bounceswoosh
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I don't really have a question or a point; just kind of wanted to put my thoughts in order, and maybe some of you may find it interesting.
Going into this weekend, I pretty much had my downhill boots dialed in. But last weekend, I spent a lot of time in my AT boots, and I finally decided I was done with them - I have had them for several years, and they've never quite been right for me. They end up compressing my forefoot and causing all sorts of pain. So I got a new AT boot, the Scarpa Gea. I was amazed to realize how much my heel was lifting in the old AT boot when I compared it to the Gea, which held me tightly. I was between sizes and went with the smaller size, so I had the new-to-me experience of the toe box being a smidge too short. I've apparently been to this particular rodeo often enough that instead of insisting that I ski at least a day before they punched out the "sixth toe" area, the fitter suggested we just go ahead and punch them out right away so that when the liners are molded, they will mold into that area. Yeah! After the molding, my toes were still touching the front of the boot, so they punched out the front of the toe box as well, after which only my big toes felt like they were touching (barely). Fitter suggested I ski with them a bit because the heel will pack out and probably give me the room I need.
I skied in my AT boots Saturday at A Basin. I wanted to identify any problems while I was at a resort and could easily bail. Now, it was *cold* in the morning, and somehow my feet got cold just driving, so that even after putting my already-toasty handwarmers on my feet for a while, my feet and boots were still pretty chilly. I skied a few runs, then went in to warm up because my feet were blocks of ice. A few more runs, then lunch. And a few more runs ... I expected my AT boots to be uncomfortable the first day, and I expected my AT setup to feel squirrelly, especially on groomers, where the gap between boot and ski is more noticeable. My toes got cold, brutally cold and numb, and that may be because the liner still needs to break in a little. But my "sixth toe" bump, which is usually red after skiing, was just fine, and the real shocker - my skiing felt bomber. I had excellent control. I'm starting to think that the flakiness I'd attributed to my AT bindings was actually due to my AT boots not fitting very well. Over the course of the day, my boots seemed pretty comfortable except for the cold - but because we were getting opportunities to do directed skiing, I stood still in the cold a lot, which is not something I'd usually do. And it seemed that switching to walk mode alleviated some of the cold. So it may be a combination of a pressure point and just plain standing around in cold, plus that whole "the liner hasn't really settled in yet" thing. It'll be interesting to see. Also, the friend I was skiing with said her feet were cold, and that they never get cold.
I still felt like my toes were touching the front of the AT boots just a little too closely - it was fine for skiing, but I could imagine it being problematic while hiking or skinning. But I'm going to reserve judgement.
Sunday, I switched to my downhill boots to give my feet a break. And I freaked out at how much *room* I had in the boot. Like, not in a good way. It felt like there was entirely too much space around my foot, not just the toe box but also on the sides of the heel. I think this was mostly psychological, because when I angle my foot my lower leg goes along for the ride, so my ski tips even if I feel like I have slop in the boot - but it still took me a couple of runs to get used to it. I also was locking down my lower boot more than I normally do, and possibly because of that, the outside of my foot was cramping just a little bit. My bumps were definitely red. ALSO - I noticed that my toes are pretty close to the front of my boot in these, as well. I can feel the front of the boot if I'm not skiing. And that's never been a problem clomping around.
I'm really curious to see where this goes - if after a couple of days, the Geas are perfect, or if I continue to have cold issues with them, or toe bang, or something new that I didn't notice because my toes were numb. If my Tecnicas continue to feel loose, or if that was just in comparison to a brand new liner. If something new pops up. In fact - the liner I have in the Tecnicas is an Intuition that I transferred from my old boots, and I probably have 90 days in them, and they've been molded twice. If the Tecnicas, which I just got last season, continue to feel loose, I may get a new Intuition liner (the stock liner made my feet freeze, seemingly some pressure point, but we were never able to figure out what was being pressured).
Sometimes it seems like boots are their own living beings, and that they're a completely different experience every day I ski in them. And sometimes it seems like I spend tens of days dialing them in, and then when I finally have them dialed, I get like 5-10 days before they fall into a downward spiral. And then other days they "just work" and I forget to worry about them.
Going into this weekend, I pretty much had my downhill boots dialed in. But last weekend, I spent a lot of time in my AT boots, and I finally decided I was done with them - I have had them for several years, and they've never quite been right for me. They end up compressing my forefoot and causing all sorts of pain. So I got a new AT boot, the Scarpa Gea. I was amazed to realize how much my heel was lifting in the old AT boot when I compared it to the Gea, which held me tightly. I was between sizes and went with the smaller size, so I had the new-to-me experience of the toe box being a smidge too short. I've apparently been to this particular rodeo often enough that instead of insisting that I ski at least a day before they punched out the "sixth toe" area, the fitter suggested we just go ahead and punch them out right away so that when the liners are molded, they will mold into that area. Yeah! After the molding, my toes were still touching the front of the boot, so they punched out the front of the toe box as well, after which only my big toes felt like they were touching (barely). Fitter suggested I ski with them a bit because the heel will pack out and probably give me the room I need.
I skied in my AT boots Saturday at A Basin. I wanted to identify any problems while I was at a resort and could easily bail. Now, it was *cold* in the morning, and somehow my feet got cold just driving, so that even after putting my already-toasty handwarmers on my feet for a while, my feet and boots were still pretty chilly. I skied a few runs, then went in to warm up because my feet were blocks of ice. A few more runs, then lunch. And a few more runs ... I expected my AT boots to be uncomfortable the first day, and I expected my AT setup to feel squirrelly, especially on groomers, where the gap between boot and ski is more noticeable. My toes got cold, brutally cold and numb, and that may be because the liner still needs to break in a little. But my "sixth toe" bump, which is usually red after skiing, was just fine, and the real shocker - my skiing felt bomber. I had excellent control. I'm starting to think that the flakiness I'd attributed to my AT bindings was actually due to my AT boots not fitting very well. Over the course of the day, my boots seemed pretty comfortable except for the cold - but because we were getting opportunities to do directed skiing, I stood still in the cold a lot, which is not something I'd usually do. And it seemed that switching to walk mode alleviated some of the cold. So it may be a combination of a pressure point and just plain standing around in cold, plus that whole "the liner hasn't really settled in yet" thing. It'll be interesting to see. Also, the friend I was skiing with said her feet were cold, and that they never get cold.
I still felt like my toes were touching the front of the AT boots just a little too closely - it was fine for skiing, but I could imagine it being problematic while hiking or skinning. But I'm going to reserve judgement.
Sunday, I switched to my downhill boots to give my feet a break. And I freaked out at how much *room* I had in the boot. Like, not in a good way. It felt like there was entirely too much space around my foot, not just the toe box but also on the sides of the heel. I think this was mostly psychological, because when I angle my foot my lower leg goes along for the ride, so my ski tips even if I feel like I have slop in the boot - but it still took me a couple of runs to get used to it. I also was locking down my lower boot more than I normally do, and possibly because of that, the outside of my foot was cramping just a little bit. My bumps were definitely red. ALSO - I noticed that my toes are pretty close to the front of my boot in these, as well. I can feel the front of the boot if I'm not skiing. And that's never been a problem clomping around.
I'm really curious to see where this goes - if after a couple of days, the Geas are perfect, or if I continue to have cold issues with them, or toe bang, or something new that I didn't notice because my toes were numb. If my Tecnicas continue to feel loose, or if that was just in comparison to a brand new liner. If something new pops up. In fact - the liner I have in the Tecnicas is an Intuition that I transferred from my old boots, and I probably have 90 days in them, and they've been molded twice. If the Tecnicas, which I just got last season, continue to feel loose, I may get a new Intuition liner (the stock liner made my feet freeze, seemingly some pressure point, but we were never able to figure out what was being pressured).
Sometimes it seems like boots are their own living beings, and that they're a completely different experience every day I ski in them. And sometimes it seems like I spend tens of days dialing them in, and then when I finally have them dialed, I get like 5-10 days before they fall into a downward spiral. And then other days they "just work" and I forget to worry about them.