Boot Performance/Alignment
Why Do I Need Alignment? What is it?
Alignment describes how well your ski boots work with your unique build. Ski boots come from factories, bodies do not. A boot tech’s job is to adjust the ski boots so they enhance your body structure and your ski experience.
5 Main Goals of Alignment
- Balanced stance: your stance with ski boots on should be relaxed and natural, like the “athletic stance” or “ready position” you use in other sports. Boots that force you out of your athletic stance will make skiing labored and tense.
- Range of motion: skiing requires movement and it is essential to have boots that work with, rather than block, your range of motion.
- Ease of motion: moving should be easy whether you are edging, steering or pressuring your skis. Movement throughout your entire range of motion is a major point of alignment.
- Symmetry of motion – your right and left turns should be equally precise and easy to perform, your inside ski and outside ski should be equally easy to employ and it should also be as easy to move forward as backwards.
- All ranges of motion – fore and aft positioning is as important to skiing well as your lateral (side to side). Proper alignment addresses the totality of your ski motions.
How Much Alignment Do I Need, and How Much Will it Cost?
The amount of work you need depends on three factors.
- Level of Desired Performance - What level of performance are you looking for and what level boots do you have? Racing and top level performance demands exacting standards and can require very extensive boot work – as do top elite level ski boots. Good skiers who just want a good, but more basic setup can require significantly less work.
- Body Challenges – How close is your body to the “statistic norm. Some (lucky) skiers have bodies that work well with most ski boots, and so they require only simple boot work. Other skiers face much bigger challenges with their bodies, so they can require much more ski boot work – even when they are not especially serious or “intense” skiers.
- Body Compatibility to Your Ski Boots – How well do your boots match your body out of the box?; Different boot companies have different ideas for what the “statistical norm” for a skier is. While one company’s boot may suit your alignment (and possibly fit) very well, another company’s boots may be very ill-suited for you. There are times when the best answer is to get a better ski boot for your body.
How Does Boot Fixation Achieve Alignment for Skiers??
Most, but not all, alignment work involves modifying ski boots. The more common types of work include:
- ROM 3D Custom Footbeds - we build and design our footbeds to vastly exceed industry norms
- Boot Sole Canting (external canting)
- Internal Forefoot Canting (to footboard or footbed)
- Internal Heel Canting (to footboard or footbed)
- Cuff Canting
- Forward Lean modification
- Flex Modification
- Ramp Angle Modification
Sometimes, alignment work goes beyond ski boots and footbeds.
- Binding Ramp Adjustment
- Dynamic Skier Assessment (click here for more info)
What is the Process?
When possible, we prefer to begin with out 100+ Boot Evaluation. In 40-60 minutes, we will check boots issues such as stance (lateral, fore/aft, splay), range of motion, flex pattern and fit. From this point we provide the work necessary to achieve your desired level of performance. This may mean minor adjustments to your current boots or picking a new boot and fully setting it up.
Why do we Spend so Much Time on the Evaluation?
Ski boot problems, especially when involving alignment, are inherently complex. While many shops try to rush (or even skip) the evaluation process, this causes the boot tech to miss the real issue and only work on its symptoms. For instance, while on the surface a knock-kneed stance might look on the surface like the boots need canting (on the sole), the real issue might actually be the footbed or the forefoot/heel balance. Without a full check, it is almost impossible to know what is will be the best course of action.
More often than not, a best answer is actually a combination of a few factors. To use our knock-kneed example again, the best answer might use all of the following corrections.
- add arch support through 3D footbeds
- increase the heel support
- decrease the forefoot support
- decrease the cuff canting
- and NOT use any sole canting at all!
Despite this, we realize that there are cases where our clients do not have enough time for a full evaluation (typically skiers who are on vacation), and just need quick, but good, improvements. In these cases, our vast amount of experience allows us to make significant improvements as quickly as possible.
What should I bring to my appointment?
- shorts or tights (something that allows us to see how your legs function in ski boots.
- thin ski socks
- your current ski boots – even if you are planning on getting new boots. (Seeing you in your old boots helps us get a sense of what key areas we want to focus on improving in your boot setup.)
- skis – not critical, but can be helpful in fully fine tuning your setup
- A check book or cash. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS!
Other things that can be helpful are pictures or videos of you skiing (even seeing just a single left and right turn can be helpful).