NewSchooler!! Wearing in new boots?? Competitions??

Boooshank

Boooshank

Active member
So, first post.
Hi,
I've been skiing maybe a maximum of about 20 times since i was 13, i'm 28 now. so i've had basic skiing down for a while. I moved to San Jose from Vegas recently and have been up to Northstar, MtRose and Mt Shatsa a few times in the last few weeks. I've always rented boots and ski's as its a pretty expensive sport to just go out and buy gear. Recently had a freestyle lesson at Shasta and am 100% hooked. Soon as i heard the noise of my ski's grinding a box (which i didnt hear the first time i tried, as it was mostly my face that slid along the box!) I was hooked. I've been a competeing flairbartender for a few years and am so sure that i want to compete (obviously at a super low level to start) at this aswell. Will be booking a session at Windells freestyle camp to make my learning curve as steep as possible.
So, i just bought my first ski boot. 2011 Dalbello Voodoo. I bought them online knowing that this boot fits me (tried on the same all be it $120 mire expensive boot at a local shop) to be sure.
Question is, when i get them through the post, what the best way to wear them in? should i wear them around the house as much as possible? wear just the liners? only wear them standing up? or take them to one of the ski shops by me to get them to tweak them to match up to my stance and feet profile to properly home in on what support shit i need if they can do that?
Basiclly, need advice on making sure that these boots are comfy enough so i can really sink my teeth into this freestyle thing!
also, Competitons?
Obvioulsy not aiming for no X games and shit but you gotta start somewhere right? Are there an organising bodys for competions? How are the competitons grouped regarding skill level? Are ski'ers being put together in heats of similar ski time/experience or just one big heat for everyone and you come last for the first few attempts at competing?
Appreciate the time.
Lee
 
Not really any groupings for skill in competitions. Usually 2 or 3 age groups, so you'll probably be in the toughest group unfortunately. As for the boots if they fit you properly just wear them skiing and they should be fine. Heat mold them if possible, bring them to a shop if you really care. But just wearing them is good enough.
 
My only advice is to ski in them. that is the only way to properly break in teh pressure points. Here is a story of me trying to speed up the process. DON"T DO IT

Prelude-(So I broke my ski boots over the weekend and so I bought new

boots on monday). I have always hated the period of time when you go up

the mountain and have to spend the first couple days breaking in you

boots and having to deal with that whole period of time where they are

uncomfortable as a broken condom. So I was thinking and thinking, trying

to come to the answer to skip that whole period of time and jump right

back into the grove of things. Thats when it came to me, I would wear my

ski boots to bed!. It was as if the word of god had been whispered into

my ear, I could have the boots break in while i slept!, I wouldn't have

to be awake for the discomfort as the boots moulded to the contours of

my foot. So I got ready for bed last night strapped into my boots and

hopped into bed with a shit eating grin on my mouth thinking I had just

thought of the greatest thing since porn...

I wake up

with my alarm blaring notifying me that I had another dreary day of

school ahead of me... The only thing that pained me more then hearing

that noise was my feet which felt like they had a jack hammer taken to

them and had a fat chick sitting on them all night. The pain was

excruciating, the first thing that came to my mind was "My ankles are

broke, my ankles are broken!". I then swung my legs off the side of my

bed and as fast as i could unclipped the buckles and booster strap. I

could feel the blood flooding back to my feet as the pain seemed to

pulsate from my numb toes to my throbbing ankles. I first reached for my

right boot and tried to wrench it off, the second that I tried to pull

my foot out a pain like nothing I had never felt shot up my entire leg. I

couldn't believe it I was nearly in tears trying to take off my stupid

ski boots. I found out that the slow method did not work trying to get

my foot out because i could not bear the pain for more then 2 seconds. I

then decided that I would have to treat it like a band-aid. I then

grabbed the back of my boot with one hand and the tongue with the other

and trusted my foot up and and pushed the boot away with all my might. I

screamed in agonizing pain as my foot felt like it had been crushed in a

vice. I cringed at the thought of having to go through that whole

ordeal once again with my left foot..... Now i know that many women

claim that pregnancy is the most painful experience someone can go

through but i think it would be comparable to trying to shit out a ski

out of your ass, thats how much this shit hurt. I praised the lord that I

was finally out of my prison, I thought my whole ordeal was over and

then I took my first step towards the bathroom to soak them in the

bathtub. My whole freaking leg collapsed, it wasn't like when your leg

falls asleep and it just kinda feels numb and tingly. My foot and ankle

just wouldn't freaking work, I was like "HOLY CRAP I JUST KILL MY

FEET!". I was petrified that I had done them up to tight and had cut off

the circulation to my feet and that i would need an amputation. I began

to rub them vigorously trying to get the feeling back into them, I sat

their for a good 20 min rubbing them as the feeling gradually came back

into my feet. In the end I skipped school for the day because I was

barely able to walk without cringing. 15 hours later and they still hurt

like a MOTHER F*CKER.

I hope everyone will

learn from me (the dumbass) and never try to take short cuts when

breaking in ski boots...

Sparknotes: Sleeping

in ski boots to try and break them in = Very bad idea

PS

sry if there are a lot of spelling error and whatnot but im trying to

write a paper at the same time so I was kinda rushing.

 
WTF Sean?!
That was a good read, but I can't see how you could possibly think that was a good idea! I think that you nearly gave yourself deep vein thrombosis.
 
Just ski in them, if the boot fits you good you won't have to much trouble breaking them in ...for reference, this season i busted out a screw on the ankle of my old tecnicas and since i was already looking for a new boot, the proces suddenly got a boost since i was leaving for austria in a week, so a day before my departure i got new boots (nordica ace of spades) and went to italy without ever having skied on them. They were super good from day 1 and they didn't really change alot/break in either....

 
Skiing in your boots is definitely the best way to break them in. Other than that I would definitely recommend getting a custom insole, this will definitely improve the fit of your boot. You can go the expensive (and trusted route) of getting a custom insole made at a ski shop, which will run you between $80-120, or you can also get a less expensive formable insole, Dr. Scholls thing at a ski shop, shoe store or at Walmart for around $30. These also work great.

If your boot comes with heat-moldable liners, I would definitely recommend getting them molded at a ski shop.

With a custom insole and heat-molded liners, your feet will be feeling great from day 1 in your boots.

As for competitions, usually competitors are divided by age, with an categories for under and over 18 (or 16). In most of the smaller local competitions there are skiers of all skill levels.
 
I highly back the custom insole idea.

I'd also add that if there's one thing that is worth it to spend a retarded amount of money on its your boots.

Damage you can do to your feet from pressure points is permanent. They really quickly form into bone spurs, which you can't get rid of except with surgery.

So don't ignore even the slightest pressure point. Get your ass into the best bootfitter in town, and whine about absolutely every little thing that is even slightly uncomfortable.

I once met a guy who ignored pressure points for years, and he ended up having to get both feet surgically broken and put back together in order to rid his feet of the bumps that covered them.

 
Hahaha oh my god wow that's insane. I slept in my ski boots once, but they were unbuckled so there was no pressure. I dont know how you even fell asleep in the first place - or didnt wake up from your feet feeling like shit at 3am. lol.
When I passed out, I just straight up was drunk as fuck and too lazy to actually take them off/blackout, so I guess I had a smarter excuse, too... haha.
 
Since when do you have to break in ski boots? I always look forward to getting new boots because that is when they are the most comfortable and the foam still hasn't collapsed.
 
sounds like you are buying boots too big.

for the competition aspect, go to your local mountains and just ask for a some dates for competitions. Usually there is an 18+ age group, which usually contains the best skiers. But dont feel intimidated! Hopefully you will be stoked to see people killing it and it will push you to start trying new stuff! If you think you are addicted from hitting some boxes, wait until you start going upside down! My first backflip was the most memorable experience of my life and my skiing addiction is probably comparable to a heroine addiction. Have fun at windells! it will be one of the best weeks of your life!
 
Uhm no. There are plenty of competitions with a super wide range of skill levels. Competing isn't always about winning, its about fun too. Competitions are great because they usually push you to try things you normally wouldn't.
 
Similar to what everyone else is saying- most people assume you should spend the most/buy the nicest gear in order of: 1. skis, 2. bindings, 3. boots. In reality, these should be flipped- your first priority is to buy good boots that fit you well. Bindings are probably the next most important- you'd rather not end up on some kids bindings just because they are cheap if you weigh 180+. Last comes skis- you can really work with any pair of skis (just try to get twin tip anything for park) and they really are not nearly as important as boots or bindings.
 
first of all, holy crap, you learn quickly. get the shop to mold them to your feet and wear them around the haus before you go skiing
 
I don't want to be "that guy" but you really should have gotten them from a shop. Thank goodness you at least tried them on first. Truthfully, if they don't fit you perfect out of the box you are going to have to go to the shop to get work done on them. Since you didn't buy them there this will cost you. All you can really do yourself (assuming you have little boot knowledge, which judging by the thread you do) is cook the liners. You can literally heat them up in the oven as long as it is big enough and the element turns on at a low enough temperature. Be super carful when sticking them in the shell. Then just put them on, buckle them up loosely (don't crank them to where you would be for skiing, this will over pack them) and then just wear them/flex them for at least 15 minutes.
 
Awesome replies from all.
Re: the 1080 comp comment. I'd compete only being able to do some bullshit star jump and land on my face, competing at any level is the shit.
I know i'm hooked, all i can think about is what a cork 5 feels like, since learning to jump, all i ever put into a search engine now, is Freestyle ski tricks, or learn to do this and learn how to do this.
I understand that it is always way better to buy from an actual store, but it just wasnt feesable, the Dalbelo Voodoo @ Any mountain was $379, i bought them from o2gearshop.com and the cost $243. This is significanly less and enough for my insucurity about buying boots online.
Has anyone had any experiance with this boot? Does it have the heat moulded liners that one of your guys has mentioned?
Question, is maybe worth gettin some trampoline time in, like maybe a lesson from someone who knows how to roatate and could help me get a first grasp of being inverted. (which i simply cannot wait for)
Big props to every1 and NS.com. Love it when forums actually turn out to an informative tool instead of trash talking about shit i couldnt give a fuck about.
Thanks again for all your time.
 
Knowing that style of boot, (and having worked for Any Mountain (Concord store as well as Heavenly Sports - which is virtually Any Mountain - Tahoe) and sold other boots from Dalbello that were made with the same exact shell - having tried them on, and getting feedback from customers) I would say that it's a softer boot thatsorta/kinda/tries to mimic the idea of the the krypton series. It's wider, higher volume, and less responsive, but overall if the boot fits, then you cant complain, eh?
Basically, if Jim, or Erik, (or whoever your bootfitter was at the San Jose store, or which ever other Any Mountain store you were fitted at... I haven't worked there for a year, so who knows who's working where anymore) or anyone else who was competent enough at fitting boots got you in that boot and it works, then you should be good. Ski in it 5-10 days and they'll fit better no matter what.
All I can say now is, that if you didn't get footbeds already in your boots, that's the #1 thing you should go and spend 40$ on right now, because you cannot expect your boots wont fit well without them, almost 100% no matter what. I dont care who you are, unless your feet are FUBAR from gnarly injuries or something, there's absolutely no fucking reason for you to not have a pair of superfeet in them. In fact, if you can, go get some custom footbeds for your boots, because they'll only make your situation better - and you can usually move them between boots if you decide to upgrade, or change boots. If you already have custom full length or midlength orthodics, then sweet, you can use those too if you really want to.
All boots today should have heat molded liners - All of Dalbellos surely do. and knowing Any Mountain, you can go there and they'll charge you 5$ to heatmold them. (you can also get the footbeds from them as well)
As far as working on jumps and trick stuff.. take your time, and dont be stupid and try to push yourself too far too fast. I've seen too many people do that and end up in the hospital. Have fun, and dont be stupid. Push yourself within your realm, not beyond it if you can.
 
Ok, so footbeds are a must! Thanks, i'll wait to be able to get to a store to get a proper boot. I'll give the two ski shops by me a call to see what kind of boot fitting services they provide. I know comfort is a factor, but if i end up spending a whak on fitting a tweaking the sole/support stuff, gonna defeat the object of me saving throught buying from the internet, especailly as im sure this service is free at the stores.
The stores local ar Any Mountain in San Jose, and Helm of Sun Valley on Sarratoga. So, Helm does seem to come off as more experiance with the sole stuff, like a sectioned area for bootfittin with some sort of motorized foot chair contraption?! Paid enough attention to this stuff just to notice it, as none of the boots they sell were close to my budget, and didnt see and of the 3 clip systems i've read about for more of a freestyle boot as i walked past their boot wall on way to the Helmets!! (Bought a Smith Haze, jesus. The lid is crazy light)
So, after writing that paragraph, i rang Helm. They got custom foot bed fitting for soles that range between $35 and $150. The cheaper only lasting for maybe a couple of seasons, cut, trimmed and thrown in your boot comparpared to the latter, which is what that chair thing i mentioned is. It moulds exactly to your foot and is a perfect fit for your foot. I asked if there was a mid-grade that has abit more tuning and lasts a good few seasons so again not spend more than i could of at AnyMountain for the boots. He said there is, but they dont carry them, clever!! Ha. So, i guess i'll be heading down to Helm as soon as i get them. We'll see how i fare.
Are bindings really my next port of call to research? Its important to buy bindings before ski's?? Really? Dont bindings differ in size of brake compared to the width of the ski?

 
The best bootfitting in the Bay Area is either going to be at the Any Mountain store in Concord, with Rob or AJ (worked with both of them for a long long time - Rob's actually a former world cup fitter) and at California Ski Co. in Berkeley (Greg runs probably the only really super legit boot fitting shop in the bay area - they have the best fittin equipment and most of the best experience, really)
as far as bindings, that depends on your weight, and how big you go, but for starters, you can go for almost any binding with a 4-12 din range and be good. I'd recommend just about anything from Rossignol or Tyrolia, personally.
And depending on your ski, yes... you'll probably need to get the right size brake - that is unless your tech is crazy like me and totally broke the rules by bending the shit out of brakes to fit peoples' skis haha.
mounting questions go on forever on this site, so you can just use the searchbar most of the time, but i'd say, most park skis that arent symmetrical, you want to mount 1-2cm back from true centre, and for symmetrical skis, dead centre obviously.
 
Berkley aint an option for me to get too. Gas prices an all. Besides i aint gonna be getting the $150 last a fucking lifetime foot beds so the middle of the road ones will have to do. So, being as i only just found out how important and neccesary footbeds are, should i of gone up a size in the boot, i got my true size in regular footwear. surely putting (what looks like chunky rubber in most brands) in the inner sock will make the boot smaller??
The guy at Helm was very imformative and easily answerd the questions. I belive that good customer service should be rewarded with repitive business. They've been good over the last 2 months with me renting 5 times and different purchases of stuff.
I'll definitly searching the forum for binding question, i thought they were all tailored that actual ski, like the boots are made to be prone to different aspects of ski'in i.e.Freestyle, downhilll, moguls and other ones i cant think of right now.

 
If you're going to get a footbed, get superfeet, and just match them to whichever is the size of your foot, they go in widths/lengths, so if say your boot is a 27.5, then you're a 9.5 (27.5 = 2+7=9, then add the .5 = 9.5 size) If thats the case, then just look on the package, and theres the sizes that those beds work up to. Get the corresponding size, and you're money. Then just take out the stock footbeds, cut out the toes of them shaped to the old beds, and fit them in your boots (if you go to Any Mountain or any other legit ski shop, they will usually do this for you if you buy the footbeds from them)
boots sometimes are made to different styles of skiing, but for the most part, skiing is skiing. Your boots aren't ultra high performance, and you're still getting the jist of things it sounds like, so dont worry about that stuff quite yet. Once youre at a higher level, and are more educated on your own abilities, you can pick boots based on that (for example, I'm in Dalbello Krypton Pros, they dont even fit my feet out of the box, but I fit them to fit me perfectly, because I wanted the performance - once you're invested enough in skiing, and going up 50 times a season at minimum, then you might find it worth it to do this sorta thing)
 
All makes sense, thank you.
I watched a review on my boot and the boots already come with a sponge boot board. Is this the thing i'll remove when I get proper foot beds?

2:57 for the board bit!
 
No. Thats the boot board (whatever 'sponge board' they call it is kinda a gimmick in my opinion. having a softer bootboard under your foot does jack shit in the long run, as far as i'm concerned - it's no better than 'gellin it' with Dr. Scholls.. they wont make it any more comfortable, really). But yeah, You keep that in there, and only remove the foam bit that sits on top of that, which is a piece of shit cut out foam piece that sucks ass and gives you no support and pisses me off to no end that every company still doesnt just put in proper fucking footbeds to begin with.
 
So, the board with the sponge thing on the heel is just a chepaer form of footbed that the boot comes standard with? So the footbed goes under my liner? The liner on my boots that are coming are definitly a heat moulded liner, so i'll be taking them to Helm on Sunday and Hittin Sugarbowl on Monday, i'll keep you informed on how my feet feel after your advice.
Again, appreicte the time people took to reply.
Can't wait to immerse myself in everything about this sport!!
Are there any worthwhile notable magazines out there?
 
The board with the sponge thing on the heel is called the boot board. Don't worry about it, just leave it where it is and don't mess with it. The footbed that you're going to have molded for the shape of foot is going to replace the piece of foam that sits inside the liner. When you put your boot on, the footbed should be in contact with the sole of your foot. If you're still unsure about what to do, just get the shop where you're having your footbeds made put them in for you.
As far as magazines are concerned, try Freeskier or Powder
 
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