Boot fitting for the advanced, expert skier, considerations

Deb gets fitted in new boots. Covered - softening a boot, delta angle, zipfit vs a race liner, supination and pronation of the ankle, grip walk sole, articulation of the ankle in a boot

[raceskier]

Wow. The two videos you and Amanda have done on boots are excellent. Having finally found a boot fitter who can deal with my "problem" feet has been an adventure. What's even rarer is finding a boot fitter and a coach who can explain to a skier the relationship between boot stiffness and ramp/delta angle, and how to acheive what is necessary for that individual's body. I'm still shocked at how that knowledge is not more widespread in our sport.

[jmedaugh]

Wow, a 140 flex for CO snow would be too stiff for me. The key takeaway is that boot fitting is an iterative process -- you need to ski and refit a couple of times to dial it in. Expert boot fitters like Amanda are rare and worth every penny.

[mikehoffman]

This lady is AMAZING in boot fitting. I wish we had someone like this is PA

[jordanlevitt]

Great video. Deb please do a video on these boots. I'd love to hear your impressions of a Rec Race boot vs your plug boots.

[scottchristopher]

Deb and Amanda, thanks for these videos. As a passionate bootfitter in Denver, I look forward to meeting Amanda some day. For the skier who is serious about ski boots, these two videos are a must.

Coincidentally, I had a skier from the Philly area come into the shop this week for new boots and learned she has participated in many of Deb's women's clinics (pre-COVID). She was blown away with the progression of ski boots since her last purchase 10 years ago. I also pulled her existing footbeds (custom insoles), assessed their integrity and never suggested making new ones. Come to find out, she likely had the footbeds made at Ski & Bike Kare during a visit to Steamboat some years ago.

I also had fun sharing my enthusiasm for the many ski instructional videos @DebArmstrongSkiStrong has produced. As an aging skier who would like to continue to drop into steep bowls and enjoy Steamboat Powdercats level 3 trips, I decided a few years ago to really critique and improve my fundamental skills. Thanks, Deb, for helping my continue to enjoy skiing and get after it on the slopes.

[yourtravelswithbruce]

A good boot fitting makes a huge difference in your skiing ability. Last year season I used boot I bought which were not the right size and they were not fitting me right and I struggled so much. This season I got new boots which were properly fitting. Drivig your skis with your big toes is amazing.

[shaka]

Deb, I love that woman😍 I'm so impressed with her knowledge of the equipment. Always your videos are so easy to understand them, good job. Thank you, indeed.
Hope you have a great season. I stayed in South America till next winter. Cheers from Chile 🇨🇱

[CC-ysqq]

THIS is a most excellent video. Every time I tell a boot fitter I don't want grip walk they try to convince me there's no difference, clearly when standing I immediately feel the difference. We need more people like this woman who understand. We need people like you and this boot fitter to work together to convince the industry what top level skiers really need based on their skiing, not what the boot companies dictate to us what they think we need, because they're not right.

[GMec]

Great videos as always Deb. You always bring on great guest stars. I'm curious how Deb Armstrong, an elite skier for the majority of her life, has dealt with changing and advancing ski and boot technology since you broke on to the world ski scene as a 17 year old. Do you ever dig out an old set of gear Lange (from the shin bang era) and a pair of 200cm straight Atomics and go for a rip or do you leave the nostalgia in the shed?

[paulbenninghoff]

Great video. 2 q's on pulling pins to soften boots: If you pull the top pin of, say, a 140, what does the effective flex level go to? 130? Less/More? What about if you pull the lower pin instead? Curious, also, about whether there's any performance downside to pulling pins like this.. i.e., is the softer flex still a "consistent" flex, if that makes sense. Thanks.

[msg]

That's what I feel, too. I feel my feet are EVERYTHING and my hips, shoulders, knees and thighs are just sorta following their 'instructions". I dont know anything about this sport...but what you just said about the feet being the locus of all body movements is what I feel out there. I am VERY pleased with my Nordica Enforcers (I cannot recommend those things with adequate enthusiasm....provided, of course, you have the leg strength to make two sheets of metal do what they should). Also this week, I figured out what to do with your tips in moguls. Tips seem to be a very important part of the ski in lumpy terrain and moguls. Im almost to where I can make those Enforcers behave like springs in the mounds. Now that I figured out what tips can do, I no longer hunt a line through the mounds, I look for ways to make them into trampolines. It's SO awesome taking a line for about 15 yards then launching from one mound to the nextt....hippity-hopping along. Thats whats great about ski ing. It doesnt hurt at all to fall if youre in 'football mode'. Wanna know the secret of delivering spine crumpling pain in others in football without yourself feeling any pain? In fact, this lil secret they teach boys in pop warmer football (like pre teen) is the key to ALL contact sports. 1) square your shoulders at your target 2) get MEAN! 3) fully and completely commit to that impact....you gotta WANT it! 4) hit 'through' the target not at the target. 5) lower your helmet amd almost 'hope' (but not really) that you break neck...like every hit is your last.

And magically, it works. You not only feel NO pain, you feel an exhilaration Ive only found since then in skiing. But, lol, they prolly dont coach that way anymore. Our coach used to tell us that if you dont see stars (those lil flashes from minor brain injury), youre not really hitting. But we did win a lot of state championships. You may know a very dear friend of mine. Dr. Tim Greene (from Ga). He did his residency at Vail and was the US Olympic team orthopedic Dr for a while. He was captain of Princeton's football team. Tim was a good hitter. He's now an excellent skier. He lives in Greenwich now, tho.

[knitsandnature]

omg!! I knew there was a difference with the grip walk boots!! thx for this!

[GMec]

Deb, if you're taking requests, more of this content please, talk about performance vs recreation retail gear and the retail race gear vs FIS race gear maybe add in the pros and cons of used race gear particularly as it pertains to the junior races. New gear is well new gear but with youth racers they are way more likely to outgrow gear before they wear it out so the used market is vast if you know what to look for. Thanks

[levitipps]

Deb - I got myself a pair of RC4 Pro LV boots for this season so it’s cool to see someone like you looking at this design! I plan to tinker with them as needed but I took out the spoilers and the boot felt much better for my anatomy. I didn’t feel quite as locked in a forward position but still plenty snug. Excited to actually ski them and see if anything else needs adjusted. I am a heavy strong skier and at times was feeling like I was over flexing my 120s, so we’ll see if I can benefit from this 140 flex…fingers crossed.

[miamiole]

Thats my dream boot, Deb. Looks great on you!

[puregsr]

Thanks for this video, I just noticed both of my flex screws are removed from my boots!

[fsquared]

If nothing else, thank you for the verification that there’s an angle difference with the Grip Walk soles. My Nordicas came with GW installed and Alpine in the box. Something felt off until I switched to the Alpine. It’s all good now. Sketchier in the parking lot but better on the hill.

[seanoneil]

Thanks Deb & Amanda.

That corkflo around the ankle of the Fischer liner is very nice, don't have to get a ZipFit.

That inside ankle articulation -- seems to me that if the boot won't give you that, if you can't be in balance on a flexed inside ankle, then your inside hip is held back, timing wise. This opens up the turn, so it's counter productive. Am I correct on that?

[magnificoas]

@Deb nice video thx...so how are these zipfits on the snow?

[Skiingismedicine]

I just bought a pair of boots from them last week. I am super happy with them😀. Really awesome bootfitters.