Boots as you head into your 50s

[MaineSkiLady]

I'm a "modified pizza," size never-mind, and I just want to throw out a word of caution: this tight-boot thing has long-term consequences. They aren't pretty. One time, DH ruptured a vein on the top of his foot due to boot tightness. As annoying as "a little room" can feel, it's really the better alternative to some of the bad things that can come out of years of tight boots. Spoken, sadly, from experience.

ETA: per the thread title, I'm decades past that. Plural, decades.

 

[liquidfeet]

There's functionally snug, and there's the dysfunctionally tight.
And the all-popular big and comfy.

One of those is good. The others are not. Those others are painful.

I've done them all, as have many of us.

 

[fgor]

I'm sure I'm not alone in having permanent damage to my feet from too-loose ski boots. Excess heel movement has resulted in big bony growths on the backs of my heels. They seem to be there permanently now, but at least once I solved most of my boot woes, they are no longer tremendously inflamed!

I spent the tail end of my 2019 ski season more or less unable to flex my ankles in my boots because my heels were so painful and inflamed. Like, REALLY painful. The problem only started to subside when we were able to tighten up my boots via aftermarket liners with additional material added to snug them up as much as possible. That stopped a lot of the excess movement and allowed my heels to begin to calm down.

 

[newboots]

this tight-boot thing has long-term consequences.

Yikes! I can only imagine!

I'm sure I'm not alone in having permanent damage to my feet from too-loose ski boots.

I'm sure you aren't alone.

There's functionally snug, and there's the dysfunctionally tight.
And the all-popular big and comfy.

So many of us worry about never reaching the Promised Land! I promise myself, though, to keep trying until it's right.

 

[MissySki]

I'm sure I'm not alone in having permanent damage to my feet from too-loose ski boots. Excess heel movement has resulted in big bony growths on the backs of my heels. They seem to be there permanently now, but at least once I solved most of my boot woes, they are no longer tremendously inflamed!

I spent the tail end of my 2019 ski season more or less unable to flex my ankles in my boots because my heels were so painful and inflamed. Like, REALLY painful. The problem only started to subside when we were able to tighten up my boots via aftermarket liners with additional material added to snug them up as much as possible. That stopped a lot of the excess movement and allowed my heels to begin to calm down.

Yep, I’ve had both.

1) Growths in the sixth toe area from too tight boots as a beginner. Now I have a bootfitter who can shape the shell to my bony protrusions and this doesn’t happen.

2) Bone growths on the back on my heels exactly as you described last season when my boots packed out. I can also say that my boots are not at all “big” my feet are just so flexible that any little space goes a long way in terms of movement. I’m sized down and all, the liners just went from perfect to a little too packed out for me last season. A little too much room can be a very bad thing for my anatomy. The boots didn’t do this to my heels at all the previous 5 years I wore them..

I’m very excited for my new boots that are nice and snugged up again!

 

[sorcamc]

oh boy, now you are making me nervous! I put my boots on barefooted today and was pretty happy!

 

[MissySki]

oh boy, now you are making me nervous! I put my boots on barefooted today and was pretty happy!

Who? Why? Don’t let everyone else’s experience get in your head. Seems like you know how boots should fit for you, I wouldn’t overthink it.

 

[newboots]

^^ What she said.

Many people have feet that fit into boots as manufactured. But many of us don't! If you are the former, don't fret! I've met people with those kind of feet, and I'm jealous. But I wish you happy skiing in your nicely-fitting boots!

 

[tinymoose]

What I wouldn't pay to be an easier boot fit. lol My bootfitter was giving some other new guy in the store this past weekend a run down of all my fitting difficulties and why I'm a tough fit, as a way of explaining what all he can do to work around issues. As Dieter says, we go for the best fit out of the box to minimize what we have to change, but I'll never be an out of the box person when it comes to ski boots.