It’s one of the questions we inevitably receive most often here at Ski Exchange: “how come my ski boots are so uncomfortable or painful, and how can I make them better?”
And that’s a perfectly understandable question to ask, especially if you’re an inexperienced skier. It might seem obvious to you that achieving the utmost comfort in your ski boots should be a major priority of yours, so that you can get the best out of every ski trip you embark upon.
And in any case, who wants to have to worry about bruised toes, blisters, and the other potential physical problems that are often associated with uncomfortable ski boots?
Remember, though, that ski boot fitting is about more than comfort
Before we go any further on the subject of comfort, it is important to acknowledge that ski boots aren’t necessarily always designed with comfort as the uppermost priority.
And as you become a more confident and seasoned skier, and perhaps switch to more performance-oriented boots than you are currently wearing, this is something you’re likely to appreciate more and more.
Of course, we aren’t suggesting you should just ‘put up with’ ski boots that are utterly painful and uncomfortable. However, given that a tight fit will be crucial for enabling you to achieve adequate power transfer from your chosen footwear to your bindings and to your skis, you should be mindful that you might simply need to spend some time “breaking in” to your new ski boots.
Presuming that factor has been accounted for, though, what can you do to maximise the comfort of your ski boots? Below, we have set out a few suggestions.
- Opt for thinner socks… or thicker ones
That might not sound massively helpful, but do allow us to elaborate. As a “quick fix”, you might find that you feel more comfortable in your ski boots if you switch to some extra thick socks, given the additional padding these can provide to your feet when wearing stiff boots.
So far, you might think, so obvious. Weirdly enough, however, some people trying to maximise the comfort of their ski boots find that switching to a thinner sock gives them a better feeling. This is because it still accomplishes the job of keeping their feet warm, while also enabling them to improve the transfer of power from their feet to their boots when they turn.
- Make some tweaks to your end-of-the-day and start-of-the-day routine
Small things can make a big difference to your efforts to banish pain and discomfort in your ski boots. The night before wearing them, for example, you should be keeping your boots warm, while also ensuring your socks stay dry before they go into your boots.
When it comes to buckling your ski boots, make sure the tongue is inside the liner first, and realigned correctly. By only lightly buckling everything initially, you will be able to do a few forward flexes, before tightening the buckles to help ensure you’ve achieved the optimal ski boot fit.
- Ensure your ski boots fit optimally – even getting professional help
In our above point, we referenced the subject of making sure your ski boots fit well, and it’s fair to say there’s a real “art” to this. If there is any reason why your ski boots are causing you pain or discomfort right now – other than, as we touched on above, you haven’t gone through a sufficient “break in” period with them yet – it’s probably because they just don’t fit well.
It doesn’t help that novice skiers who are essentially “between” sizes often make the mistake of going with a slightly larger size rather than a slightly smaller size, reasoning that a ski boot with more space inside would surely be the more comfortable one.
And that might turn out to be the case… or it may not. After all, if your foot has room to move around in a boot, this could present greater scope for bruising and blisters to your heels and toes.
You probably sense where we’re going with this; sometimes, there’s just nothing that can beat a professional ski boot fitting session. And here at Ski Exchange, we offer no less than guaranteed ski boot fitting satisfaction. We are, of course, referring to our renowned Comfort Guarantee, which covers all necessary fitting work to help give the utmost peace of mind to those who join us for a custom boot fitting appointment.
Why not click through now to arrange your next ski boot fitting session with us, in the knowledge that our services in this regard really are some of the most highly rated in the world?