A Snow and ski forum. SkiBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » SkiBanter forum » Skiing Newsgroups » Alpine Skiing (moderated)
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Boots



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 15th 06, 02:11 AM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
Mike
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default Boots

I just had 3 days skiing at Mt Hutt, NZ. I wasn't skiing as well as '05 and
am doing a post mortem on that.

Last year I had rental boots and I had 1 shin blister. It didn't even
really affect me. This year I am skiing with my mail order Langes and they
were so bad it really affected my performance. These Lange comp 120 fr
medium fit have some heat fitting process which I never got around to.

Was I not buckling the boots hard enough and hence slipping around? I've
skied for 35 years and only these last two times have seen this come up.
I've skied in raichlë and dolomites: no prob. I checked out a medical
manual, and it said that people with suntans are more likely to bruise,
which I have been doing pre trip both times.

So what gives? Is it all down hill from age 40 on?

Ads
  #2  
Old August 15th 06, 09:31 AM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
MoonMan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 236
Default Boots

Mike wrote:
I just had 3 days skiing at Mt Hutt, NZ. I wasn't skiing as well as
'05 and am doing a post mortem on that.

Last year I had rental boots and I had 1 shin blister. It didn't even
really affect me. This year I am skiing with my mail order Langes
and they were so bad it really affected my performance. These Lange
comp 120 fr medium fit have some heat fitting process which I never
got around to.

Was I not buckling the boots hard enough and hence slipping around?
I've skied for 35 years and only these last two times have seen this
come up. I've skied in raichlë and dolomites: no prob. I checked
out a medical manual, and it said that people with suntans are more
likely to bruise, which I have been doing pre trip both times.

So what gives? Is it all down hill from age 40 on?


It's very simple I'm afraid, mail order (or for that matter rental) boots!
different boot manufacturers use different shape lasts, the only way to find
the right boot is to try as many different pairs as necesary.
I don't mean just put them on, if they seem alright you need to be wearing
them for some time.
you may never find a boot that is perfect for you, but get the best fit
posible and then have that modified by a boot fitter.


--
Chris *:-)

Downhill Good, Uphill BAD!

www.suffolkvikings.org.uk

  #3  
Old August 15th 06, 01:03 PM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
VtSkier
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,233
Default Boots

Mike wrote:
I just had 3 days skiing at Mt Hutt, NZ. I wasn't skiing as well as '05 and
am doing a post mortem on that.

Last year I had rental boots and I had 1 shin blister. It didn't even
really affect me. This year I am skiing with my mail order Langes and they
were so bad it really affected my performance. These Lange comp 120 fr
medium fit have some heat fitting process which I never got around to.


I think you've hit the nail quite well. You have poorly fitting,
poorly fitted boots. If you think you are sliding around, they
are TOO BIG. The boots shouldn't slip or be sloppy EVEN WITH THE
THE BUCKLES UN BUCKLED. You also let slip another problem. You
mail-ordered your boots. Even if you have been skiing a long time,
it is nearly impossible to get a good fit without someone who
knows feet and boots coaching you. The only time I had any luck
with mail order for boots, I had tried on the boot in a shop and
then ordered the EXACT MODEL AND SIZE from the mail order house.
This worked, but even then I had some tweaking done a the local
Sure Foot store.

Was I not buckling the boots hard enough and hence slipping around? I've
skied for 35 years and only these last two times have seen this come up.
I've skied in raichlë and dolomites: no prob. I checked out a medical
manual, and it said that people with suntans are more likely to bruise,
which I have been doing pre trip both times.


Are the Lange's much stiffer than you are used to?

Also, from the description of the rental experience, I'd
say that you weren't buckling the top buckle so that the
boot doesn't rub on your shin. I have NEVER had a shin
blister. The hair is gone after the first day out, but
never a blister.

Are you not buckling the top buckles because the boot
limits your forward lean? This suggests the boots may
be too stiff.

So what gives? Is it all down hill from age 40 on?


I ski better at 60+ than I did at 30. Equipment and
opportunity are a great help.

My own boots are the Dalbello upgrade to the Raichle
Flexon model. I crank the top buckle firmly so the boot
doesn't slide against my ankle, the ankle joint buckle
moderately to keep my heel back and the instep
buckle lightly or not at all. The boots are not
sloppy in the foot zone.

There are few things a good shop can do for boots that
are too big. However it is easier to get boots that are
just a trifle too tight to fit well than it is to make
a too big boot fit correctly.

VtSkier

  #4  
Old August 15th 06, 06:32 PM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
Walt
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,188
Default Boots

Mike wrote:
I just had 3 days skiing at Mt Hutt, NZ. I wasn't skiing as well as '05 and
am doing a post mortem on that.

Last year I had rental boots and I had 1 shin blister. It didn't even
really affect me. This year I am skiing with my mail order Langes and they
were so bad it really affected my performance. These Lange comp 120 fr
medium fit have some heat fitting process which I never got around to.

Was I not buckling the boots hard enough and hence slipping around? I've
skied for 35 years and only these last two times have seen this come up.
I've skied in raichlë and dolomites: no prob. I checked out a medical
manual, and it said that people with suntans are more likely to bruise,
which I have been doing pre trip both times.

So what gives? Is it all down hill from age 40 on?


Read what VTSkier and Moonman have said. The bottom line is that no one
can ski worth crap in poorly fitting boots. I certainly can't. (Now,
whether I can ski worth crap in properly fitting boots is beyond the
scope of this reply.) And you can't buy boots by mail and expect them
to fit well.

So, we've identified the problem, what to do? Well the best solution
would be a time machine to go back and correct the mistake of buying
boots via mail order. Got one of those? No? Then the second best
solution is to find a decent boot fitter and work with him/her on
getting a good fit for these boots. Now, it may not be possible to get
a good fit with these boots, or you might be lucky and find that they
can be adapted - it depends on how badly you screwed the pooch when you
picked that model/size.

//Walt

  #5  
Old August 16th 06, 01:27 AM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
Mary Malmros
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12
Default Boots

Walt wrote in
:

Mike wrote:
I just had 3 days skiing at Mt Hutt, NZ. I wasn't skiing as well as
'05 and am doing a post mortem on that.

Last year I had rental boots and I had 1 shin blister. It didn't
even really affect me. This year I am skiing with my mail order
Langes and they were so bad it really affected my performance. These
Lange comp 120 fr medium fit have some heat fitting process which I
never got around to.

Was I not buckling the boots hard enough and hence slipping around?
I've skied for 35 years and only these last two times have seen this
come up. I've skied in raichlë and dolomites: no prob. I checked
out a medical manual, and it said that people with suntans are more
likely to bruise, which I have been doing pre trip both times.

So what gives? Is it all down hill from age 40 on?


Read what VTSkier and Moonman have said. The bottom line is that no
one can ski worth crap in poorly fitting boots. I certainly can't.
(Now, whether I can ski worth crap in properly fitting boots is beyond
the scope of this reply.) And you can't buy boots by mail and expect
them to fit well.


What they all said.

I'll add a data point: I have that boot, or its close cousin (not sure
about the fr medium fit bit), not purchased via mailorder: I tried it in
the store to make sure I was in the right ballpark. The plan all along
was to go to a highly recommended bootfitter and spend the time and
money to get them properly fitted, but I just had to try them in out-of-
the-box state first, just to prove to myself that bootfitting is worth
the money. Result: the performance was intoxicating and addictive, but
oh, mamma, the pain. It's a real performer of a boot, but it's also
very demanding.

Soooo...a new pair of footbeds and a buncha grinding later, and they
look like they'll be somewhere on the tolerable-to-good scale, although
I won't really know until we've got some snow again -- I tried them on
the last day of the season that I'd want to do any skiing, when
everything was melting as fast as it possibly could, and I didn't do any
skiing for fun after that.

So, go find a bootfitter, but not just a "decent" one -- go to the best
one you can find.

  #6  
Old August 16th 06, 06:19 PM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
Sam Seiber
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 59
Default Boots

Mike wrote:

I just had 3 days skiing at Mt Hutt, NZ. I wasn't skiing as well as '05 and
am doing a post mortem on that.


Well, I don't have any boot answers, but I would like to ask
"How was the snow at Mt. Hutt?"
I have heard that things are pretty ugly in Australia snow wise.
Do you have a quickie trip report to share?

Sam "Loveland begins snowmaking in about 5.5 weeks" Seiber

  #7  
Old August 27th 06, 03:10 AM posted to rec.skiing.alpine.moderated
Mike
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 32
Default Boots

"Sam Seiber" wrote in message
...
Well, I don't have any boot answers, but I would like to ask
"How was the snow at Mt. Hutt?"
I have heard that things are pretty ugly in Australia snow wise.
Do you have a quickie trip report to share?


I made some lemonade of it - decently tasty. Hutt is an hour WSW of
Christchurch, 6k ft all above tree level. Which is nice: no altitude
sickness and plenty of wide open areas. There could have been more
grooming; anyone want to nominate the most groomed resort in the world?
Kiwistan has been having an above average snowfall year compared to drought
last.

They drink and drive excessively (hopefully not~ at the same time). Coronet
skifield (they're not Mts or resorts down there) is somewhere near
Queenstown (the sports capital of NZ) and is where the US alpine and nordic
team was, atleast last week. They closed Mt Hutt two days because of gale
force winds. On the last day, they required chains on the harrowing,
unpaved 15 min drive to the base. On my last run down it was a 'wee bit'
(as they say) eerie: a total white out. I could hear people talking but I
couldn't see anyone or anything: up, down, forward, back, right, left, it
was all white.

As for the boots, they're definitely not too loose. I actually was
wondering at the end of one day whether, in fact, I could get out of them.
I forgot to mention I had been having problems before the trip, viz., a
broken toe and a sprained or even stress fractured ankle (didn't get
attention for the latter). I find you really don't need feet for skiing,
but it does put the squasher on any training.

The problem with finding a local fitter is I live in Honolulu now; not much
by way of ski equipment here.

The Langes are definitely stiffer than the Raichlës and Dolomites. And I
was buckling the top on the softest peg, IIRC, mainly because I would have
had to undo my gaiters to get at them on every chairlift ride. How many of
you unbuckle your boots on every chairlift? They hurt my shins and also the
widths of my soles.

Did Dalbello buy out Raichlë then?

What to do? Start over? Know of any fitters thinking of an island holiday?
Remember when I go skiing, its not like holding out my thumb to the local
mt. like I used to do back in New England: it's a pretty penny. There's an
old Welsh saying: time is the only doctor. What if my foot gets better and
I still not performing up to snuff? I could go back to the Utah mail order
and see about the "Thermal Molding" which is supposed to be part of the
process.

I fished out the instructions from the boot:
"The duration of the thermo-molding process varies from 2 to 5 minutes,
depending on the construction materials. Before inserting the machine
tubes, fully open the boot buckle, pulling the tongue forward. A thick sock
must be worn while carrying out the operation, to avoid direct skin contact
with the heated lining..." Below is what the object looks like; you stick
the prongs in the boots with your feet in them.

----
( )
----
|
/ \
| |
Fig. A

  #8  
Old October 4th 06, 07:04 AM
ColdWarrior ColdWarrior is offline
Junior Member
 
First recorded activity by SkiBanter: Sep 2006
Posts: 3
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike
"Sam Seiber" wrote in message
...
Well, I don't have any boot answers, but I would like to ask
"How was the snow at Mt. Hutt?"
I have heard that things are pretty ugly in Australia snow wise.
Do you have a quickie trip report to share?


I made some lemonade of it - decently tasty. Hutt is an hour WSW of
Christchurch, 6k ft all above tree level. Which is nice: no altitude
sickness and plenty of wide open areas. There could have been more
grooming; anyone want to nominate the most groomed resort in the world?
Kiwistan has been having an above average snowfall year compared to drought
last.

They drink and drive excessively (hopefully not~ at the same time). Coronet
skifield (they're not Mts or resorts down there) is somewhere near
Queenstown (the sports capital of NZ) and is where the US alpine and nordic
team was, atleast last week. They closed Mt Hutt two days because of gale
force winds. On the last day, they required chains on the harrowing,
unpaved 15 min drive to the base. On my last run down it was a 'wee bit'
(as they say) eerie: a total white out. I could hear people talking but I
couldn't see anyone or anything: up, down, forward, back, right, left, it
was all white.

As for the boots, they're definitely not too loose. I actually was
wondering at the end of one day whether, in fact, I could get out of them.
I forgot to mention I had been having problems before the trip, viz., a
broken toe and a sprained or even stress fractured ankle (didn't get
attention for the latter). I find you really don't need feet for skiing,
but it does put the squasher on any training.

The problem with finding a local fitter is I live in Honolulu now; not much
by way of ski equipment here.

The Langes are definitely stiffer than the Raichlës and Dolomites. And I
was buckling the top on the softest peg, IIRC, mainly because I would have
had to undo my gaiters to get at them on every chairlift ride. How many of
you unbuckle your boots on every chairlift? They hurt my shins and also the
widths of my soles.

Did Dalbello buy out Raichlë then?

What to do? Start over? Know of any fitters thinking of an island holiday?
Remember when I go skiing, its not like holding out my thumb to the local
mt. like I used to do back in New England: it's a pretty penny. There's an
old Welsh saying: time is the only doctor. What if my foot gets better and
I still not performing up to snuff? I could go back to the Utah mail order
and see about the "Thermal Molding" which is supposed to be part of the
process.

I fished out the instructions from the boot:
"The duration of the thermo-molding process varies from 2 to 5 minutes,
depending on the construction materials. Before inserting the machine
tubes, fully open the boot buckle, pulling the tongue forward. A thick sock
must be worn while carrying out the operation, to avoid direct skin contact
with the heated lining..." Below is what the object looks like; you stick
the prongs in the boots with your feet in them.

----
( )
----
|
/ \
| |
Fig. A
There is a solution. Dalebootusa.com

Custom made and fitted, very comfortable, high performance boots at a competitive affordable price.

Good luck,

Dan
www.djschultzlaw.com
PSIA Level III
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
trying to determine a good board for my needs [email protected] Snowboarding 30 May 19th 05 02:44 PM
Alpine bindings on Telemark skis? Bill Tuthill Alpine Skiing 62 May 16th 05 12:26 PM
So this guy walks into a ski newsgroup and he says... honclfibr Alpine Skiing 28 January 30th 05 06:04 AM
Help - I can't feel my toes! Jay Levitt Alpine Skiing 20 January 24th 05 12:17 AM
Salomon 9 vs Carbon Griss Nordic Skiing 9 January 6th 04 05:25 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 08:17 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SkiBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.