This is probably not news to anyone, but there are many misconceptions about the selection process, and at K2 Shop we want to help you as professionally as possible.
The purpose of this article is not to guide you through a "how to..." (how to choose a pair of ski boots), as this is impossible to do through a manual, video or any other kind of help. Experienced skiers have learned over many years roughly what they need, but even for them it is good to have an external check so that someone can see what we might not notice on our own. Obviously, no expert is infallible, but with decades of experience, having seen many thousands of boots on many thousands of feet, and having tried and used many more, they are likely to be able to tell you what you need. Basically, to hold your foot firmly, wrap it around, but not push it anywhere. The toes should be able to move freely and the heel should be held in place, while still being able to move freely as needed when playing sports.
As a beginner - let's face it - you have no way of knowing which ski or snowboard boots will be comfortable on the slopes . and in the thick of the marketing mantra, it's easy to think that you can exaggerate and buy anything that fits your feet, then get a machine to warm them up or inject them with gel pads, and they'll be perfect for the slopes because they're shaped to your foot. Yes, most made-for-something ski boots are already described as mouldable to your foot, but don't think of it like in science fiction when a miracle machine makes the perfect footwear on the protagonist's foot. Ski boots don't literally mould to the foot, they only mould millimetres outwards. (Shoes that can be moulded inwards a little using vacuum technology - such as Fischer's top-of-the-range - are much rarer, but even these are not a miracle.)
When buying ski boots, it is very important that they are comfortable the first time you try them on, that they don't weigh you down or slip. But the "science" only begins from here. How you will use your ski boots is not always the same. For a competitor, it is important to ensure maximum efficiency for a few minutes, for a hobby skier, it is also very important not to break a leg at the end of an active day. When choosing ski boots, your body type, your style (beginners can do the same thing in a completely different style), how mobile you are, whether you are more relaxed or more muscular, whether you have had any injuries that still affect your movement, and so on, are all important factors. And to make the formula even less simple, the various flex indices are only relevant within a given brand's particular product range, and as standalone features they don't help much in making a choice. Obviously, for a given model range, it helps the seller to be able to ask the question: is the ski boot being tried on hard enough?
And speaking of different model families and brands... The K2 Shop has one of the widest ranges in the country, which is unique in some ways. We don't pick and choose our range based on our commitment to brands, but instead offer our customers a range of products to suit a wide variety of foot types, skill levels and styles of ski and snowboard boots. It's important to note that there are some foot types for which it is impossible to find the perfect boot from one brand or another. So, even if you like a new design or a futuristic solution, if another manufacturer makes the right boots for your feet, you should choose them. As a rule of thumb, you have to try several brands to find the one that suits you - in other words, the ski boot chooses you, not the other way round.
Let's say that, with the help of an expert salesperson, you've chosen the model that looks right after the first fitting. As you can guess, you can't breathe a sigh of relief that, yes, you've found the perfect ski boot. Next comes the phase of fitting the boots together, and it still doesn't start with fitting the outer shell, but with the liner. After a few slips, the virgin liner also moulds to your foot, revealing how the outer shell, liner and foot behave as a unit. Again, when making your choice, it's up to the experience of the seller to take into account previous feedback, to identify which group of users you belong to, to think about how a particular shoe behaves in winter temperatures compared to trying it on at room temperature for the first time...
After these few delays, we will see whether the choice was the right one and what further intervention is needed. This is where the heating of the outer shell and the few millimetres it can develop can come into play. At this point, the liner is beginning to take its final shape, which is far from the same at the time of purchase. We are talking about a material that compresses somewhat during use, most of the time in the first phase of its life cycle. This is when moulding to shape really makes sense. You can extend the formula with different insoles, but the main rule I emphasised earlier is also true here: If a shoe is already uncomfortable at the first try in the shop, forget it. It cannot evolve that much, and no aids can change its basic properties enough to make it comfortable even after a day on the track.
So the main message of this article is to find the right ski boots for you, rather than trying to correct your foot warming. And we don't think you'll be able to do this without expert help, so we don't want to give you a recipe. At the K2 Shop, we offer eight brands (Atomic, Fischer, Salomon, Head, Nordica, Rossignol, Salomon, Dalbello, Sidas) for skiers and three big brands (Burton, Nitro, Salomon) for snowboarders. The 180 types of ski boots and 74 types of snowboard boots represent a current stock, and this large number is not a remnant of previous years, but a professionally selected range from which we hope to choose the right boots for everyone. We look forward to welcoming you to see for yourself!
Bring socks that you like to ski in for the fitting, and pants that can be folded up high for the fitting!
