Help Needed: Sore ankles

[MountainMama]

Ouch! My boots are killing me....Last year I bought Technica X7 boots. They fit fine in the store...felt oh-so-good...but...one ski trip later, my ankles turned black and blue....what happened? Do I give up and buy new...if so, suggestions? And how do I make sure it doesn't happen again. If not, any way to adjust the boots to fit...or to give...? Thanks.

 

[Robyn]

Black and blue where? Sides, all around? My first inclination is that they are too big around the ankle but it's hard to tell.

Oh, welcome to The Ski Diva!!!

 

[MountainMama]

Sore....

Thanks, Robyn....sore ankles just above the bone mainly on the inside and outside....don't think the boots are too big, (I was thinking too small) as I am down to the thinnest sock made...it's strange...although they fit okay in the foot, it's above the foot that kills....and I've got normal size ankles and shins! I've adjusted the buckles in all kinds of ways....I love my skiis (K2 Burnin' Luvs...), but I'm thinking the boots have to go....

 

[volklgirl]

If you got these boots at a reputable shop, go back to the fitter and have them evaluated. If not.....you could be looking at some serious $$ to get them fixed. There could be several possibilities, all of which really require the scrutinization and handywork of a bootfitter. You didn't say where on the ankle area the problem is, so you'll need to have someone look at it. It could be that:

• The boot is too big in the ankle area (requires padding or new boots)
• The boot is too small in the ankle area (requires bumping or new boots)
• Your ankle is bony and the ankle pocket isn't big enough (requires bumping or new boots)
• Your heel is too short so the ankle bones sit below the heel pocket (requires a thicker insole, heel lift or liner riser - I have this issue)
• Your heel is too tall so the ankle bones sit above the heel pocket (requires thinner insole, shaving the bootboard or new boots)
• There's a seam on the liner somewhere that is causing irritation (many possibilities here)
• The boot is too big all around and you're sliding forward and backward or up and down or all of the above, banging on the edges of the ankle pocket (requires new boots)

Get thee to a fitter!!!!

Edit: I see your response to Robyn, and it sounds like you may need custom footbeds or to have the bootboards shaved. If your foot is pronating and rolling, you could get this kind of problem.

 

[lucine]

Just a thought.

Are you sure that your longies and/or ski pant gaiters are not IN your boots.
A friend of mine just got new boots and has a similar problem, her old boots accommodated her long underwear with no problems, her new boots well, not so much.
I just hope you can go back to the store you got these boots from.
But you might want to call and see who they are affiliated with. maybe there will be a branch on the mt.

 

[volklgirl]

Isn't it weird how we just assume everyone knows that there should be nothing in your boots besides your foot and your sock?

Yeah, what she said.

 

[PowDiva85]

if boots fit great on the flat but hurt once you click into skis I am going to go with a balance problem. Your burnin luv's are probably a system ski that is tipping you too far forward causing the pressure points. If the boots cause problems anywhere before even clicking in get the boots looked at by a fitter.

 

[Squaw]

From what you say, I understand that you've just gone out on the hill in them. Yes, it really is a bother that the way boots fit in the shop sometimes has little to do with how they feel once cold and in action. The list above and the advice to get to a boot fitter is key. And you can add up the $$$$ getting the right fit, so go to where you got them or bite the bullet and go to a place with a known track record on fitting. Not all fitters are equally skilled. :(

all the best of luck!
Jen

 

[lady_Salina]

I bought the Tecnica Rival X8 last year. I'm a very experienced skier (CSIA level 2, since 1995, taught till 04, now ski). The fellow that sold them to me is a very experienced fitter, good friend, and did every pro deal i ever had done. Sold me every kids ski I ever bought and every ski jacket i ever owned. He really felt the boot would be good. I bought it in Ontario. I wore it my first time away from the hill. It had a flex of 75 flex adjusters and could be lower. It has an even softer flex with no adjusters in. I had none in. I crushed the boot. It was so soft it bent and flexed with the energy of my ski coming back up from the snow. Though it felt snug enough in store, i thought it would be a good boot for when out on the snow with my grand daughter all day etc...(second boot, to be more comfy), within too runs I felt it was already packing out and too large. I took it off. I eventually sold it on Craigslist this year to someone it fit and was low intermediate who could likely make good use of it for $100.00 ( a steal for a boot that did two runs). About half what i paid. I should have skied it in Ontario and could have taken it back to him, I didn't have the heart to tell him how it had worked out so I just bit it.

I suspect it may have packed out quickly and be too large or be too soft for advanced ski techniques where you are rolling the ankle and building energy, or, a combination of the two together. Your boot is an 65 Flex in the Rival X7 and the flex on the Women's Tecninca is no where near the stiffness levels of the same number in a women's head boot which I now wear. I hope you can work with the fitters at your shop, but for myself, I'm so happy i went and got a different boot. I'm in the Head Dream Thang 9 now for comfort, flex and warmth and it works well, I can keep it on all day and snow plow with the kids but still gives precision information to my edge when I'm carving the slalom turns.

 

[CMCM]

I have a pair of Technicas which were new last January or so. They were fairly comfortable, but then I still had a bit of trouble with them so I took them back to the shop/bootfitter and he said they were adjusted to the "stiff" setting, so he backed it off to a softer setting. That seemed better, but then this season after skiing a few days in a row I ended up with a big bruise.

What solved the problem was that I keep the top strap and the top buckle nice and snug, but the next buckle down is not as tight as I'd been doing it, and the bottom two buckles are not tight at all. I haven't had a bruise since starting to do this.