UKC

When skiing I start getting severe pain as soon as I do up the bottom two clips on my ski boots. I can walk quite happily with the clips undone for long periods of time but as soon as I do up the bindings and either walk or ski then they start getting extremely painful to the point where I can't turn anymore and have to stop, undo the clips, and lift my feet one at a time until the pain starts to subside.

The boots are definitely not too tight as my feet are on the point of moving inside the boots. I went to the doctor and my circulation is fine. It seems to be that as soon as I feel any kind of solid pressure on the side of my foot they start tensing up and become painful.

Anyone had a similar experience and found a solution apart from concentrating on relaxing the foot as much as possible?

In reply to BruceWee:

I find if my ski boots are too tight across the top then i get pins and needles so i've just started leaving the bottom 2 undone, and they don't really provide much support anyway. I think most boot fitter naturally focus on length and width of the foot but ignore the top which is responsible for a lot of circulation. Could you get your shells blown out?

In reply to BruceWee:


Sounds like it's one of possibly two things. Either you've a pair of footbeds in your ski boots that are raising the arch of your foot too much, which seems unlikely seeing as it's only when you do them up. Or, and the more likely option, your ski boots don't fit the shape of your feet. Not being an expert boot fitter anything more than the above across the internet is just speculation.

What you do need to do is get yourself to a top class boot fitter get your feet remeasured and either get your boots blown/modified to suit, get a new set of liners, and possibly footbeds, that suit your feet or possibly the most drastic action, though the one most likely to fix it properly, get a new pair of boots that suit your feet. At least if you go for the final option you will have the likelyhood of being able to sell on your existing boots.

Where are you based? maybe possible to get a recommendation of a good boot fitter in your region who will help sort you out.

In reply to BruceWee: If your feet feel they're about to move, I'd guess the boots are slightly too big. As Frank said a boot fitter would be a good place to go. If you need a short term thing to try, how about taking out some volume by adding a pair of (thin) socks or a more supportive insole? I had similar problems until I got the sock layers right (boots still too big but at least I don't cramp up).

In reply to Frank4short: Boot fitter is probably the way to go. I have a lot of problems getting any kind of footwear to fit so I think I may have a slightly unusual foot shape. Looking at some other sites my feet seem to be unusually wide at the ball part of my foot. It think this may be where the problem is originating.

I'm not sure about good boot fitters since I live in Trondheim in Norway (although you would think that they would be the experts here). I might have to wait until I'm back in Scotland next.

Any recommendations for boot fitters near Glasgow?

Also, what does blowing out boots entail? Can you get one specific area blown out or is it the entire boot?

Do you get any pain just before the toes at the ball of the foot?

In reply to BruceWee: I've an old skiing buddy lives in Oslo. Will drop him a mail to see if he can recommend somewhere close to you. Plus i reckon you're probably more likely to get a really good boot fitter there to fix your issues as there's more of a skiing culture.

Blowing out a boot usually involves the boot fitter getting something that resembles a cross between an industrial hair dryer and a blow torch to heat the plastic up to near melting point. Then using specialist presses, etc. forcing the shell out to create more space in the problem area. Often times the boot fitter will also shave some material out of the inside of the liner as well in the problem area.

In reply to Milesy: It's pretty much just on the outside edge of the foot from about halfway along the foot to just before the toes.

In reply to Frank4short: If you could that would be great, thanks.

In reply to BruceWee:

Footworks in Edinburgh is worth a visit, it's in Bruntsfield.

In reply to BruceWee:
Sounds like something I had when I started skiing.

Boots were too loose, so I was tensing my feet inside the bood to "grip" them with my toes, as it were. A bit like crimping a flat hold when cragging.

Tighter boots gave a more secure feel & enabled my feet to relax, with he boot gripping the foot & not the other way round.

In reply to Chris Harris:

11 replies and not a sherpa pun in sight? Do I have to do EVERYTHING around here? Sheesh!

In reply to BruceWee: From my mate in norway Try Sportsbua http://www.sportsbua.no/public.aspx?pageid=47020 they specialize in nordic and backcountry skiing... If they can't fix it, they'll know who can... (I havn't been boot shopping in Trondheim, but I got this off a freeride forum)

In reply to BruceWee:

I agree with what people are saying about having a good fitting. However I think it's worthwhile being aware that most beginners get some element of discomfort/pain in their feet when they start.

In fact not just beginners. I was talking to an instructor on the mountain last season and he was complaining that he was teaching beginners and therefore suffering foot pains from all the snowploughs he was doing.

In reply to BruceWee:

Nerve pincing
Read up mortons neuroma.
I know lots of older climbers with severe issues from years of tight shoes. It can cause permanent damage so deal to it!

In reply to Frank4short: Thanks a lot for that but unfortunately that's where I bought my boots from.

The first pair I bought there were much tighter and much worse to the point where I could barely stand by the time I got to the top of the first run of the day and had to stop half way down to take them off.

The pair I have now are better but still not good.

I think I've taken it as far as I can with Sportsbua and they are probably the best in town. Guess I'll have to wait until I'm in Glasgow next.

In reply to Tiberius: Not sure if I'm still described as a beginner. I'm happy on red runs on piste and now ski mostly back country.

In reply to KiwiPrincess: I had a look at this but it seems to affect the area between the 3rd and 4th toe whereas my pain is entirely on the outside side of my foot.

In reply to BruceWee: Apart from fitting issues, when I get foot pain I am very conscious it is because I am not skiing well - I'm tensing my feet and that gives me cramp.

I've had the same boots for 10+ years and when I'm skiing well they're comfortable, when I'm stressed (e.g. hungover(!), early in a ski holiday or on poor skis) then they hurt.

In reply to BruceWee:

I sued to get that with my old plastic Kof;achs. If I did the outer up too tight I would get a severe pain in the outside of my level with the arch. If I ignored it, the pain would takes months to go away. It was importnat to loosen the boot off a bit, or deal with the consequences. I get the same with ski boots - too tight - much pain

In reply to BruceWee:

I had what sounds like a very similiar experience to you last season with a new pair of boots. Fine for walking/skinning but really painful on outside edge of foot once bottom buckles done (more specifically, 2nd from bottom buckle). Start of this winter I had the boots fitted by Alain Baxter http://www.alainbaxter.co.uk/ in Stirling. Alain fitted a new footbed but without heelpost. This lowered my foot very slightly in the boot whilst giving me better support/control.

In hindsight I realise that, with the footbed I was previously using, the fit was unbalanced. My feet were being lifted too much at the arch, filling the boot at that 2nd buckle point, but with too much room around rest of foot. I could not find a balanced fit across my whole foot when adjusting for downhill and realise now that the fit was always compromised. I now have a very balanced fit and feet are very comfortable.

In reply to Turfty: That's interesting, it sounds about right. I have occasionally noticed that the boot seems to be pushing into the arch even when the buckles are undone.

When you say without heelpost, was that just the front half of the footbed or a full footbed but with a lowered heel. ie, could I get away with just cutting the heel off a normal footbed?

In reply to Turfty: By the way, thanks for the recommendation, I'll be sure to visit next time I'm in Glasgow

In reply to BruceWee:

Had something very similar to what you describe when I hired a pair of Salomon ski boots once, although years ago.

I'm pretty sure they were too narrow and crushed my feet sideways - like you, I have quite wide feet at the front.

I only used them for a day and was still in pain the following day when I went back to my snowboarding boots!

I found a different pair of boots solved the problem - next hire boots were Technica Diablo and they were fantastically comfortable, although can't guarantee the size was the same.

Oddly, I currently own a pair of Salomon ski boots and haven't had any problems with them so far, but I think they're maybe a touch on the large side.

In reply to BruceWee:

It is a full length, moulded footbed with no additional heel section. If you look at, for example, a superfeet insole, it is made up of two sections, the full length footbed and a plastic heelpost that extends 2/3rds of the way down the footbed, providing support and shape to the arch. Could you get away with just cutting the heel off a normal footbed? You might get lucky but I suspect it is not as simple as that. The footbed, once moulded, is pretty stiff, much more so than the the footbed of a superfeet insole, so gives good support/holds foot in position.

In reply to Turfty: What I think I will do is start playing around with insoles and footbeds. I have a couple of different footbeds with heels and insoles from various different boots and shoes so I'll try different combinations.

The weather over here is looking great for a topptur this weekend so we'll see

In reply to BruceWee: Sounds like your boots are either to narrow or your footbeds are pushing your arches up too much. With that in mind I'd start with no footbed for an easy day and work up from there.