Rosie Facer
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Settle in for a bit of a saga ladies...
I am in my third season of skiing. At the end of last season I was pretty happy with where I was at - comfortable on greens and starting to tackle blues - and my instructor was pleased with my stance (weight distribution), parallel turns and pole planting. I was in control on the variable stuff I'd encountered (icy patches, soft mushy stuff, hard pack), often had that feeling that my feet were right under me in the right place when skiing, and even able to keep my shoulders facing down the fall line while my bottom half was doing the turning bit, well, on greens at least. I was aware of one problem hat was gear related though. On some of the ungroomed blues, I was getting thrown around in my boots tackling the big soft piles of snow. I resolved to get some properly fitted boots this season (you all know what's coming now don't you!).
My season started late - I didn't get out for my first until the end of December. I used my old boots, just to figure out what my issue was with them. My heels were basically slopping about - there was even some lateral movement when I was buckled in. Off I went to the boot shop. There are two store on the North Shore that have bootfitters recommended on epicski and other fora. I've had good service from both stores before (ski servicing etc) and visited both. At the first, one of the recommended bootfitters spent an hour with me and found two shells that worked, as long as I went for Intuition liners to accommodate my "athletic" calves. He did suggest that I try some other shops to see if there were other models/manufacturers that worked better for me. I went to the other North Shore store (fewer boots to choose from) and a couple of other Vancouver locations (they didn't seem to offer a proper customization) but the first shop seemed to offer me the best option.
The boot fitting was as you might expect, uncomfortable, but I had high expectation of the result. A fellow skier had had comfortable, "right first time" boots from this shop. The bootfitter warned me that the boots were designed to fit for skiing, not walking. he also mentioned that they were a bit more advanced (a good intermediate boot) than my current level but based on my strength and ability to flex the boot he didn't think I'd have any problems with that. After all, they guarantee free fitting for a year after purchase to get things right.
I had to get my bindings reset as the sole plate was smaller than on my previous boots. Work, living on an island and getting the skis sorted just as the season is getting going meant that the first two trips to my local hill, about a week before I was going up to Whistler for the weekend were mostly awful. ADmittedly, the boots felt like they should be great - they felt much more responsive, which was good, but I was really uncomfortable. Maybe I just needed to "break them in" a bit, even though I'd been told that the beauty of Intuition liners is that they fit from the off. I had a disastrous weekend (day!) in Whistler. The fit was getting worse not better and I was in agony. Imagine placing a couple of blocks of aged oak on the bony sticking out bits of you ankle. Now stick the blocks and your ankle in a vise, now keep cranking to vise. Now take a sledgehammer and hit the oak/ankle combo. That is the what it felt like every time I put weight on my right foot. In retrospect, the fit wasn't actually getting worse but my constant use of it was not giving my ankle a rest. On top of this, the toes on both feet were numb.
I went back to the bootfitter.
The bootfitter punched the shell (both toeboxes and right ankle). Things improved, slightly. The boots were now skiable. No more numb toes! The vise had been removed and turning, jiggling over uneven surfaces was now just like a little hammer tap on the right ankle bones. It was uncomfortable to ski but skiing is uncomfortable right? (NO!) After the second outing in the redone boots I was seriously considering going to get a private lesson to teach me the basics again. I could not ski. Perhaps in my sloppy boots I'd picked up such bad habits that I needed to relearn everything? I had zero confidence in my ability to control my skiing. I was tentative, nervous, and HATING skiing. Having laid out a few thousand dollars in passes, lift tickets, lessons, gear and extras (hot chocolate
) I hated what I was doing. After three green "runs" yesterday morning I went to get a cup of tea and have a think. My left foot felt good. The toebox work had sorted the problem and I felt solid on that foot. What was different about my right foot? My heel wasn't loose but it somehow felt like it wasn't secure. Was I over tightening the boot to compensate for a bad fit (gasp)? I went out for another run. It was just awful.I was Bambi on ice. Thankfully the visibility was poor (never thought I'd say that!) so nobody could see my faceplant from the lift.
I came off the mountain and went straight to the bootfitter.
I told the bootfitter that the left foot is great but the right ankle was still giving me problems. The right heel did not feel secure so was I perhaps overtightening to ankle buckle. "Ah," he said, "you need a lift". It did feel better when I tried it. Five minutes later I came out of the shop with a lift installed in one boot. I had time to go back to my local hill and give it a go, if I could find parking. How much did I not want to go skiing again? I made a bargain with myself that I'd ski if there was parking available but wouldn't wait around for a spot to open up. Bear in mind that the early-bird deal that covers the rest of this season and all of next season at my local hill went on sale this week. Also, we had a huge dump of snow (35cm) on Friday. I was really hoping there'd be no parking spots left. I found a parking spot
. OK, so off I go back up to the slopes, filled with dread. I set off down the green run I've come to hate. I turn, and turn again, and turn, and turn, and turn... I'm flying. No pain. I have miraculously learned to ski again in my hour off the hill. By the time I get to the bottom of the run I have a huge grin platered across my face. 
I do two more runs to see if it was just a lucky chance. Nope, the turny stoppy stuff all works as it should on the next two runs as well. My ankle was a little sore form the morning but the rest was just a good old "done some exercising of those muscles" feeling rather than out and out pain and fatigue. Until that moment I hadn't realized how physically draining using the boots had been. I committed the cardinal sin - I knew I was tired but had to have just one more run. I got away with it 
So, the morals of the tale? Trust your instincts, maybe it isn't you, maybe it is your tools, and work with your bootfitter. I love my bootfitter (now)!
I am in my third season of skiing. At the end of last season I was pretty happy with where I was at - comfortable on greens and starting to tackle blues - and my instructor was pleased with my stance (weight distribution), parallel turns and pole planting. I was in control on the variable stuff I'd encountered (icy patches, soft mushy stuff, hard pack), often had that feeling that my feet were right under me in the right place when skiing, and even able to keep my shoulders facing down the fall line while my bottom half was doing the turning bit, well, on greens at least. I was aware of one problem hat was gear related though. On some of the ungroomed blues, I was getting thrown around in my boots tackling the big soft piles of snow. I resolved to get some properly fitted boots this season (you all know what's coming now don't you!).
My season started late - I didn't get out for my first until the end of December. I used my old boots, just to figure out what my issue was with them. My heels were basically slopping about - there was even some lateral movement when I was buckled in. Off I went to the boot shop. There are two store on the North Shore that have bootfitters recommended on epicski and other fora. I've had good service from both stores before (ski servicing etc) and visited both. At the first, one of the recommended bootfitters spent an hour with me and found two shells that worked, as long as I went for Intuition liners to accommodate my "athletic" calves. He did suggest that I try some other shops to see if there were other models/manufacturers that worked better for me. I went to the other North Shore store (fewer boots to choose from) and a couple of other Vancouver locations (they didn't seem to offer a proper customization) but the first shop seemed to offer me the best option.
The boot fitting was as you might expect, uncomfortable, but I had high expectation of the result. A fellow skier had had comfortable, "right first time" boots from this shop. The bootfitter warned me that the boots were designed to fit for skiing, not walking. he also mentioned that they were a bit more advanced (a good intermediate boot) than my current level but based on my strength and ability to flex the boot he didn't think I'd have any problems with that. After all, they guarantee free fitting for a year after purchase to get things right.
I had to get my bindings reset as the sole plate was smaller than on my previous boots. Work, living on an island and getting the skis sorted just as the season is getting going meant that the first two trips to my local hill, about a week before I was going up to Whistler for the weekend were mostly awful. ADmittedly, the boots felt like they should be great - they felt much more responsive, which was good, but I was really uncomfortable. Maybe I just needed to "break them in" a bit, even though I'd been told that the beauty of Intuition liners is that they fit from the off. I had a disastrous weekend (day!) in Whistler. The fit was getting worse not better and I was in agony. Imagine placing a couple of blocks of aged oak on the bony sticking out bits of you ankle. Now stick the blocks and your ankle in a vise, now keep cranking to vise. Now take a sledgehammer and hit the oak/ankle combo. That is the what it felt like every time I put weight on my right foot. In retrospect, the fit wasn't actually getting worse but my constant use of it was not giving my ankle a rest. On top of this, the toes on both feet were numb.
I went back to the bootfitter.
The bootfitter punched the shell (both toeboxes and right ankle). Things improved, slightly. The boots were now skiable. No more numb toes! The vise had been removed and turning, jiggling over uneven surfaces was now just like a little hammer tap on the right ankle bones. It was uncomfortable to ski but skiing is uncomfortable right? (NO!) After the second outing in the redone boots I was seriously considering going to get a private lesson to teach me the basics again. I could not ski. Perhaps in my sloppy boots I'd picked up such bad habits that I needed to relearn everything? I had zero confidence in my ability to control my skiing. I was tentative, nervous, and HATING skiing. Having laid out a few thousand dollars in passes, lift tickets, lessons, gear and extras (hot chocolate
) I hated what I was doing. After three green "runs" yesterday morning I went to get a cup of tea and have a think. My left foot felt good. The toebox work had sorted the problem and I felt solid on that foot. What was different about my right foot? My heel wasn't loose but it somehow felt like it wasn't secure. Was I over tightening the boot to compensate for a bad fit (gasp)? I went out for another run. It was just awful.I was Bambi on ice. Thankfully the visibility was poor (never thought I'd say that!) so nobody could see my faceplant from the lift.I came off the mountain and went straight to the bootfitter.
I told the bootfitter that the left foot is great but the right ankle was still giving me problems. The right heel did not feel secure so was I perhaps overtightening to ankle buckle. "Ah," he said, "you need a lift". It did feel better when I tried it. Five minutes later I came out of the shop with a lift installed in one boot. I had time to go back to my local hill and give it a go, if I could find parking. How much did I not want to go skiing again? I made a bargain with myself that I'd ski if there was parking available but wouldn't wait around for a spot to open up. Bear in mind that the early-bird deal that covers the rest of this season and all of next season at my local hill went on sale this week. Also, we had a huge dump of snow (35cm) on Friday. I was really hoping there'd be no parking spots left. I found a parking spot
. OK, so off I go back up to the slopes, filled with dread. I set off down the green run I've come to hate. I turn, and turn again, and turn, and turn, and turn... I'm flying. No pain. I have miraculously learned to ski again in my hour off the hill. By the time I get to the bottom of the run I have a huge grin platered across my face. I do two more runs to see if it was just a lucky chance. Nope, the turny stoppy stuff all works as it should on the next two runs as well. My ankle was a little sore form the morning but the rest was just a good old "done some exercising of those muscles" feeling rather than out and out pain and fatigue. Until that moment I hadn't realized how physically draining using the boots had been. I committed the cardinal sin - I knew I was tired but had to have just one more run. I got away with it So, the morals of the tale? Trust your instincts, maybe it isn't you, maybe it is your tools, and work with your bootfitter. I love my bootfitter (now)!
It has been quite the challenge for you this season and it is demoralizing to feel as though things will never be right (as well as all the money spent). What a relief to get some great runs in and find out that you "still have it"! We will definitely have to coordinate a ski day now! 
