...an educational epistle...
In the hope that some of you would be interested in the process of being fit and balanced, I thought that I would share my experience in the steps as they occur. Feel free to jump in and ask questions, but if you jump ahead, you'll need to wait for my next experience to get the responses.
Jeff fit me into a pair of Tecnica XTs in 2003. While they were not ideal, they were about as close as he felt we could get at the time. By the middle of last season, I was having some challenges with my feet (especially my heels) moving around in the boots. As a result, I put ZipFits into them during the ESA. After further study, I don't think that going with the ZipFits was the right "fix." Fundamentally, I think the movement was due to the more aggressive forward lean in the XTs that exacerbated my physiology (feet quite short for my height). So, after trying on a pair of Nordica Aggressors at the Nordica Race Camp in May, I decided to look into new boots this year (for completeness, days 2 and 3 of the race camp are in those threads).
I visited with Jeff over the summer, and he took a look at my stance in stocking feet. He mentioned that he thought the Aggressor would be a good boot for my stance and foot shape. We chatted a bit, and after some encouragement from others (most notably Bob Barnes/Colorado noting that they are running low on inventory), I took the leap today and picked up a pair of Nordica Aggressor 150s, size 5. Now, I have a relatively narrow size 8 1/2 US foot and have been skiing in a size 25.5 XT (UK 6 1/2). The size 5 (24 mondo) is about a half-finger fit, but, as Scott at the Loveland Sport Shop notes, there is enough plastic to work it to a size 6, if necessary. Given my past experience with boots becoming too big, I decided to try the smaller size.
One item of note: the Aggressors come in a plastic briefcase! I felt like I should handcuff them to my wrist or something. Impressive.
After wearing them for 15 minutes or so, my ears were not bleeding (
), nor had any parts of my feet gone to sleep, so I peeled them off, paid, and headed for Breck to visit Jeff.
When I arrived (as is typical), he was working with another client. I hung around a bit, he invited me to change into shorts (so he could see my knees more clearly) and also put on my ski socks. After re-familiarizing himself with my stance ("Oh, yeah, the Aggressors are going to work very well for you."), he checked a few more things. He noted my natural stance is somewhat duck-footed, my short feet also have a high instep (he described it as what is length for many people becomes height) and that my knees track inward when I stand with feet pointed forward--and straight when they are splayed out. Then he had me get into the boots.
He checked the location of the knee over the toe, had me flex and watched it track, had me tip each boot in succession, then both at once. Every time one direction, then the other. Turn 90 degrees so he's watching from the side. Then back.
He was delighted, "You were born for these boots!" he exclaimed (although I like to think that they were made for me...
). He likes the way I set up in them. That's where we left it for today.
I have an appointment later this month to do the next step of work. His goal with me (as for everyone) is to work the boot to the point where I'm balanced pretty evenly across my foot fore/aft. It seems that my foot type implies that I carry my weight primarily on the balls of my feet and this will by default be the case in ski boots. He is going to work to get me more balanced across the foot by changing the boot. Obviously, more on this when I next get work done.
A number of things I took away from my experiences today:
In the hope that some of you would be interested in the process of being fit and balanced, I thought that I would share my experience in the steps as they occur. Feel free to jump in and ask questions, but if you jump ahead, you'll need to wait for my next experience to get the responses.
Jeff fit me into a pair of Tecnica XTs in 2003. While they were not ideal, they were about as close as he felt we could get at the time. By the middle of last season, I was having some challenges with my feet (especially my heels) moving around in the boots. As a result, I put ZipFits into them during the ESA. After further study, I don't think that going with the ZipFits was the right "fix." Fundamentally, I think the movement was due to the more aggressive forward lean in the XTs that exacerbated my physiology (feet quite short for my height). So, after trying on a pair of Nordica Aggressors at the Nordica Race Camp in May, I decided to look into new boots this year (for completeness, days 2 and 3 of the race camp are in those threads).
I visited with Jeff over the summer, and he took a look at my stance in stocking feet. He mentioned that he thought the Aggressor would be a good boot for my stance and foot shape. We chatted a bit, and after some encouragement from others (most notably Bob Barnes/Colorado noting that they are running low on inventory), I took the leap today and picked up a pair of Nordica Aggressor 150s, size 5. Now, I have a relatively narrow size 8 1/2 US foot and have been skiing in a size 25.5 XT (UK 6 1/2). The size 5 (24 mondo) is about a half-finger fit, but, as Scott at the Loveland Sport Shop notes, there is enough plastic to work it to a size 6, if necessary. Given my past experience with boots becoming too big, I decided to try the smaller size.
One item of note: the Aggressors come in a plastic briefcase! I felt like I should handcuff them to my wrist or something. Impressive.
After wearing them for 15 minutes or so, my ears were not bleeding (
), nor had any parts of my feet gone to sleep, so I peeled them off, paid, and headed for Breck to visit Jeff.When I arrived (as is typical), he was working with another client. I hung around a bit, he invited me to change into shorts (so he could see my knees more clearly) and also put on my ski socks. After re-familiarizing himself with my stance ("Oh, yeah, the Aggressors are going to work very well for you."), he checked a few more things. He noted my natural stance is somewhat duck-footed, my short feet also have a high instep (he described it as what is length for many people becomes height) and that my knees track inward when I stand with feet pointed forward--and straight when they are splayed out. Then he had me get into the boots.
He checked the location of the knee over the toe, had me flex and watched it track, had me tip each boot in succession, then both at once. Every time one direction, then the other. Turn 90 degrees so he's watching from the side. Then back.
He was delighted, "You were born for these boots!" he exclaimed (although I like to think that they were made for me...
). He likes the way I set up in them. That's where we left it for today.I have an appointment later this month to do the next step of work. His goal with me (as for everyone) is to work the boot to the point where I'm balanced pretty evenly across my foot fore/aft. It seems that my foot type implies that I carry my weight primarily on the balls of my feet and this will by default be the case in ski boots. He is going to work to get me more balanced across the foot by changing the boot. Obviously, more on this when I next get work done.
A number of things I took away from my experiences today:
- Stance and physiology are the key inputs to the right boot model for everyone
- The input of a specialist who understands this is critical
- There is no "best" in boots; they are very personal selections
- There is no substitute for physiological and anatomical knowledge and experience from your boot balancing specialist
- There are differing views of "optimal stance", with some being more upright and some more focused on range of motion. Make sure your balancer has the same concept you do
- Fit is far more easily adjusted than is balance
What, no handcuff and shackle??
