New Ski Boot Guide
Congratulations on your new ski boot purchase. To help you get the most out of your new boots, we have put together the following guide, covering:
- How to correctly buckle your boots
- Keeping your feet warm
- Storage Guidelines
- Our Full Fit Guarantee
- Feedback
How to correctly buckle your boots
Getting your boots on
1. In a seated position, open up all the buckles on the boot, pull the tongue out and to the side of the boot and then slide your foot in with your toes pointing down. Try leaving a bit of sock loose at the end of you foot so that when you place your foot into the boot, the sock material isn't compressing or pulling on the end of your foot.
2. Once in the boot, wiggle your toes and try to feel if there are any wrinkles in your sock around the toe area. Do the same for the rest of your foot. Then reach in and straighten the sock at the heel area.
3. Adjust the tongue to make sure it is in the proper position.
Buckling sequence
1. Do up the power strap, the Velcro strap at the top of the boot. This holds the boot together.
2. Hook all the buckles onto the ratchets but DO NOT do them up!
3. Gently bang your heel at 45 degrees to the floor, to set your ankle back in the ski boot.
4. Stand up and flex forward a couple of times.
5. Sit back down and click buckle 2 shut loosely.
6. Click buckle 1 shut loosely.
7. Now go back to buckle 2 again, and alternate with buckle 1 until both of these are as tight as possible. This should be pulling your foot into the back of the boot.
8. Now loosely click shut buckle 4, it does not need to be tight.
9. Repeat with buckle 3, again it doesn’t need to be tight! If this buckle is done up tight it WILL cut off your circulation leading to painful feet!
10. Repeat with the other boot. Then to finish stand up and give them a couple of flexes.
Removal tips
To remove your boots, we recommend you unbuckle all the buckles BEFORE undoing the powerstrap. This will make unbuckling much easier.
You can remove the buckles in any order. Give the buckles a little turn as you remove each one so they do not catch on the ratchets again.
Make sure you are seated. Pull the tongue out and away from you slightly, towards the outside, but not completely or it will pinch you as the foot slides out. Grab hold of the rear cuff of the boot with one hand and gently push the boot backwards off your foot. you can you some of your bodyweight to push forward with your leg at the same time. Do not try to wriggle the foot out of the boot as it will get stuck and be pinched.
Keeping Your Feet Warm
Don’t wear thick socks
A lot of people assume that thicker socks will keep their feet warmer than thin ones. This is actually false. By wearing thick socks, your feet can be more constricted, hence impeding blood flow, and a lack of an air pocket between sock and liner can produce unwanted heat conduction and temperature loss from your feet. We recommend thin woollen socks, or thin socks made from insulating and moisture wicking materials.
Make sure your liners are dry
It is imperative to keep your boot liners dry if you are going to have any chance of staving off the cold. Liners can easily get damp through snow entering the boot or from perspiration (and yes, you do still sweat even when it’s cold). That’s why you need to dry out your boots every night. People often think putting their boots in a drying room will do the trick, but unfortunately that’s not enough. The liners need air circulation to dry out properly and the lower shell of the boot is designed in such a way that condensation can get trapped over the dorsal interior shell. One option is to remove your liners from the boot each night and place in a warm room as well as wiping the inside plastic boot shell dry. However they can be a little tricky to put back in, so a much more convenient option is to grab yourself a boot dryer, such as the Hotronics Boot & Glove dryer which circulates warm air into the boot and produces drying by evaporation. And as the name suggests, it works a treat for drying out your gloves too. If you’ve had modifications made to your liner or have had boot heaters installed, we strongly recommend the dryer option over the liner-removal option, as regular removal of your liners can damage the heater wires or padding adhered to your liner.
Wear clean, dry socks
It may sound obvious, but wearing clean, dry socks each day will help keep your feet warm. Even the slightest dampness can really play havoc with your temperature control. It’s therefore worth investing in 3-5 pairs of socks so you know you’ll always have a clean pair on hand. If you're putting in a long day skiing, it can even be worth changing into a fresh pair during your lunch break.
Don’t over-buckle your boots
If you buckle up your boots too tightly, especially over the top of the foot, you will reduce the circulation to your feet and your feet will end up numb and cold.
Invest in a boot heater
If you’ve tried the methods above without results, or just like nice toasty toes, a boot heater or battery-operated socks are definitely a great option.
Boot heaters are battery operated heating elements which are installed into the boots insole under the ball of your foot. By providing a base level temperature at the toes, they work to block and neutralize the penetrating cold, keeping the blood circulation open and maintaining comfort and warmth in the feet.
And with different temperature settings you can keep your feet at a perfect temperature. While you’re sitting on the chair lift, with a quick turn of the dial you can crank up the heat, and then when you’re ready to power down the mountain, you can take the temperature down a few notches. We recommend Hotronics FootWarmers and the Sidas One Set warming system.
The other option is battery-operated heated socks. The socks are adjustable through 3 heat levels both on the battery itself and through an optional smart phone app that connects to the batteries via blue tooth. The benefit of a heated sock over traditional boot heaters is the ability use in other footwear, so you can keep your feet warm in your apres boots or hiking boots too! We recommend the Lenz Heat Sock and theSidas Pro Heat battery-operated socks.
Storage
When you get home from your holiday and you’re ready to store your boots away, these steps will help ensure your boots are in tip-top condition for your next skiing adventure.
1. Clean
Using an damp cloth and a little mild dish soap, give your boots a good wipe over. An old toothbrush can be useful for cleaning the buckles and both nooks and crannies.
2. Dry
It is imperative your boots are completely dry before storage to prevent mould growth, which can eat away your liners. Use your boot dryer if you have one, or take your liners out for at least 24 hours.
3. Deodorize
Even if they’re not smelling now, it’s best to play it safe and deodorize your boots before storing to prevent odours developing.
4. Buckle up
When you are not wearing your ski boots, it is best to buckle them up to the same notch you use when skiing. This helps to keep their shape.
5. Protect
It is best to store your boots in a boot bag or similar to prevent them getting dusty and dirty. For some people who live in very humid environments, the ski boots can be affected by mould and mildew that eats away at the structure of the foams and plastics. For those people, we recommend that you store then in an air-conditioned environment or a vacuum sealed bag.
Full Fit Guarantee
We want to ensure our customers get the most comfortable fit possible and that is why we offer a Full Fit Guarantee on all Custom Fitted boots with footbed combination for two seasons. This means you can return to our store as many times as needed for two seasons to have any necessary adjustments made at no additional cost.
Please note that as a general rule the guarantee does not apply in the following circumstances:
1. Where current model boots have been purchased at a discounted rate to the original price.
2. Where the returning boots have been substantially altered by someone outside of Boot Solutions to the point where it is determined by our boot fitters that further alterations are unlikely to solve the problem.
3. Wear and Tear: Where a boot has been "skied out" by the skier. The fit guarantee is designed to help people iron out any initial niggles with new boots ie; within the first 30 days of use.
4. Where a model has been purchased outside of the recommended options provided by the boot fitter following biomechanical assessment.
5. Where it has been determined that the presenting problem is due to improper care/use of the boots or through accidental breakage of components such as result of a ski crash.
6. Where alterations have been made upon the insistence of the purchaser despite negating advise from the ski boot fitter.
7. Where a custom footbeds has been recommended but declined in the initial fitting process.
8. Where the wearer/purchaser is a professional skier who skis almost everyday: for these people we offer a 30 day guarantee to ensure that all the necessary adjustments can be made within a reasonable time frame during the wearing in process.
Please also note that our guarantee is not a refund guarantee. In the event that the purchaser is not entirely happy with the boots that were fitted, we may offer a refit into a different pair of boots if it has been determined by the bootfitter that no further adjustments can be made to resolve the issue.
Feedback
We want hear from you! If you had a great experience with us, we’d welcome you to write a review on our Facebook page.
Similarly, if you have any suggestions for improvement, please feel free to email us at info@bootsolutionsjapan.com