1. SKI SOCKS
Ski Socks      Thin, thin, thin! And not cotton.

The flow of blood through capillaries is what keeps feet warm. Improper socks or more than one pair inhibits blood flow.

Toasty toes are contingent on a couple of factors; first is proper fit, second is how you take care of your boots.

Finding the best boot for you and your feet through a demo program is crucial.                 Try before you buy.

Custom footbeds are an important first step, they stabilize the foot, significantly improve steering and control (always a tenuous proposition at best) and fit into any ski boot. Once stable, the boot closures are used to equalize the fit instead of securing the feet, an important distinction. Reducing pressure around the feet lets the blood flow without impediment. Without good footbeds, one must over-buckle the boot to impart stability…cutting off blood flow. No blood flow = cold feet.

Ski boot liners use different types of foam padding to provide the cushioning and support around the foot. It is a very good insulator.

With the insulation built into the liners and proper fit, thin socks act similarly to being in a down sleeping bag with no clothing on…body heat warms the interior very quickly and efficiently.

Socks influence fit. Thick socks introduce bulk and disguise the true support of the boot; they can also bunch up becoming lumpy and misshapen causing untold bummers inside the boot. Thick socks, because of the bulk, mask the fit. Thin socks offer an accurate sense of the fit.

Thin fitted socks of good material such as wool and wool blends help wick moisture away from the foot into the liners, another good reason to pull your liners out and air dry them.

Why no cotton socks? Cotton soaks up moisture and won’t wick it away from the foot. Once again that moisture will conduct the cold and your feet will become cold and clammy. When cotton becomes saturated the fibers “loosen” up, they won’t retain a shape. Not good. This often leads to wrinkles against the foot and potentially blisters and hot spots.

Another thing that helps with maintaining warmth: minimize the intake of caffeine, dark teas, certain soft drinks and…I hesitate to even say it…coffee. 

For those who keep their boots in a locker at the Mountain or, heaven forbid, in the car trunk overnight, cease and desist! The moisture that collects in a ski boot has nowhere to go.  Moisture conducts cold…also clammy. When warm dry feet go into cold clammy ski boots, guess what…feet don’t stand a chance. They get cold quickly and will not get warm. Even in a well-fitted boot. Once you have found a ski boot that works for you and fits well, take the necessary steps to keep the boots warm and dry. 

Thin socks are all you will ever need...
2. BOOT BUCKLING
          Boy oh boy, what the heck do I do with all these blankety blank buckles?! Heard that before? Uttered it yourself?

There is an order to buckling ski boots. 

As you enter a ski boot, the foot is not seated where it needs to be for skiing: the toes are uncomfortably pressed against the front of the boot, the heel is not supported properly. This is understandable for there is no skiing dynamic in entering a ski boot. Initially the inner boot padding prevents the foot from assuming the best placement for skiing. Feet need to be seated down in the boot and back in the heel for skiing. The order in which you buckle your boots helps with both.

The first buckle to close should be the one over the instep: the top of the foot. This seats the foot onto your footbed at the bottom of the boot. The next to buckle is the second from the top, directly above the instep and directly following that, fasten the top one. This helps place the heel at the rear of the boot.

Once done, drive the knee forward by flexing the ankle. You will feel the toes release from the front of the boot as the foot slides farther back into the boot, where it should be. Now apply the buckle micro-adjustments a turn or two to keep it there, give the “Power Strap” a good tug and secure the Velcro. 

The fourth buckle at the toe, though seemingly superfluous, helps keep the pressure over the forefoot even and does keeps moisture from leaking into the boot as well. This is usually done last.

Ideally it should not be necessary to use a lot of force to close the shell of the boot around your foot. With a ski boot that is properly fitted the closures should be used to even up the fit around your foot…no more than that. 

Upon skiing your boots will seem to loosen up a bit. This is natural; you actually lose a little fluid volume around the foot as you ski as well as the liner compressing. Don’t be afraid to re-adjust the buckles: use the fine-tune micro-adjustments in the same order that you used for the initial buckling. The important ones are over the instep and the one above it. They will give you the security you need…but don’t overdo it!
          Typically once the liners are broken in the adjustments shouldn’t need to be changed.

Boots should not require the skier to herniate body parts to snug them up sufficiently
3. GETTING INTO & OUT OF YOUR SKI BOOTS
Perhaps the most persistent complaint with regard to ski boots, especially with the demise of rear entry boots, called “convenience entry” at their inception, is the difficulty getting into and out of them. This is quite legitimate and understandable; it requires technique and the development of certain special muscle groups. Even the “Mid-entry”, successor to rear entries, has a share of difficulty.

          The first order of business is to keep your boots at least room temperature. To those who store their ski boots in the locker at the Mountain or, I shudder at the thought, in the trunk of the car overnight…don’t do that any more! Warm plastic is easier to manipulate than frigid plastic. However, your ski boots shouldn’t be stored near a wall heater or fireplace, melted plastic has its’ own set of problems. Room temperature will suffice.

Now: to physically get into your boots. Sit down. Or stand up, as the situation requires. Sitting is easier. Unbuckle the boot. With buckles that have micro-adjustments it is a good idea to turn the buckle a quarter turn one direction or the other so they won’t clip themselves back to the fastener while you are in the midst of the process. Remember which way you turned them so you can turn them back to fasten them without losing the adjustment.

With the boot unbuckled pull the tongue with the shell cuff to one side, not forward. It is best to pull it toward the inside/arch/medial side of the foot but it depends on how comfortable you are pulling to either side. The tongue can be used as a lever for the cuff plastic and as a shoehorn at the same time. With the other hand grasp the liner top and the opposing shell cuff and spread it the opposite way. This is where developing those special muscle groups comes into play.

Once the cuff is spread apart, tip the boot up on its heel, point your toes into the top of the boot and curl your foot into the interior. This must be a committed effort. Stopping halfway and releasing the combined layers of material will spring the equivalent of a bear trap on your foot. That this is relatively painful is an understatement.

          You’re in! Before you release everything, keep hold of one side of the outer shell cuff/overlap so you can ensure the tongue is positioned correctly over the instep, reset the overlap, release the side you still grasp, reposition the buckles and secure them. Now repeat the process for the other boot.

          This sounds easier than it is, and at first you will curse and mutter the occasional expletive but after a couple of bouts you will develop the technique…promise.

It’s rumored that Cybex is developing a cable machine specifically for this task.

Incidentally, the entry/exit is another reason to stick with thin, fitted socks-big old bulky things are harder to stuff into a boot without clumping up and pulling against the toes.

4. DRYING YOUR SKI BOOTS
         Putting your foot into a frozen ski boot, a moist, slimy, clammy liner is somewhat akin to sticking it into a cold rotten cantaloupe. “Yech!” as Alfred E. Newman might have said. We all sweat, perspire or glow to a degree. Furthermore it’s not uncommon for ski boots to leak, particularly in spring. As has been written in some other Feet First articles, to be comfortable it is important to ski in warm, dry ski boots.

Pulling liners in and out of ski boots is a major pain but it is the best way to allow air to circulate and “convect dry” moisture from the boot. Once the liners are out, remove the orthotic, slip the liners with the tongue pulled forward over a coat hanger or wall pegs to allow air to swirl around inside. The following morning your liners will be dry and warm.

It is not always necessary to pull your footbeds out of the liners before drying them. Typically the only thing that becomes saturated on the orthotic is the topsheet, which will dry overnight if left in the liners. In springtime when there is a likelihood of more water leakage in the boots it is worthwhile to take the insoles out and let the whole thing dry out.

Putting your liners near a heat source is not usually necessary and in fact can be responsible for the deterioration of the liner and has the potential  for melting them…not good.

If you thought taking the liners out was a pain…stuffing them back in the boots is more so.

There are a couple of techniques for this as well. The first involves curling your hand down the throat of the liner ‘till your fingers are at the toes. Make sure the boot is unbuckled and dunk it, following the curvature of the shell. You may assist the procedure by pinching the heel on either side and giving it a push once you’ve gotten the liner in to where it curves at the ankle.

The other way is to pinch the heel of the liner, point the toe into the shell and with the other hand pull the stiffer material of the upper cuff upward as you push the liner into the shell. This curls the liner into the boot. Be careful with this one. There is a point at which the plastic of the lower shell will resist the liner being stuffed. This plastic is sharpened at the factory so it slices flesh with remarkable efficiency.

Air drying systems work to a degree, the better ones circulate room temperature air only. They will get some moisture out of the interior of the liner but do not address moisture between the liner and the shell, the occasional leakage that occurs. Pulling the liners out, hanging them over a coat hanger to “convect dry”, towel drying the inside of the shell and the outer surface of the liner ensures a warm, dry boots 

5. STORING YOUR SKI BOOTS SHORT TERM/LONG TERM
Ski boots are an important and personal enough item to take good care of. They should be treated as one would any useful, well-used tool or any number of items considered to be of personal value. There are a couple of worthwhile things to do to preserve your ski boots so you know they will be warm and dry, retain their shape and be the same warm, comfy boot you have come to know and love.

          Typically after skiing there is moisture in a ski boot. If left in the locker at the Mountain or…I cringe at this…in the car trunk overnight, the moisture collected inside the boot will not evaporate and will freeze. Moisture conducts cold. Frozen boots conduct cold really quickly.

After skiing and between ski days, your ski boots should go with you (It’s easy to imagine bars, restaurants and markets full of people, ski boots slung over their shoulders, swinging them around like a mace, clubbing others indiscriminately…no, no, to your domicile or place of lodging).

It is best to take the liners out of the shells. Once the liners are out of the shells pull the tongue forward and stick it over a coat hanger and hang it somewhere air can flow through it overnight. It does not need to be near any specific heat source, just somewhere room temperature: a foyer or anteroom, mudroom or the like…it will convect dry by the next morning. Though pulling the liners out of the shells is a pain, as is replacing the liners in your boots after drying (subject for another time) it is the best way to ensure your boots get dry. Once you establish a technique it becomes less of a masochistic exercise. It pays to be good about drying your boots; a warm dry boot means a warm dry foot to start your day with.

For long-term storage, i.e. over summer or between ski trips, the same treatment applies; dry your liners as described in the prior paragraph. Moisture contained in boot liners for a period of time creates mold and mildew...also providing a unique petri dish for whatever bacteria may migrate from your foot…unpleasant indeed! None of the resultant vaporous toxicity is easy to get rid of once it gains a “foot hold” in your boot liner.

After the liners dry, re-insert them in the shell – we realize this is easier said than done: the technique to be exposed another time- and buckle it up. Use the tension necessary to keep the boot in its’ form.

Keep boots buckled: this helps keep the shell plastic in the proper anatomical shape to fit around your foot and lower leg. If your boots have a Velcro closure strap as most do, make sure that it too is at the very least stuck together if not fed through the “D” rings.

It is quite acceptable to stuff newspaper down into the cuff of the boot to prevent moisture from getting into the boot and keep the occasional rodent from making a home in the toes of the liner.

6. WALKING IN YOUR SKI BOOTS: ROCK ‘n’ WALK
Essentially walking in ski boots is difficult, cumbersome, and uncomfortable and has certain perils associated with it.        

The standard response is “they are not walking shoes; they are ski boots”. It’s not meant as a flippant, smart aleck remark; it’s a fact. The containment around your foot necessary for skiing inhibits the natural gait cycle and presents a challenge when the necessity arises. There is a natural tendency to attempt a normal gait when walking in ski boots, trying to flex the ankles and “toe off” as one does in shoes.

Another oft-repeated piece of advice is to walk in them as little as possible…not always practical! Having to walk in ski boots is inevitable. How does one do that comfortably?

          First: do not unbuckle your ski boots. Ski boots are a specific and unique environment; they are meant to hold the foot in a stable, relatively static position within their confines.  When the boots are unbuckled the feet move around inside, bumping into the contoured material that’s meant to hold them in place. This material is not forgiving enough to allow that and quite often the end result is blisters, sore toes and considerable discomfort.

          What one learns to do is “rock and walk”: as you place the heel of one foot ahead and on the floor you push up and off with the other, keeping the ankle/knee/hip as a unified lever as opposed to the normal range of flex one is accustomed to. As the forward foot becomes planted on the floor, the foot you step off of lifts and swings forward. As it does so you need to drive the ankle/knee/hip forward, this helps shift your body weight into the next stride. As you do so the planted boot will lever and lift itself off. At this point the back foot has swung itself into a position in which you can repeat the process.

Because of the restricted range at the ankles and the rigidity of the sole of the boots one learns to keep the flex of the ankle and knee at wherever the boot lets them and roll the hips to maintain a smooth, rhythmic, propulsive gait.

          This method has a rhythm to it that is at first a bit awkward but you get used to the motions quickly. Be careful to keep your stride shorter: a longer stride is more awkward and you are more susceptible to the boot slipping out from underneath you, particularly on smooth concrete or linoleum floors.

I’ve hit the locker room floor so quickly I didn’t know I was down until I was looking up at the fluorescent ceiling lights. It hurts.

Ski boot walking aids like Cat Tracks help a lot, not just for the parking lot in snowy and icy conditions but also inside. They also help to preserve the shell plastic from becoming worn to the extent that they won’t interface correctly with your bindings, a huge safety factor.

Walking in your ski boots is never ideal, it’s not what they’re made for; it is something we must deal with.