Narrow feet, skinny legs

[JohnMoore]

5000 miles away from me here, in Dumont, Colorado, is the place I want to go to get my boots and my alignment sorted out. Until I can get there, I'm needing to muddle on by myself, trying to find kludges which provide some help. I have a couple of questions relating to boots and my anatomy.

I'm of rather slender build - I'm 5'11" and weigh 142lb. I have skinny legs (although reasonably 'wiry', as I do a lot of running), and I have narrow feet. There are two issues with this, as I see it.

Firstly, I imagine the skinniness of my legs has some bearing on the uprightness or otherwise of my stance in my ski boots, but I'm not sure quite how this works. Presumably the same boots are going to result in slightly different forward lean characteristics depending on the thickness of the calves of the wearer? I feel I may need to play around with this, with either some extra forward lean or a reduction, depending on which direction the skinny calf issue takes me in.

Secondly, narrow feet are presumably a bit of a liability in terms of tipping action, as they will inevitably have less lateral leverage inside the boot? Is there any way to compensate for this? My boots are Head S8, which are supposed to be reasonably good for narrow feet. The liners are probably pretty packed out now, which must exacerbate the issue. I've often wondered about the injunction against wearing thick socks inside your ski boots - the softness of the extra thickness detracts from your control. But surely it's no softer than the foam on the inside of the boot liner? Once this is packed out, would I not in effect be replacing it by wearing thick socks?

Anyone's thoughts on these issues would be most appreciated. Thanks!

[h.harb]

John the S8 fits a medium foot. Your boot would be a Ratpor 120 or Raptor 130. Or a Doberman Pro 100. The Hot Rod 125 would be fine. I weigh only a few pounds more and am almost you height, my feet are low volume. I ski the narrowest stiffest boot available.

[JohnMoore]

Thanks, Harald. Given that I'd rather not splash out on new boots just yet, unless it's unavoidable, is there anything I could do which might make these work better for my narrow feet. ZipFit liner, perhaps? I'm encouraged by the fact that your feet are low volume, too, as it shows that it's a problem which can be overcome!

[Marek]

IMO, fit is EVERYTHING, boot stiffnes is secondary and 100% personal, the stiffer the boot the better, closer fit should be I am 5'4", 125 lbs, my feet is 95 mm wide and have skinny legs, for me, Tecnica Race R + ZipFit WC combo is perfect, overall stiffnes is 130 + I think and my feeling is that for gates I would go even stiffer.

[h.harb]

Don't make a mistake in boot selection, the boots that work are Heads and Nordica. Many skiers have to go through tremendous effort and modifications to make some other well know brands work. The boots I'm recommending are great performers and they work right out of the box. Head has a new boot next year, for the slightly wider foot, called the Vector,it's a winner as well.

[Marek]

Don't make a mistake in boot selection, the boots that work are Heads and Nordica. Many skiers have to go through tremendous effort and modifications to make some other well know brands work. The boots I'm recommending are great performers and they work right out of the box. Head has a new boot next year, for the slightly wider foot, called the Vector,it's a winner as well.

Why do you rate Nordica and SAN MARCO ( Head ) so high ?

It has not been "Head" boots for over ten years, not San Marco!

[h.harb]

Because I have skied and taught thousands of skiers in the last five years and there is a pattern with skiers who are learning that is very clear. They are in better balance with certain boots and in bad balance trying to adapting with other boots. Sure they can ski, in a manner of speaking, with the bad boots, but it makes their learning much more difficult and some cannot learn because they are so out of balance either fore/aft or other wise.

I don't make this shit up! I rely on research and in-depth analysis of skier movements and make changes with complete alignment and boot modifications.

[Marek]

There is something I have to clear up Harald. In your opinion only Nordica and Head are able to make " right " boots ?

[h.harb]

Yes, we don't like Tecnica it's one of the worst.

[h.harb]

Marek, Do not invent posts or words I did not say or you will be gone!!!!!!!!!!

In your opinion only Nordica and Head are able to make " right " boots ?

That is not what I said.

This is what I said.

The boots I'm recommending are great performers and they work right out of the box.

Don't piss me off or you will be buying me fig vodka's for the rest of your life. Monsterman knows I go through them like an Ozzie goes through Fosters. Ha!

[Marek]

Because ?
I've skied Heads, Langes, Tecnicas, San Marco, Kastinger, Caber - you name it. There were good ones and bad ones but brand name weren't determinant .I am not special Tecnica lover, but that boot was only one 23.0 plug, which I could buy at the moment, no others ( by the way I looked for Raptor or Dobie - no way ) were available, and, God thanks, that boot works for me preety well.

[JohnMoore]

Forgive me for stepping in, but I can't see this discussion turning out well , so might I bring it back to something I was asking earlier? Is there anything (short of buying new boots), which can help with a packed out liner for narrow feet, and do skinny legs have a bearing on forward lean?

[Marek]

Forgive me for stepping in, but I can't see this discussion turning out well , so might I bring it back to something I was asking earlier? Is there anything (short of buying new boots), which can help with a packed out liner for narrow feet, and do skinny legs have a bearing on forward lean?

Sorry John. Why not try ZipFit ? If I remember it's retail is 160 pounds in England. I am quite happy with them. The only down side is that I have to wear them preety warm, about 40-50 C, if I wear them cold, even everage room temp, then first hour on the slope is uncomfortable.

[h.harb]

We use the Zip Fit for liners in wide boots. In narrow boots we use the Nordica Race Foam liner.

[h.harb]

Don't worry about the tone of the posts. I just don't like it when people are obviously trying to lead me into a response that might favor their point of view (when it's wrong) or the equipment they are using (even if it's crap), after I already stated what we find works best. I am telling you what works not because I sell Head or Nordica. I sell Head and Nordica because they are working the best for skiers. If Tecnica could make it work for all skiers tomorrow, I would consider it as a viable product, but until then, my opinion stays where it should advising skiers so they can be successful.

It's not about brands for me. I am not paid or supported personally by any brand. I can get free skis or boots from any company for my own use. I sell Nordica boots because they work. I don't sell Nordica skis because they are not as good as what I sell. A ski has to perform, it has to make a skier better. Few, very few, skis do this I test and I try many skies. I pick what will make skiers ski better.

Look people, you need to get over the brand loyalty thing. So you bought and like a certain brand, that's all you know. That brand might be hurting your progress and might be hurting you physically. You don't know, you read the hype, you believe. I don't work off the hype, never have. I work off of what I see working with skiers I teach and watch. It's clinical and scientific. I don't have brand loyalty when it come to ski equipment. I support brands that make better skiers. To me it doesn't matter what the name is on the product it's only an identifier. If Head screwed up tomorrow; I'd use and advise what was the next best. I hope they don't because, it would be hard to replace their skis and boots given what I see on the market.