Happy feet make people happy.
5 Tips for better fitting boots
October is here and if the toe nails you lost last season were to come back, they would have done so by now. With your feet healed, it’s time to start thinking about how to take care of them for the upcoming season. There are, after all, millions of steps ahead of you to earn those turns for the way down. Proper boot fitting is a crucial element of your future ski touring comfort and success.
I remember dancing around the store the first time I put on the Dynafit TLT5 and working a whole day with boots on my feet. I would proudly take the bus to and from skiing without even bringing a second pair of shoes. It turns out, I should have paid attention to the slight rubbing that over a season of irresponsible neglect resulted in a small clone of myself budding out of my ankle bone. That clone is a major impingement to fitting any new boots I ski in today.
Don’t make the same mistake I did. Here, five tips gathered over a dozen years of boot fitting and learning the slow way how to prevent ski touring pain with great fitting boots.
1. Understand how a touring boot should fit
There is a big range of “best practices” for fitting a touring boot. I worked as an alpine boot fitter before specializing in touring boots and, wow, was that first year a learning experience. The resort boot world focuses on downhill performance. Ski tourers, on the other hand, don’t appreciate having their feet intransigently cast into a hard plastic shell. Some wiggle room between fitting modes is needed.
A ski shop will usually employ the primitive practice of shell fitting if a boot fitter’s x-ray vision is not working the day of your visit. The goal is to make sure there will be enough room around the toes, without leaving the heel swimming. After taking the liner out and pushing your toes gently to the front of the boot it is then possible to check the space behind the heel. Boot fitters typically use a fit stick, but if you are trying this at home and don’t have such sophistication, use two fingers stacked on top of eachother or roughly 1.5 – 2 cm of space. For performance fits, this spacing goes to 1 cm or pretty much as tight as a skier can handle.
A shell fit with a generous two fingers of room.
The comfort touring world is significantly different and allows for a full 2 cm fit or in select cases a bit more. But be careful, a boot that is too big (anything much more than two fingers) is sure to create rubbing and eventual blisters. I still fit my touring boots as aggressively tight as my old 130 flex alpine boots that thankfully haven’t been worn in years. I feel helplessly out of control if I properly size my boots so I always gone down. However, I once entered the Grand Traverse last minute and raced 40 miles on a pair of borrowed boots a full size up from my normal race boots; it was the best that a pair of boots ever fit. In the end, comfort versus performance need not be a trade off. You can make a very tight performance fit very comfortable and a roomier ski boot more responsive, just expect to spend extra time dialing them in.
2. Customize your boots to your feet
Custom ski boots are no longer just for the rich and famous. There are three component parts to the boot that can be easily customized for your ski touring enjoyment.
Know your feet before you consult and expert or DIY your next boot fit.
Liners
Nearly every brand has their own proprietary thermo-moldable liner although some definitely work better than others. Sometimes the improvement of these liners comes at the cost of that immediate out-of-the-box fit. When trying on boots for the first time in the store, remember that this is the tightest a boot will ever fit. Boots have a natural break-in period even without the heat mold, but a good heat mold can save you a couple agonizing days in the mountains. Toe caps not only pack out space where you need it most, but force the heel back as the liner hardens, making a better pocket for control. Repeated heat molding will degrade the life of the liner so sometimes it best to handle hot spots one at a time instead of cooking the whole boot again. (Want to DIY? Check out Lou’s home boot molding tips from the archives.)
Shells
A few brands such as Salomon, Atomic and Tecnica and others are now toting thermo-moldable shells. The amount of space you can gain from baking the entire shell is impressive, but I would only recommend this to skiers with very hard to fit feet. It is a bit of a one way street: room can be created, but cannot be taken away. This can be a good options if you are downsizing your boots, but if your boots feel good already, try to ski them a few days before committing to any irreversible processes.
Footbeds
These cover a wide range of prices and constructions, from medical grade to complementary felt covered cardboard standard issued in every box of ski touring boots. Upgrading these can be an essential maneuver for shoring up the fit of your boots. A little arch support gives you better response as your boot will roll with your foot in every turn and also pulls your toes back from the front of your boot. Custom medical orthotics can cost more than $300 but there are some great over the counter products such as Sole or Superfeet that are only $30-50 and can get you most of the way there with some slight customization.
3. Go for a 1-2 hour tour
Coming from someone who has done irreparable damage to my own feet, this is a big one. My ambition and stoke for the kick turns has gotten the better of me before and all pain from wearing an uncomfortable pair of plastic shoes melts away as the summit grows closer. If you go out for an hour, even bad hotspots in the form of blisters or bone impingements can be addressed and recovered from quickly. If you are six hours into a tour, you could set yourself back for the entire season. Resist the urge on your first day or two out!
4. Prevent and treat blisters
You have taken steps to get in a proper fitting boot, but blisters still happen. After all you are taking thousands of steps in a row that some would call torture in the drier months of the year. A THIN pair of socks made of breathable, moisture-wicking material is a huge part of ski touring. Less fabric decreases your chances for it to ball up and rub and more easily controls temperature. Feet tend to sweat much worse while going uphill, but the sweat will freeze your toes solid on the way downhill.
Thin socks are crucial for ski touring. Compression socks like these Dissent socks are a great upgrade. Yes you can go medical grade here too.
If you do encounter a blister, catch it early. That may mean pulling your foot out of the boot while standing in the snow. Or, stomp out a platform to place your pack on and sit on it. Point is, blisters have a far shorter impact on your ski day (or future ski days) if you nip them as soon as you feel those hot spots. Carry some moleskin in your first aid kit to place over the hot spot. If the blister has already burst, apply a hydroseal bandage with some climbing or duct tape over it. Treating blisters in the field isn’t ideal, but if you can at least get through the rest of the tour and clean better once you get indoors, you’re doing more than just letting it go. And if you failed to plan ahead, pull out the duct tape. If you’re fitting new boots and know you’ve got some hot spots already, tape those areas before putting on socks and heading out for a tour.
Pro Tip: Scarpa Aliens have violently sculpted heel pockets that although are great for performance can be crushing for blisters. Once you acknowledge this is a point of worry, tape them preemptively every time!
5. Punch or pad your touring boots
When the simple mechanisms for boot comfort have been addressed, it is time to operate. Talk to any friend that spends a hundred days a season in boots and you can bet they have resorted to some drastic measures.
It’s true that Polyurethane boots are easier to manage than their lighter Grilamid or carbon infused plastic cousins, but that doesn’t mean that all touring boots can’t be punched. The key is finding a local shop that is comfortable working with these different kinds of plastics. Melting points can be sensitive and the lighter the shell, the thinner the plastic. The right boot tech will know to go slower, hold the punch longer, and expand the boot incrementally. If you have weird ankle bones like me, or a heel spur that is under constant pressure, a good punch can alleviate the pain before it becomes a nagging problem.
Since touring boots often have more space to work with, padding can be a great option before you bring out the expanders. Often times, black toe nails are born from sliding into the front of your boot rather than the fit being too tight. Adding foam to your instep can help lock your heel back and prevent this. A C-pad or donut of foam around an extruded bone can dissipate the pressure. Use caution with “mustache” pads over your achilles. This has become a common prescription, but can result in other issues as your foot gets pushed forward in the shell.
Pads as offered by SVST.com are a great option for alleviating bone pain before the problem comes chronic.
Pro Tip: Tongue Style touring boots often collapse the shell onto your medial malleolus (inside ankle bones) as you tighten the plastic. The cuff articulation can exacerbate this by rubbing the ankle against the constriction. This is an easy place to bend the shell out and can save a lot of pain. Check out our article on fitting the La Sportiva Spectre for details.
Above all, remember that fitting touring boots is a process. We ask a lot of our feet to go the distance in adverse conditions, but there is plenty you can do to make them comfortable. In the end the fit of your boots will be the last thing you think of on the final steps up the peak, before you rip skins and the sheer bliss of the descent takes over.
17 comments
As a boot fitter myself there is one thing additional thing I always have my BC customers do. That is simply to do a few (8-10) laps of our stair case. That way I can have them simulate what skinning in the boot will feel like. After all if the boot is not comfortable to walk in it is of no use as a touring boot. I’ve done this for almost 20yrs now and find this extra info goes a long way in choosing a boot that will give my clients miles
of smiles.
I was recently asked how I specifically deal with the medial malleolus. My medial malleolus is the size of small grapefruit during the season. I used a combination of tactics to help. I will have to a giant punch using a table mounted press and I always make sure I go a bit forward of where I think I need to. I find that while touring the range of motion often moves your ankle forward from where you are measuring in the shop. I use one of those C pads to relieve the pressure and then sometimes I will remold the liner with a little extra pad for the bone to expand the liner into the new space created.
Doug: Have you been checked for pronation? Often times this particular problem is from a flattened arch or other condition which results in the ankle(s) tipping inward. This can cause the medial malleoli to become pinned to the inside of the cuff. In my 35 years of bootfitting, it is one of the top 5 problems that I see. A footbed constructed to correct the pronation and bring your ankle into a more neutral, centered can relieve this condition as can the placement of a varus wedge under and existing footbed. Still; sometimes cavitation of the cuff is needed to accommodate heavier bone structure. Be careful of pads as adding volume inside a liner or shell where you are already having a pressure problem can make it worse.
For blister care I highly recommend listening to this podcase: https://www.scienceofultra.com/podcasts/23
“My guest today is John VonHof. He literally wrote the book on foot care for the athlete, Fixing Your Feet. You can learn more from him on his website.
If you don’t already have it, get his book here: Fixing Your Feet
Today we dig into all the essential components of good foot care, from shoe fitting to blister care. We wrap up by defining the essential features of a good minimalist foot care kit for your next run or adventure. “
I’m not sure where I read this pro tip (here perhaps?) but putting on a calf-length pantyhose under your sock can stop a hot spot in its tracks before it becomes a blister. Even though I have finally found boots that feel great, I still carry a couple pantyhose in my first aid kit. They curl up to a tiny ball and weigh about a gram each. Ask your grandmother for some spares! But be ready to explain (again) why you think it’s a good idea to climb up mountains to ski down them…
Vtvolk, I’ve never tried the pantyhose trick. Great tip!
I’m not a boot fitter but I’ve BC skied for 40 years and here are a few tried and true recommendations:
1-the previous comment on knee-high nylons is spot on. They create a tiny bit of slip thereby helping to prevent blisters. (Note, if you have heal lift your problem is a sloppy fit, or too-loose buckling, not the nylons.)
2-moleskin doesn’t work. It creates additional friction right at the problem spot due to its thickness (I haven’t found any moleskin thinner than 1/8 inch, which is huge). Instead use cloth athletic tape on those forming blisters then cover with a knee-high nylon over the tape but under your sock. Duct tape also works but it creates a cold spot due to the non-breathable-plastic-materials. It also fails more quickly than athletic tape due to the trapped sweat which quickly deteriorates the glue.
3-don’t ever heat-mold your liners, it only amplifies the “packing-out” process. Let your foot do the job naturally over a series of days. The best excuse for skinning up groomers is to pack/mold a new pair of liners to your feet, in a more controlled environment than say skinning/skiing a 14er. Yes, you’ll be uncomfortable those first outings but you’ll be happier in the long term, and you’ll get more days of use out of your liners.
4-professional boot fitters, especially those in the resort/alpine realm, tend to fit them incredibly tight, as if you’re Bode Miller or you’re Alex Hannold fitting rock shoes. When fitting, like mentioned above, use the stick-fit method (or two stacked fingers but, if anything, go slightly small). Just remember, if you’re in terrible pain during the fitting while sitting in the store (like when you buy rock shoes) you will be miserable when skinning.
Leuko Tape is even better
+1 addition to the first-aid kit. thanks!
Indeed. Leuko tape is amazing stuff. My go to blister remedy, along with some 2nd skin if necessary.
I’m not a boot fitter, and I don’t play one on TV either. But I do know enough to keep my bootfitter happy….
Since he often works through lunch, I’ll try to bring him something to eat when I come in for afternoon visits.
Fortunately, he likes pizza and they sell tasty slices a couple of doors down from the shop.
You really don’t want to deal with your bootfitter when he has low blood sugar.
Zippy the bootfitters and backshops of this land love you!!!
As a beginner tourer I find article and all comments highly valuable! Cannot thank you enough once again!
Happy to hear, Pezze! Thanks for the feedback.
I think it would be more helpful to actually have a tech article for the DIY boot fitter, rather than talking about what a bootfitter can do for you. For example, what ARE the right punch temps for PU, Pebax, Grilamid? What DIY jigs and devices have you used to punch shells. Wildsnow in the past as posted such articles. Touring, mountaineering, etc are about getting it done yourself. Telling us what the boot fitter can do is akin to telling us to find a guide to set the skin track. That is all meant constructively, I’m a big Wildsnow fan and have been since 2010 or so.
This is great advice and I will work on a few of these with Lou to come. The issue is everything is a bit more complicated in the last 10 years. Lots of different plastics and you can irreparable damage to your boot. At least if you pay a shop to do it they are on the hook if you melt through the shell. I do this stuff at home with very unsophisticated tools all the time though. I recommended going really slow and checking the plastic with your finger to see how its heating up. There will be a critical point where the plastic will literally take your finger print but it hasn’t started bubbling yet. This is the perfect time for it to take a punch. For ankle bones you can do it with a wine bottle or soft ball and situate in the right place.
If it is way down in the boot you need a table mounted press or a hydraulic boot expander. Both of these tools cost hundreds of dollars and Lou has always had his own in his garage for it. If you are attempting a DIY in the toe of your boot you MUST shim the boot full of wood or metal so it does not collapse the shape of the boot. This is the biggest issue I find even from other shops attempting it
Would be nice to see hear your thoughts on lateral and fore-aft alignment set up for touring boots. I spend a fair bit of time still skiing in a plug boot with canted soles (through planing) and properly aligned cuffs, as well as some fore-aft adjustments. Obviously there is less scope for some of these adjustments in a touring boot but I find it very difficult to ski well in a boot that isn’t set up right for me not to mention my knees hurt if the boot makes me skin in a knock kneed way. I’v also skied with many friends who seem to struggle with touring boots that are too up right and put them in terrible lateral alignment and a lot of shops I’ve been to will look at you funny if you ask about these issues especially if it’s for touring boots. I have finally managed to get my touring boot to work pretty well, curious to hear how you and others approach this aspect of fitting.