ACHING feet as of day 3???

Hiya ! A good friend has his own boots for the last 4 years, and had custom footbeds made 2 yrs. ago as well. He´s a good skier, and has been at it for 20+ years (He´s 35).

He's complaining about aching feet as of day 3, and wonders what it could be. Uses regular ski socks (thin), and unbuckles while on lift.

Thinks it could be the liners are wet (the pain is akin to the one on cold hands), even though he dries them the old fashioned way against a floor heater in the bedroom.

My suggestion was not to take the boots off until finished for the day, and to leave the toe buckles as loose as possible, which works for me.

Any suggestions?

how tight is he buckling down? if you buckle down too tight, you cut off circulation and squeeze parts of the feet the wrong way. if he sweets a lot and believes wet feet may be an issue, a pair of back up socks to change into mid-day at the lodge is certainy in order. other than that, might want to suggest he visit a professional boot fitter who will be able to better identify and fix any potential boot/fit issuses.

I find this to be strange problem: comfortable for 2 days and then start hurting. It's more common the other way around from what I see for skiers to be uncomfortable early in the day or season, then "settle into" the boots after some mileage.

Therefore I would also have them checked out by a skilled bootfitter. We have one of the best in the country in Footloose at Mammoth. He needs to do some research to make sure he finds a shop with a good reputation. The ski mags occasionally publish lists.

There are problems that are counterintuitive. Such as shell size too big, thus skier clamps boots too tight and gets hot spots or cold feet.

Sound slike the boots are in need of washing. My feet sweat quite a lot and salt builds up in my boots. After a day of skiing, the salty inner boots will stay compressed, and not fit quite so well the next day. Thorough washing with mild soap water and drying should fix the problem.

One other possibility is that, if your friend skis more than just a bit each winter, the boots will have reached their end of working life. After just one season my boots are already missing some bits, and look quite worn out.

On the other hand. What kind of skiing? What kind of boots? What kind of snow?

A bad combination of too pliable boots and crusty snow can hit one's feet quite badly.