/construction details require more committment/contortion of our body position to get those matching angles.

For me, it was about the fact that I never committed to bending forward at my hip socket enough to match the forward lean of my old boot (i.e. angle from ankle to knee). So getting a newer, more upright cuff boot was the key. And this is apparently one of the most common non matching angle problems for recreational skiers - knees plastered forward and then torso is too upright in relation to that. Hence the extremely widespread problem of quad burn and leg fatigue.

Trying standing sideways next to a mirror and matching the 3 angles I'm talking about by flexing your ankles, knees and hips the appropriate amounts. Then, without moving ankles or knees, straighten up in your hip socket (i.e. straighten your torso a bit). Do you feel your quads engage?? Now lean forward again to match. It disappears when you are balanced and matching. Now practice flexing all 3 joints in unison so that the angles are matching whether you are flexed or extended - i.e. when ankles and knees bend you must bend at the hip as well!

Hope that helps.

Oh . . last thing - performance and comfortable fit are most certainly NOT mutually exclusive! I just had my first day skiing this past weekend. Slipped right into my dusty boots from last season and had no pain or discomfort issues whatsoever. It is do-able. Just takes committment and tweaking and a good bootfitter. Granted, I'm not trying for racing performance. But the advanced terrain at Big Sky requires a good performance boot to ski safely and well.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I see that you posted there, so I know you've seen it. But Ursula's post there truly does answer most or all of your questions. The key is not muscle strength. And it is related to, but not bound by, any particular boot construction. The whole key to being over the sweet spot on your skis AND "stacking" yourself for maximally efficient (i.e. no "burn" or muscle fatigue) skiing is the concept of the matching angles.

This relates to something an instructor pointed out to me - that any posture used to demonstrate while standing still, does not reflect what is actually happening when you ski. When you are skiing, there are all sorts of forces in play, especially on steeps or at speed. You literally cannot get into a good dynamic ski position while standing still, regardless of the fact that you're wearing boots that are attached to skis.

 

[Skisailor]

This makes sense to me. Since I'm unable to really get the boots to flex properly, instead of the position of balance coming primarily from ankle flexion, I am overcompensating by over flexing the knee & hip joint.

We cross posted. Yes . . the problem of getting enough ankle flexion seems to be much more of an issue for women skiers - no doubt as a result of boot construction which really still has not caught up to the differences in our anatomies the way it should have by now (and it's not entirely a gender thing either). So yes . . . you see it alot where women don't flex from the ankle enough and overcompensate by flexing the knee more. But of course - this is really common among men too!!! The "toilet seat" position. The one thing I would add here is that you may be overflexing your knee but probably not overflexing your hip. That's unsusual. More hip flex might actually help you if you are bending alot at the knee . . .

And there are wise words above about bootfitters. Stick with one and get them to make it right! They should definitely not have put you in a boot that you can't properly flex. And softening the flex of a boot is something that is often possible.

 

[tinymoose]

Reading threads like this really bums me out. Even in my softened 80 flex jr. race boots I can't really flex them, even indoors. They just *barely* flex indoors. I could flex the boots a bit when I bought them, but then I got the Zipfit liners and now I'm back to not being able to flex. My boots have a pretty aggressive forward lean to them so I guess I must be bending a good bit at the waist since I can't actually flex the boot, since I don't have much quad burn most days?

 

[Skisailor]

Reading threads like this really bums me out. Even in my softened 80 flex jr. race boots I can't really flex them, even indoors. They just *barely* flex indoors. I could flex the boots a bit when I bought them, but then I got the Zipfit liners and now I'm back to not being able to flex. My boots have a pretty aggressive forward lean to them so I guess I must be bending a good bit at the waist since I can't actually flex the boot, since I don't have much quad burn most days?

Hi tinymoose!! Vanhoskier and I took some runs at Blue Mt last weekend and we missed you guys!

As bounceswoosh says above, it's really hard to just talk about flexing a boot while standing still in a shop - or anywhere. Alot of boot flex comes while we are actively skiing based on the g-forces that are applied during the turns. So you must be flexing them well enough and have your matching angles going while skiing. Plus we all know that tiny mooses are generally freaks of nature . . . .

 

[tinymoose]

Hi tinymoose!! Vanhoskier and I took some runs at Blue Mt last weekend and we missed you guys!

As bounceswoosh says above, it's really hard to just talk about flexing a boot while standing still in a shop - or anywhere. Alot of boot flex comes while we are actively skiing based on the g-forces that are applied during the turns. So you must be flexing them well enough and have your matching angles going while skiing. Plus we all know that tiny mooses are generally freaks of nature . . . .

Noooo!!!! I missed you!!!!! Will you be back skiing in PA anytime soon?!?!

ETA: I pray to all of the moose gods that I'm flexing them more than I think I am. I'm so over boots. I couldn't even flex the stupid 60 flex boots for kiddos in the shops. lol