53’s Journey

[Started at 53]

New max speed this morning, 29.7 mph
Yikes!!!!!

11 runs this morning, including the last one which was a WROD on the bottom 1/3rd as two runs merged

Took on some more difficult terrain today and it was all good! Had a blast again

Technique still breaks down in steep-for-me areas, but the comfort level is getting better on steeper stuff.

I’m loving it

For some reasons the apps don’t match up on run numbers

 

[Monique]

New max speed this morning, 29.7 mph

Just you wait! It's terrifying how fast you can get going on skis while feeling pretty chill.

Technique still breaks down in steep-for-me areas, but the comfort level is getting better on steeper stuff.

This is *totally normal*. Everyone's technique breaks down when it gets steep for them. I promise. If their technique hasn't broken down, it hasn't gotten steep for them yet.

 

[Dwight]

I’m loving it

They only thing that really matters.

 

[Started at 53]

My last day skiing I was cruising down a nice green run (Ontario @ Deer Valley) and it felt like my right upper buckle had come loose. I stopped and checked it and it had not come loose, but I clicked in a notch tighter anyway and finished my run/day. Earlier in the day this same setting had been tight, which I thought was very odd. It was odd in that it felt like I had a hard time pushing my shin up against my boot.

Is this normal?

 

[Don in Morrison]

My last day skiing I was cruising down a nice green run (Ontario @ Deer Valley) and it felt like my right upper buckle had come loose. I stopped and checked it and it had not come loose, but I clicked in a notch tighter anyway and finished my run/day. Earlier in the day this same setting had been tight, which I thought was very odd. It was odd in that it felt like I had a hard time pushing my shin up against my boot.

Is this normal?

I always have to readjust my buckles after a couple of runs. If I put my boots on with the buckles the way they were at the end of the last skiing day, it's real hard to close the buckles, so I have to loosen the bails about 4 or 5 turns. After a couple of runs, the boot warms up and softens up a bit and I can easily tighten them back down so they feel snug. Another way to do it is before I start out for the day, I buckle my boots so they feel about right, then go through each buckle one at a time and turn the bail one or two rounds tighter and cinch it down again. I repeat until I get to the place where they should last the whole day. Boots are stiffer when you first put them on, unless you have a boot warmer. (I don't) After you wear them a while, they warm up and soften up a little.

 

[Sibhusky]

I have found, CONSISTENTLY, that after I eat, my buckles all need a twist to tighten them, maybe a two or three twists. Then the next morning, I untwist them all a couple turns and repeat the process. Now, I don't have skinny shanks. My theory is that as your body digests, food or water is sent up to your stomach or wherever, to aid digestion. That's my theory, anyway. I've been seeing this for years with all my boots. I'm guessing the skinnier your shanks the less fluid is being stored down there and the less you would see of this. My all-over buckle settings have not changed over the years. And the boots have 300+ days on them. But this before/after happens 100% of the time.

 

[Monique]

My last day skiing I was cruising down a nice green run (Ontario @ Deer Valley) and it felt like my right upper buckle had come loose. I stopped and checked it and it had not come loose, but I clicked in a notch tighter anyway and finished my run/day. Earlier in the day this same setting had been tight, which I thought was very odd. It was odd in that it felt like I had a hard time pushing my shin up against my boot.

Is this normal?

I usually want to tighten up after a few runs ... they pack out over the day. But they also pack out generally, so was this in the first 5-10 days you've had them?

 

[Started at 53]

Yep, it was in the first 7 days of skiing, but they were tight in the morning, and then as the day went on all of a sudden I noticed that there was a looseness in the boot and I did not like it

 

[mdf]

I'm with Sib. I think most of the change is your feet, not the boots

 

[LiquidFeet]

Me too.

I've always had this happen. I've decided that the liners do not shrink and expand every day for hundreds of days. That just does not make sense.

My legs shrink and expand. When I put the boots on, my feet and lower legs get compressed by the boot. After a few runs, or after lunch, they start dehydrating and shrinking. I have to mess with the buckles several times a day. The next morning the feet/legs are back to normal, and the process repeats.

 

[Fuller]

I'm with Sib. I think most of the change is your feet, not the boots

Another reason to make sure your boots are snug when you buy them - your feet will shrink after lunch!

 

[KingGrump]

I'm with Sib. I think most of the change is in your Mind, not the boots

 

[Sibhusky]

↑
I'm with Sib. I think most of the change is in your Mind, not the boots

Not so. Buckles are close to rattling when put back in the same notch that was a bit too snug for the chair ride up. Really, I've said if you have skinny shanks this may be a thing you don't experience. I don't have skinny shanks.

 

[KingGrump]

Not so. Buckles are close to rattling when put back in the same notch that was a bit too snug for the chair ride up. Really, I've said if you have skinny shanks this may be a thing you don't experience. I don't have skinny shanks.

Being a dude, we usually have skinnier shanks.
That said, I don't use my buckles much.

 

[Monique]

Yep, it was in the first 7 days of skiing, but they were tight in the morning, and then as the day went on all of a sudden I noticed that there was a looseness in the boot and I did not like it

Well, seven days is a decent point for your liners to have actually packed out a bit. So that could be it.

Every day, my boots have more room toward the end of the day than the start. In fact, my calf will cramp if I go too tight to start. So I start out with my bottom two buckles right where I want 'em (those don't seem to be an issue) and my upper two buckles just tight enough that the catch won't just fall off the bail (if I have my terminology right). After a few runs, I can tighten them down a good bit more without feeling that I'm cranking down.

Ideally, your fit should be good enough that you never have to really crank them. (And then of course there are people like @KingGrump who prefer a loose fit. A loose fit will teach you a lot about skiing, but I wouldn't start playing with that just yet.)

 

[mdf]

Actually, with me they get tightened as the morning goes on, but then going out after lunch the pre-lunch setting is too tight. I have to loosen them.

Maybe Grump never tightens his boots enough to squish his feet. Or he never gets cold feet.

 

[Monique]

Actually, with me they get tightened as the morning goes on

Is that feet or lower leg or both? Interesting.

 

[mdf]

feet

 

[Monique]

feet

*nod* So they're probably swelling, like they would if you were standing at work all day, hiking all day, etc ...

No idea why this seems not to be an issue for me (except they just feel raw and overheated in the spring, but not in a way that opening a buckle feels like it would help).

 

[DanoT]

I don't like fiddling with buckles and no loosening for the chairlift ride. So what I am saying is that I want the boot to force the foot to conform to the shape and volume of the boot, not the other way around. The third buckle up from the toe is my only tight buckle.