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Help Needed: Crazy own heel to instep ratio?

Powgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I am in a Salomon boot this season and I love how it fits my skinny heel, ankle...it does give me a tiny bit of wriggle room in the toe area, but I prefer that...the boot really locks down my foot...I have about 30 days in them, and they have not packed out...I kept the stock liner and have a blue Superfeet liner for my pronation...I also wear a very thin wool liner sock.

Did you get injured skiing? Wishing you a speedy recovery!
 

skyy_blue7

Certified Ski Diva
It will only make you better for next year. Do your exercises!

Also this may not be the time to throw this in but have you tried a three buckle boot like the Dalbello? I have a small C-shaped foot, with a very thin heel and high instep. I am mechanically-challenged so I had trouble understanding your exact issues but the Dalbello is the first boot in 40 years of skiing that fit almost straight out of the box. Just needed some minimum space blown out in the toe box. A breath of fresh air!!! The key apparently is that the 2nd buckle locks in your heel and instep. Just a thought.
 

Little Lightning

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Sorry about your injury. Time to heal is very important. I skied injured for the past 2 years. Tried to "ski through the injury" the 1st year. Bad idea.

You asked how to know if flex is right for you. Here are my thoughts. My perfect boot is the Dalbello Krya 85 flex, or so I thought. When I first bought the boot I was concerned they were too intermediate for me. However, they were perfect, easy to get into, the right amount of performance, comfortable for my small 22.5, high instep foot. However, something was missing this year. Not sure if it was due to more strength in my injured leg, more strength overall, going from a 96 mm ski to a 82 mm ski or the fact that they were just to packed out or all of the above.

Last week I went to my boot fitter. 1st he checked the flexibility in my ankles by asking me to squat as low as I could go. No problem in that department. My personal trainer helped me perfect my squat. I can squat to the floor. I put the new Krya on my left foot then compared other boots to it. On my right foot we tried a 22.5 Technica Mach 1, LV 85 flex. Wow, a much better fit. Compared to the Krya it filled in all the spaces in my foot especially around the top of the foot, ankle and shin. Then I tried on the Atomic Hawx Ultra 80. Ouch, it was too tight even without buckling the boot. The fitter stopped there. Said the Technica boot was the best fit for me. He never asked me to test the flex, just move around like I was skiing.

I only got to ski the Technicas once this week but what an amazing difference. I was on my 82 mm ski, which is light, lively and turns quickly. First I noticed the "uprightness" of the boot. My old boots allowed more fore/aft positions. My boot fitter says boot uprightness is due to the way modern skis need to be skied. After a few runs I realized how responsive the boots are. The only way I can describe it is my turns on the Dalbello's were slower, relaxed while the Technicas wanted me to get on them and go. They really bought out the liveliness of my skis. Can't wait to try them on my wider skis.

So my assessment is flex is only one part of the equation. I'm 5'1", 100lbs so an 85 flex works pretty well for me. Maybe a 95 flex would work better in the Krya's. I think it all depends how a boot fits, what it is designed to do and a person's skiing style.
 

Confused boarder

Diva in Training
I’ve got super low volume feet with skinny ankles and have had major problems with too much volume over my forefoot and/or too much width in ski boots (and snowboard boots). Don’t know my instep measurement.

Learnt to ski last year in rentals, got good super fast and had control issues with the poorly fitted boots so decided to buy boots this year. Went to Surefoot thinking the injected liners would get around my issues- but I’ve had terrible problems. Was fitted in a too big and too flexible boot (Lange LV RX 80) despite me telling them my fit issues with previous rentals and saying I was an advance intermediate skier. Had horrible problems with pain from those boots- cramping in my feet so bad I was pretty much crying in pain by the time I got to the top of the first chair lift (they’d felt ok in the shop). Multiple take backs, eventually tolerable pain but then apparent how much room I had over my forefoot as I gradually damaged my toe nail ever time I hit a bump. Gradually got more and more boards under the liner to take up space (after dealing with lots of people not listening and deciding my problem was stuff like heel lift which it wasn’t or actually telling me my skiing was the problem) ... eventually they downsized me in the same boot. Had the horrible crying-inducing agony I had with the first set but worse plus still too much room over the forefoot and went on to damage both big toe nails to the point they’ll be falling off in a few more weeks and my poor 6th toe regions ended up so swollen and painful... more challenging interactions with staff (at multiple different shops) ... ended up with a horribly painful, way too flexible and then totally unsupportive boot but then was in a place where there was not a surefoot so had to bite the bullet and go some place else and pay for a whole new ski boot set up. Got recommendations and saw Matt Sheets in Jackson Hole at Teton Village Sports and he was fantastic. Up shot is now I’m in a Lange RS 120 LC race boot (I’ll admit I was a bit nervous when I googled the boot he’d picked for me and saw the “race” label)... but these are great. His footbeds were comfy and supportive from first moment on them- my surefoot ones are still uncomfortable weeks later despite adjustments. And the raceboot actually has a much lower volume across the forefoot so for once I’m snuggled in tight. The side to side snugness was more in the foam injected liners but I think some of my pain was because that was actually too tight. The race boots feel just right side to side after the heat moulding of the liner. I can basically ski in these boots undone and I usually spend half the day with the lower buckles undone and just do them up after lunch when the boots get roomier.
 

Confused boarder

Diva in Training
For you ladies in stiff boots, how do you know if it will be too stiff for you? I've had fitters put me in too soft boots, saying that I need the lower flex because I am petite, and regardless of ability, I don't have the weight/height for a stiffer boot. Then I find myself overpowering the boot on the hill. I've also been told by boot fitters that I can handle up to 110 because of my ability. I've heard that you should be able to flex the boot until your knee is over your toes in the store, that you should be able to get a little in front of your toe, etc.....

Or is this just one of those conundrums that only time, money, trial, and error will fix?

When I got my first boots this season I knew nothing about flex and at no point did the bootfitter check what flex was good for me. Some of what I initially interpreted as me being unable to flex the boot on the mountain (I was struggling to get forward adequately) was actually actually likely an issue with having waaay too much room over my forefoot so flexing my ankles to help me get forward did nothing... and partly to do with ski technique at the time. As both those got sorted out I discovered I was overflexing the boot- so hitting bumps the boot would flex so much my heel had to lift as my ankle wasn’t that flexible. And my ankles are pretty flexible.

Jumping from the Lange RX 80 LV to the RS 120 LC was a bit nerve wracking for me as I didn’t know if it’d be too stiff. Thankfully my instructor had been saying she definitely thought my boots were too soft given I’m an aggressive skier and also the fact that you can decrease the stiffness of a boot by removing the screws helped me feel comfortable with the decision. A good boot fitter should get you to flex the boot in the shop and be able to tell you if you can adequately flex it. I’d definitely say go for stiffer boots and you can always get the screws removed to soften them up if needed. Hard to make a soft boot stiffer.
 

Confused boarder

Diva in Training
Yes it can! This season, when it was so brutally cold, my boots were very hard to flex and I was in the back seat. Loosening the ankle buckles a bit was the key to being able to flex my boot. (Lange RS 110 SC)




I also like my boots just a bit longer than others. Always have. I have a good fit everywhere else, so it isn't a problem.

Finally, Hotronics are amazing for keeping my feet warm. And when I combine them with Boot Gloves on the coldest days, you would not believe how great it is.

I also find my Lange RS 120 LCs harder to flex when I get a bit nuts and overcrank the buckles.
 

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