Women's boot for a man

[no edge]

Sorry, the second vid has me in the blue coat. Too much low angle. (9535). I copied the YouTube link and it showed everything in the file. Again, sorry. Not sure what order they are in.

There is a shot of me skiing at Killington, opening day a few years back. I have a green jacket and I am skiing "pretty"... it's the first day.

 

[KingGrump]

Good skiing. I would say your skiing is not the part of the problem.
Lets assume you are in the right length boot.
When you say the boot is too voluminous. what exactly do you mean? Too wide? too much height in the instep? Can you be more specific?

 

[oldschoolskier]

The lower portion of the body looks ok, the upper body looks out of sync for some reason, just can’t pick out why. It has that I’m doing the right thing but am off in timing because its a forced action vs correct action.

 

[KingGrump]

I don't think a full MA is appropriate and/or needed here.
The leg/boot/ski appear to work pretty well together.

ETA: His skiing is better than most on this forum I have had the pleasure to skied with.

 

[François Pugh]

I can confirm that having a too small boot made to fit with a custom foam liner stuffed with enough foam to split the seems will provide a firm, but still comfy all day fit, provided a lot of work is done on not just the boot but also on the liner after foaming and breaking in a bit. My heel is about two inches wide and the ball of my foot is a little over four inches wide.
It seems that boot fitter isn't working out for you and your problem feet. He may be great with other folk and their problem feet, but that doesn't matter here.

 

[no edge]

Good skiing. I would say your skiing is not the part of the problem.
Lets assume you are in the right length boot.
When you say the boot is too voluminous. what exactly do you mean? Too wide? too much height in the instep? Can you be more specific?

The boot seemed to pack out quickly. Overall there is too much room but more so in specific areas - over the front of the foot but not so much the toes. Also, in front of where the leg bones meet the foot, either side, but all of that area. Not sure about the instep. On all sides of the foot length there is a lack of side to side support. Contact with the boot is not very good. A few times I felt the beginnings of an ankle roll. I have been skiing with the boot buckled just about as tightly as is possible.

As far as size, my toe touches or nearly touches the front of the boot. But the looseness in fitting allows the foot to slide forward slightly with a bang... felt in the toe nail. I think you are right, the shell size is correct. It is the lining that may be the problem.

Thanks KG

 

[AmyPJ]

I can confirm that having a too small boot made to fit with a custom foam liner stuffed with enough foam to split the seems will provide a firm, but still comfy all day fit, provided a lot of work is done on not just the boot but also on the liner after foaming and breaking in a bit. My heel is about two inches wide and the ball of my foot is a little over four inches wide.
It seems that boot fitter isn't working out for you and your problem feet. He may be great with other folk and their problem feet, but that doesn't matter here.

Boot Doc liner? Those were a God send for me and I could very well end up with them in the new boots as the liners pack.
I wonder if a hypermobile ankle, even with an average instep, needs a boot with a lower instep? I don't know. I was in a Head B5 as many of you know, 3 seasons ago, and even at a 92mm last, they were way too big everywhere else.

@no edge, a Boot Doc liner might be the ticket. Bonus is they don't pack out.

 

[no edge]

There ya go! I swill check that out. Boot Doc.

My fitter is a dealer!

 

[KingGrump]

Sound like the length is right but the boot volume is a bit too high.

Most skiers push their skis in a down and out direction. What I call 2D skiing. The bottom of the boot is the main contact area.
Your ski turns are round and three dimensional. Good skiing. The skis get driven in a 3D arc. If your feet comes up faster than the skis then the feet will move up in the boot. If there is extra space there, you will feel disconnected.

A foam liner as @AmyPJ suggested sounds good. The bladders on top of the feet will give you a good snug fit there. The foam tongue will also take up the space in your instep which is allowing your feet to slide forward. The ankle fit and heel hold down in a foam liner are usually phenomenal.

Good luck and have a great season.

 

[no edge]

Thanks, KGrump.

Going back to the video that I posted... there is a lot of other stuff included. The vids of me are easy to see. I am either wearing a blue/purple (bright) coat or a hard shell green with grey panels.

There is plenty of Gorilla skiing in these videos - that is not me. In the first deep snow skiing, just after the two evergreens you can see me lurch forward. That's the unbuckled boot catching me off guard. In some of the other skiing I am really standing on the heal of the boot. It is most noticeable on flat terrain. I tend to ski well on steep and variable terrain and not so well on low angle and groomed trails. I believe this is a product of flawed boot fitting. I like to blame others for my problems!

 

[markojp]

The boot seemed to pack out quickly. Overall there is too much room but more so in specific areas - over the front of the foot but not so much the toes. Also, in front of where the leg bones meet the foot, either side, but all of that area. Not sure about the instep. On all sides of the foot length there is a lack of side to side support. Contact with the boot is not very good. A few times I felt the beginnings of an ankle roll. I have been skiing with the boot buckled just about as tightly as is possible.

As far as size, my toe touches or nearly touches the front of the boot. But the looseness in fitting allows the foot to slide forward slightly with a bang... felt in the toe nail. I think you are right, the shell size is correct. It is the lining that may be the problem.

Thanks KG

It's entirely possible you need a B4, B3, or R3, R4 Head plug boot. Revisit this with your fitter. Doing it online with a bunch of strangers with varying levels of expertise (listen to Otto though) is folly and does little to solve your issues.

 

[James]

I could not get things moving at Nick's shop.

Like couldn’t make an appointment?
I’d still rec going to Nick esp since he’s an hour away. Wouldn’t rec gmol.

Otherwise, everything here is based on subjective descriptive input. While fitting on the internet is a bad idea, if you’re going to get anywhere with some suggestions you have to give objective measurements. Then possibly, those who know these boots might be able to help.

Size and width of foot on Brannock device, picture of foot from side, pic of lower leg from side/front. You can also measure the lower leg/calf at a couple points.
Also, most important, what is the current shell fit space behind the heel? Are we talking an inch?

Sounds like you have a low instep, chicken legs, and hyper mobile ankles. Based on what’s written.
Filling everything with foam is generally not great.

 

[Sibhusky]

Sorry, the second vid has me in the blue coat. Too much low angle. (9535). I copied the YouTube link and it showed everything in the file. Again, sorry. Not sure what order they are in.

There is a shot of me skiing at Killington, opening day a few years back. I have a green jacket and I am skiing "pretty"... it's the first day.

All I see is one video - the one with the guy yelling about 123.

Maybe try creating a play list of the skiing ones and share the playlist link.

 

[no edge]

The video is all screwed up. One twenty three is the professional photographer calling out the different skiers that he took pictures of. My video is by a friend. Somehow all videos are blended together. That is not intentional.

We did a vid of me today and he posted it. He promised that he would delete it. It has me skiing very deficient technique. Not good. I actually showed some good progress today but no camera was rolling.

I really cranked the buckles down today. That helped a lot but my foot still rolled in the boot. I think that can be worked on by the fitter. It also helped skiing with my friend. I met him about 14 yrs ago on Epic and we have done lots of skiing together since. I had to step up my game because I was with him.

The video of today shows me in a yellow (green tint) shell. This was my worst skiing today.

 

[no edge]

Comes a time to say... enough. Thanks so much for the help. It really gave me a lot to look at.

 

[AmyPJ]

Comes a time to say... enough. Thanks so much for the help. It really gave me a lot to look at.

Come back and let us know what you've sorted out?

 

[no edge]

Starting to rip on the Heads...

But I can't help but wonder how a women's boot would be for me.

 

[markojp]

Starting to rip on the Heads...

But I can't help but wonder how a women's boot would be for me.

You understand that there's no real difference in race boots, right? There are regular cuff, and short cuff boots. They don't care about your gender. They do care about the length of your lower leg.

 

[Wendy]

Good luck! I am also what I refer to as a "Cinderella" with boots, having gone through 5 pairs in 6 seasons (more if you count the pair I had when I moved to Utah!) I have super low-volume feet and hypermobile feet and ankles. It's hard to feel secure with such issues, but I will go back to what @KingGrump said earlier about a technique issue (this is definitely part of the equation for me) and what @HardDaysNight says above-get the heel and ankle locked down and a slightly larger toe box can be worked with.

MY personal preference is for boots with taller cuffs. Of the 5 pair, I've had two with taller cuffs-a Salomon XMax 90 and now a Nordica Promachine 105. The cuff on the Promachine (with the catches moved to the narrow side) are incredibly snug. I think that my narrow, loosy goosey feet like the extra control I feel from a taller cuff. These two were and are my favorite boots by far. The Xmax became too soft and also just had too much volume.

So, I feel for you and wish you luck. Sometimes, it's the equipment, sometimes, it's the skier, but sometimes it really is both. Also, some of us are super sensitive to what is going on around us, under our feet, on our feet and it adds another layer of frustration to the situation. I get the impression you could fall into this category.

Video of you skiing would be great! Also, don't be afraid to ask for instructor recommendations here and get a lesson.

My feet sound a lot like yours, Amy. Add in that I’m also very sensitive to how they feel in boots, and fitting is a tough task. Like you, I often need an aftermarket (foam or Zipfit) liner. Coincidentally, there’s a pair of Promachine 105w’s on their way to my house. Some fitters find it hard to believe that I need this, but I do. There’s a school of thought out there that if you need an aftermarket liner, you aren’t in the right shell. Short of going to a plug boot, someone with a foot like mine doesn’t have many other options.

It sounds to me like @no edge needs a boot that feels VERY snug in the shop and needs to communicate that with his fitter. However well a fitter can match a boot to a foot, he or she still can’t know exactly what the skier is feeling unless they communicate that. “Good” isn’t a useful descriptor, and I would hope a bootfitter would ask the skier some very pointed questions about fit.

I‘ve had bootfitters dismiss what I am telling them. And then, the trust is broken. So, it goes both ways. The customer really needs to explain what’s going on, and not be afraid to speak up if he feels things aren’t going in the right direction. And the bootfitter needs to keep an open mind and really listen to the customer, and encourage them to fully articulate what they feel.

Communication can be difficult and a lot can be lost in the process.

Seems like @no edge now is enjoying his boots? Hopefully a happy end to the story!

 

[AmyPJ]

My feet sound a lot like yours, Amy. Add in that I’m also very sensitive to how they feel in boots, and fitting is a tough task. Like you, I often need an aftermarket (foam or Zipfit) liner. Coincidentally, there’s a pair of Promachine 105w’s on their way to my house. Some fitters find it hard to believe that I need this, but I do. There’s a school of thought out there that if you need an aftermarket liner, you aren’t in the right shell. Short of going to a plug boot, someone with a foot like mine doesn’t have many other options.

It sounds to me like @no edge needs a boot that feels VERY snug in the shop and needs to communicate that with his fitter. However well a fitter can match a boot to a foot, he or she still can’t know exactly what the skier is feeling unless they communicate that. “Good” isn’t a useful descriptor, and I would hope a bootfitter would ask the skier some very pointed questions about fit.

I‘ve had bootfitters dismiss what I am telling them. And then, the trust is broken. So, it goes both ways. The customer really needs to explain what’s going on, and not be afraid to speak up if he feels things aren’t going in the right direction. And the bootfitter needs to keep an open mind and really listen to the customer, and encourage them to fully articulate what they feel.

Communication can be difficult and a lot can be lost in the process.

Seems like @no edge now is enjoying his boots? Hopefully a happy end to the story!

Sweet on the Promachine 105s! Let me know how they work for you. I'm still absolutely loving mine. They lock down the crucial zones: the instep, and the shin/calf. My skiing has taken a giant leap forward in 7 days since I got them. SO much more control over my skis.