Hello All, I am wondering if there is a good way to self assess what the correct boot delta and forward lean should be for my particular anatomy (also in advance please excuse me for rambling on a bit) I am about 150 lbs, 5'7 and this year I will ski at least 100 days. I would say that I am pretty advanced skier, I ski everything but most enjoy anything off piste. At the moment I live in Chamonix and free ski all day everyday.
I recently listed to a podcast by Tom Gellie (a former colleague and teacher of mine) who had a chat with HH, and they talked a lot about boot alignment which rekindled my interest in an issue I was having last winter (anyone who is interested can find the podcast here http://www.podcastgarden.com/podcast/globalskiing, I highly recommend it Tom also interviews many other great skiers such as Reilly McGlashan, Richie Berger and Paul Lorenz). A few years ago I got a pair of Dalbello Scorpion 130's with a foam liner and booster straps, when I originally purchased the boot the fitter put in a heel lift because I have somewhat limited dorsiflexion. At first I felt as though this helped my skiing by putting me forward. Sometime after that I did a level 3 CSIA course and exam and although I passed pretty well I was having difficulty keeping in contact with the tongue of the boot. Later on a friend of mine commented that she thought I was low in the hips and we discussed the heel lifts and she thought they might be putting me too far forward and causing me to compensate by sitting back. I immediately tried skiing without them and when skiing back to back laps with and without I did feel more centred with out the lifts (putting the lifts in now makes me feel like I am wearing high heels). I have also noticed that I feel a little better balanced on my skies that have a zero binding delta compared with skis tight a small delta angle (although this is very subtle and I am not sure if I am imagining it or not). I am planning on doing more experimentation with spoilers at the back of the cuff vs. attached to the liner tongue to adjust how my tibia sits in the boot.
I know it sounds as though I may have answered my own questions but I am not at all convinced either way at this point, does in anyone have any tips or ideas on cues I can use to self assess my for aft alignment. I should say I have plenty of time at the moment, I have nothing to do but ski everyday, what I do not really have is a lot of money to spend on boot fitting. Besides, many of the boot fitters that I talk to do not really provide the kind of in-depth service that I think I probably need to get this really dialled in. Any advice would be much appreciated.