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Is it better for ski boots to be too big, or too small?

Is it better for ski boots to be too big, or too small?

James Clark |

If you’re a regular reader of the Ski Exchange blog, you will already know something about the importance of ensuring your ski boots fit well. After all, if you want to have the best possible time while out on the slopes – and to achieve optimal performance – your ski boots and skis will need to be in a symbiotic relationship, in light of the fact it is your feet that will guide your skis.

 

So, it might seem a redundant question to ask whether it would be “preferrable” for your ski boots to be too big or too small, as neither would be ideal. And in many respects, you would be right to think this.

 

However, there are still some factors related to size that you might wish to bear in mind as you arrange for professional ski boot assessment and fitting by experts such as our own.

 

The “desired” tightness or looseness of ski boots can be a key point of debate

 

It can be easy to feel trapped between the risks of your ski boots being overly small, and too large. As a broad rule, decreasing the size of your ski boots is likely to lend itself better to performance, while increasing your ski boots’ size may help enhance comfort.

 

You might have read or heard in the past, that comfort shouldn’t be your very first priority when it comes to ski boot assessment and fitting. However, if anyone tells you that ski boots are “supposed” to be excruciatingly tight and uncomfortable, they will already be going too far.

 

So, what about the opposite “extreme” – a ski boot that feels too big even at the fitting session? Here, again, there is a danger, as it is important to remember that your ski boots will feel their tightest when you are first having a new pair fitted. From that point, they will gradually feel more spacious over time.

 

From that perspective, if you are in any doubt, it is probably a better idea to ensure your feet fill your chosen boots well, even at the risk of them feeling slightly too small at first. Don’t fall for the idea (as is also sometimes spread) that “you’ll lose your toenails if your toes touch the end of the boot”.

 

There is, of course, an easy way to ensure the optimal ski boot fit…

 

As a general rule, our team at Ski Exchange would urge you to aim for a fit that could be described as “snug” – akin to a firm handshake.

 

If, at your boot fitting session, the boot liner feels like a snug-fitting glove, and you can wiggle your toes, but not curl them, you are probably in (broadly) the right territory. Your boots shouldn’t be so small that they cause actual pain, but also not so comfortable that you might as well be wearing a pair of slippers.

 

Of course, when you are looking to ensure the best possible fit for your ski boots, you will need to look far beyond the most elementary aspects of sizing.

 

This is why our own custom boot fitting service is likely to be invaluable to you; we take pride in our comprehensive and fastidious fitting process, encompassing such essentials as the initial assessment, custom fitting, shell modification, and alignment.

 

This can all be accomplished in a session with us lasting for about one to three hours. And of course, there is also the not-insignificant matter of our Comfort Guarantee, which covers all required fitting work.

 

Why, then, wait any longer to book your ski boot fitting appointment with us, at a date and time to suit you?

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