The first orthotic I received (blue) was too high volume to be worn in my ski boots. The second one (white) was much thinner but still provided decent support and alignment.
A friend who was a regular marathon runner once told me to get custom orthotics. I had some knee issues at the time, old injuries that would flair up if I started a consistent running routine, which the friend suggested that orthotics would help. But I was also 23 years old and broke at the time, so I opted for a cheaper over-the-counter insole instead.
This past year, as I’ve dug deeper into long ski touring and mountaineering efforts (and noticed lingering aches and pains I’ll blame on aging…), my curiosity about custom orthotics was piqued again. Not to mention, the more ski boots I test, the more mangled my feet seem to become.
I caught wind of Arcus Custom Orthotics, who make mail-order orthotics, handmade in the U.S. They don’t require a doctors visit, which helps to cut the price but still offers a fully custom fit. So, this season I finally took the plunge and ordered a set. Here are my thoughts after a season spent ski touring with orthotics.
Overview
Orthotics have long been used to treat specific foot issues and injuries (plantar fasciitis, arthritis, etc) but are common in athletic circles as well. In the past, consumers have had to get go to an actual podiatrist’s office and be prescribed an orthotic, a process that can cost anywhere from $200-$800 (which insurance may or assist with). Thanks to the age of the internet, though, if you just want to order custom footbeds for preventative purposes (or you have a known diagnosis from previous prescriptions), you can order them online.
Orthotics can be used for preventing injuries from overuse or alignment issues, treating known foot problems, or helping with recovery if you’re coming back from an injury. For prevention, it’s all about alignment. According to Adam Kaplan, podiatrist and founder of Arcus Custom Orthotics, the main idea is to seat the heel of the foot correctly, which then straightens alignment in the ankle, knee, hip and lower back. Having your joints properly aligned can then help prevent inflammation or arthritis, as well as increase your overall efficiency.
The foam mold honestly felt kind of weird but neat too. Once Arcus gets the molds back, they go through a fairly extensive process to hand make the orthotic.
This isn’t really a new idea in ski touring. Buy boots in any good shop and they’ll likely recommend you purchase an over-the-counter footbed to stick in during the heat molding process. The cheaper footbeds have done me well, but as I’ve increased the hours I spend touring, I’ve wondered if maybe there’s some benefit to a fully custom fit that I was missing.
The process
Since I didn’t have a specific ailment that required a trip to a podiatrist, my first step was to fill out a form on the Arcus website. Prompts included foot measurements, shape, arch height and intended use, as well as photos of my foot. Within a week or so, I received in the mail a cardboard box filled with blue, chalky foam.
Included in the foam mold box is a sampling of surface materials and a shipping label to send back once you’ve imprinted your feet.
My feet. Not a dissimilar experience to making handprint molds in Kindergarten…
Following the instructions included in the box, I took the imprints of both my feet, shipped the box back with a prepaid label, and then waited. In two weeks, my new insoles arrived.
First round of insoles. These ended up being too high volume for ski boots, so I reached out to Arcus to get a thinner but equally supportive set.
At this point, I ran into trial and error specific to ski boots. Since I’ve made it a habit of cramming my feet into boots that are a size down from my typical shoe size, the orthotics I ordered based on the latter were too long and thick. Try as I might to trim the tips, I would smush my toes in even the highest volume boot. In the interest of getting a better fit for ski boots specifically, I reached out to Arcus and explained the situation. We discussed the ideal thickness for the insole, and length.
End product number two: a thin, fully custom, hand made set of orthotics.
In a couple more weeks I had a new insole in the mailbox, this one truly custom for ski boots.
In the field
The biggest thing I noticed on days that I toured with the custom footbeds is how remarkably unnoticeable they were. That is, I could spend hours tromping up and sliding down hills and not think about my feet. The noticeable things were subtle — on long tours, I felt less fatigue in my legs and a general ease in my gait. My right knee, which is often sore after skiing seemed to be less so. Was that psychological? I like to think not.
The most notable day I recall was one of the first big outings of the season, where my partners and I skinned and skied multiple 2000+ foot laps in our local zone. Aside from cold toes (a common ailment I’ve yet to fully remedy…), my legs felt solid and well supported both up and down, all day and after. In general, the orthotics seemed to offer something that can be elusive in ski boots: true all day comfort.
Special considerations
The crew at Arcus can’t diagnose issues just from your foot impressions. If you have a specific ailment that you haven’t seen a doctor for, you’ll want to get a diagnosis before ordering an orthotic.
The orthotics are handmade in the U.S., as shown in this photo collage, which is actually pretty awesome and unique among the many varieties of footbeds on the market of late.
At $250 a pair, they’re pricier than the average over-the-counter footbed ($50-$100) but a bargain compared to prescription orthotics you might get from an orthopedist ($200-$800, which may or may not include co-pays etc).
Closing thoughts
If you’re a ski tourer who doesn’t consider whether your boots fit right, you probably don’t need to spend $250 to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. But if you’re in search of a custom fit, you want to experiment with maximizing your efficiency in ski boots, or you’ve got a known issue and want to get an orthotic without seeing a podiatrist, a mail-order custom orthotic could be the right choice for you.
See more boot fitting resources.
Manasseh Franklin is a writer, editor and big fan of walking uphill. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction and environment and natural resources from the University of Wyoming and especially enjoys writing about glaciers. Find her other work in Alpinist, Adventure Journal, Rock and Ice, Aspen Sojourner, AFAR, Trail Runner and Western Confluence.
11 comments
This is a tough one and I struggle with this offering as it will likely work for 70-80% of consumers. BUT the remaining folks who need proper alignment will spend the money while running the a risk of improper alignment. In laymen’s terms the nuanced and micro factors involved in proper alignment, proper weighting and a balanced stance are hard to nail down and one will need to be lucky to hit all elements but sitting down to make your mold and guessing about where your knee should align with a your foot is a big ask for a consumer. I have been using custom footbeds in my AT boots since the 80s and experimented with Superfeet, DFP, Surefoot and many others before finding a semi-soft footbed that allows for the right amount of articulation and provides warmth as well. Good luck!
Agreed on all points!
Taking one’s own foot impression for a custom footbed that is then crafted remotely is better then nothing, and better than off-the-shelf.
But given that it’s more expensive and more time-consuming that visiting your local ski shop for a custom footbed, makes sense only if you don’t have a local ski shop.
Still waiting for someone to make ski boots with built in cooling and airing to prevent my sweaty “trench foot” 🙂
Having flat feet I’ve picked up a quiver of foot beds over the years everything from 300$ custom to off-the-shelf Sole and Surefoot,
IME if you can find an off the shelf that works with your foot a custom is not necessary, I need a lot of arch support so for me that is the Sole.
My foot guy used those foam boxes to make custom footbeds but he was there to stick my foot in the box and then he made the orthotic
Mail-order-custom sounds like jumbo shrimp or military intelligence
Hi folks. As a lifelong athlete with problem feet, I’ve been all over the insole/shoe/ski boot map, from off the shelf, to none at all, to barefoot, to custom, to minimal, to maximum…and so forth. Thousands of hours. Thousands of dollars. My conclusions? See this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/health/nutrition/18best.html. Sometimes you find something that clicks, but, just as often, they don’t like up to the hype, and it has little to do with whether they were shaped by a certified footologist or a foam cutting machine in Chin. Yes, I know that’s heresy, but for anybody looking for insoles, I’d follow the advice to start with the less expensive options, experiment with custom as necessary, but don’t be afraid to trust your own instincts and feelings.
That’s a good article in that specific context. But for ski boots, the problem is that the typical mild pronation that helps in flexible footwear creates all sorts of fit problems in a rigid cast, i.e., ski boot. That said, cheap simple off-the-shelf footbeds might be all that many skiers need to mitigate their pronation-induced fit problems.
As a long time user of custom footbeds in all my athletic footwear, I am a diehard fan. AND physical therapy to manage and strengthen feet to ankle to knee to hip alignment should also be a part of a successful strategy. Didn’t need any of the above until I was 40.
At least in my experience, the most important thing a good podiatrist can do is provide you with an accurate reading of your symptoms. Walking across a pressure plate will show you with pretty good accuracy whether or not you’re striking evenly, or if most of the weight is being borne by the outside of the foot. In my case, it verified where the stress fractures were coming from, and that they would probably occur again.
The problem you’re faced with then, is that of all specialists. They want to view the problem through the knowledge they have. Was the discrepancy in strikeforce a result of leg length differences, or were my hips out of alignment? Would getting my hips in alignment be a better solution than creating an orthotic with a 16th of an inch lift on one side? These are the questions we face. But I would still go see a good podiatrist for a starting point if anyone is having stride problems.
It’s a little bit like finding a great boot fitter. Ask around, talk to your athlete friends. When you hear the same name 3 times, they’re probably the one to see.
Sounds like a great option for a backcountry skier who lives in Whereveristan and hence doesn’t have a local ski shop with a specialized boot technician.
(Or a backcountry skier who lives in somewhere like Oklahoma, but many more pressing problems with such an arrangement…)
Otherwise, a custom footbed (or “orthotic” even though that’s kind of a stretch in this context) from even a halfway decent ski shop will almost certainly be better than anything whose impression is taken on your own and then crafted remotely. I’ve had many pairs of footbeds made for myself, and even made footbeds as part of a training course. But all that experience just adds up to a greater appreciation of how I do not want myself to be taking impressions of my own feet — leave it to the pros!
Plus unless you live in a pricey big city or frequent the glitziest ski shop in a fancy resort town, a custom footbed made in person will allow for an iterative process of various tweaks that just isn’t feasible through the mail. Even aside from the inevitably long turnaround times, after the first 30 days you have to pay $30 for each round of mods.
I’m sure this company is doing the best it can with such an arrangement, but almost all backcountry skiers have access to a ski shop that will cost them less money and less time while delivering a better final result.
As a has-been PCT Thru-Hiker and Recovering WA peakbagger, I was a long time believer in neutral footwear, sometimes zero/low drop, etc etc.
This all goes out the window with ski boots. SOME sort of arch support, custom or otherwise, really helps with not only ski performance, and alignment, but touring comfort, blisters, etc… Jonathan Shefftz is right about that rigid cast (ski boot) changing the game, and I also agree with him in regards to a local ski shop/ foot doc/PT to aid in an iterative process and help with alignment.
There is so much mythology, hype about custom footbeds aka orthotics. If the field had any validity, one wouldn’t get totally different and contradictory solutions depending upon whom one goes to.
This is not to mention the diagnosis:
“You have a right leg that is shorter than the left.” “You have a left leg shorter than the right.” “You have a slight leg discrepancy but so does everybody, and yours is nothing to be concerned about.” “Your hip is causing your foot issues.” “You foot is causing your hip issues.”
Blah, blah, blah.
And anecdotal stories are not evidence.
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