Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hi have been reading this thread with great interest just wish it had been about 2yrs ago. I bought a pair of boots on last day of hol like TJ and they were tighter than hire boots but seeing as I never did hire boots up cos they hurt my calves that might be why. Anyhow last year after first morning skiing I limped down slopes to see Pete in interski in agony. My calves were a mess and I had to borrow some of his boots whilst a) he tried to fit mine properly and b) for the bruising on my calves to go down. managed to wear them for last day and this year he is gonna put lifts in them and fingers crossed will be sorted. However Pete thinks I may have to buy new boots as these really don't seem suited to me. Therefore any advice from guys that know about boots will be welcome. The problem is I have small feet size 3 and huge calves ( footballer) generally find I nned to try boots on that are at least a size 6 in order for them not to kill my calves. Any ideas ?????

Dona

Rach

if colin is the colin I think it might be, he has a massive reputation amongst loads of dedicated skiers.

Colin, aka CEM?

Best bet is get to a good bootfitter.
I know from my own experience that it may not be the boot thats the problem, it may be your feet.

Tiger will vouch for my misery as we were in Boro at the same time and I only managed to ski for little more than an hour in the whole week.

My problem stems from a couple of things
- the way my feet want to turn outwards when i put pressure through them (my little toes crush when in ski boots as well). Chech your walking shoes do they bulge on the outside edge?
- I also have very short calf muscle which restricts the flex I have in my ankle, you wouldnt believe how much pain that creates!

A good bootfitter will be able to assess your boot and your feet and refer you to a specialist if they think you need one. I cant praise Lockwoods of Leamington Spa highly enough for their expertise. Colin would also be able to advise but I will leave it up to him to advertise his services

My only problem is a bunion! But the boot fitter in Whistler kept the boot over night and punched groove in the side of the boot. The boots I liked best he said I couldn't have because of my skinny calfs so I went for the boot he said was perfect in terms of the shape of my feet, legs, instep, weight? and ability level. He also put insoles into the boot to raise my instep. I certainly think he knew what he was doing. He said to come back if there were any problems when I ski in them...but Whistler is just a tad too far away!

Cobra... tis I

Dona,

probably the last thing you want to do is to go up in size.... whilst doing this gives you more volume in the cuff of the boot, it also results in a higher cuff which means more calf to cater for. therre are a number of boots out there which can have the clips moved to cater for massive calves and bigger, and even if this is not enough the careful use of a drill and some rivets can extend the clips still further

TJ sounds like yuor guy got it right....find a boot which suits the foot and the leg and ability of the skier and then modify it for lumps and bumps...unfortunately all to often i see people with narrow feet and large bunions in wide boots.... the reason being either A they did not trust their boot fitter B the fitter did not have the tools or skills to sort the problem C they are victims of vanity and "couldn't possibly have a bump on the side of their boots as it looks ugly".... BTW if anyone readding this falls into the last category please do not bother calling me up for boot fitting advice

Thanks Colin and everyone for the advice.

Cobra, after looking at older shoes there is noticeable misshaping on the little toe side as i feel my feet try to turn outwards too... when i sit on ski lifts and let my feet dangle the skis corss at the back!!! No One i was with had this problem!

How did you get around your discomfort? I have had that area of the boot blown out a little now so there is no pressure but i will only know once i get my right boot back and get a chance to ski in them whether or not it has done the trick! Might contact Colin when getting my next pair in a few years time!

Thanks Colin when I was buying my boots quite a few shops did move the clips as you suggested and we still couldn't find ones which I would say were perfect most weren't even vaguely comfy if done up. I ended up with a pair of Nordic Thesis boots which have a rear opening and a twirly thing at the back to alter the fit round the calf. Have no idea if these are what I should have gone for but they were the comfiest at the time. However when I skied in them had the agony described earlier. Like I say the problem seems to be the size of my calves. Do you think maybe I should bite the bullet and buy a new pair of boots( will be doing this anyhow if I can't ski in them this year). If so can you recommend any which are known to be wider around the calves but still have little feet. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Dona