The Official: "What is wrong with my boots?" Thread

treebeardI also have a Head boot with the liquid fit liner. Its been a few years but I'm almost positive I remember the shop guy saying you can't heat mold the liner after they've pumped in the liquid. Something with either the liquid itself, or maybe the little port for inserting the syringe can melt, either way they said don't do it

That makes sense, I already have the wax pumped into the liners glad I held off on heat molding with the oven.



I wore thinner socks and they've packed out now and are feeling great.

I’m stoked to discover this community in my hour of need. Long time skier (only 1-2 weeks on piste a year unfortunately; advanced not expert; now mostly with kids) and sufferer of poor fitting boots. For reasons that now seem stupid I have slowly progressed through many years of rental boots, better rental boots, mass market sports retailer advice and purchase, store bought inner soles… I have high arches and widish feet - typically I suffer Morton’s type symptom’s in the balls of my feet which I ‘solve’ by spending an hour at lunch with my boots off my feet. Last month I finally bit the bullet and went to the most reputable boot fitting shop in my city who suggested the latest Atomic Hawx Magna 110S. Nice looking boot (black/cement/red) and from reviews and specs it seems like it should be a great match for me, so thanks @onenerdykid! Unfortunately, I had a few problems:
1.Unbeknownst to me at the time, the guy serving me was by far the least experienced boot fitter in the shop.
2. My right instep felt like it was pushing on the shell. My arch is high, but nothing crazy, so that seemed odd in a HV boot like the Hawx.
3. The guidance I got was that there was no boot higher, so I committed to heat moulding. They stuck a double layer of hard foam on the instep of each foot, did the oven, put on my feet and finally did the cooling. Also cut out the elastic straps on top of each inner.
4. First day skiing I had to stop after half a day with a lot of pain in the ball of my right foot. I had some old store-bought inner soles / foot beds in the car and was frustrated enough to go back there, pull off the boots, the liners and the inner soles to try the switch. When I did this, I discovered that my right liner contained two innersoles! The standard factory one on top, and underneath a standard contoured full length Sidas arch support inner sole that presumably someone in the shop had stuck in when making a point with an earlier customer?!?
5. Thus I now have a pair of boots that have been heat moulded with the height of my right foot jacked up by this second full innersole, which was obviously a big mistake. I took it back to the store and they apologized, told me that mould height doesn’t make any difference and I should just crank my right boot a little more (plus they added a fix around the inner to tighten the heel hold, while height above the toes doesn’t matter)???

Next I went to a podiatrist (recommended by the store) who is focussed on custom ski foot beds and he told me the previous work was completely unacceptable and the store should replace the boots due to their error. Went back to the store and they claim that the head moulding doesn’t do anything in the vertical/height direction (and didn’t actually impact the shell – he then showed me all his boot tools that he didn’t use, but I thought the point of the Memory fit is that the heat does the work on the shell, not old school tools..???) and any excess volume (which according to him there isn’t due to the error..) can be fixed by adding back a specific volume reducing inner sole and a second stint in the oven?

I work with product managers in a non-related manufacturing field, so am a sucker for actually following manufacturer’s instructions! I am still dreaming of a boot dialled into my needs, but am fearful that the initial boot fitter mess up has cost me here. @onenerdykid and others, would love to get your advice on this one. Start over or apply fixes to the fixes?

Hoping someone can help - sorry if this question is repetitive.

I bought boots that were too big for me recently and I'm just really trying to make them work and it's causing so much frustration.


went to epic gear to see if they could offer solutions but the over confident boot fitter diagnosed me to have high arches which I never have before and suggested I buy high arch insoles and also added shims / foam to the back of the boot to take up space. (Side note, I asked if I could possible use the machine that measures your feet arches and be looked visually irritated and said "why? I already told you everything you needed to know?" I Would think in this job it would be all about helping and listening to your client but I digress..

this caused the most painful and horrible trip of my life skiing, it felt like my left leg was at a constant state of being pushed outward at the ankle and like I could not keep my ski flat..

how do I fix it? I have a natural weird gait that tends to eat the the outside of my heels but after talking to a few more people I have a pretty normal to low arch. I added a shim(?) a friend gave me to take up more boot space which I tried on now with a standard insole .. but now I feel that my left boot is still sending my foot sinking to outside and lifting where my arch is (making my leg and knee feel twisted)

I know the real solutions is to get properly fitting boots but that's not going to happen financially for the remainder of the season.. help!

FawnnosegoesHoping someone can help - sorry if this question is repetitive.

I bought boots that were too big for me recently and I'm just really trying to make them work and it's causing so much frustration.


went to epic gear to see if they could offer solutions but the over confident boot fitter diagnosed me to have high arches which I never have before and suggested I buy high arch insoles and also added shims / foam to the back of the boot to take up space. (Side note, I asked if I could possible use the machine that measures your feet arches and be looked visually irritated and said "why? I already told you everything you needed to know?" I Would think in this job it would be all about helping and listening to your client but I digress..

this caused the most painful and horrible trip of my life skiing, it felt like my left leg was at a constant state of being pushed outward at the ankle and like I could not keep my ski flat..

how do I fix it? I have a natural weird gait that tends to eat the the outside of my heels but after talking to a few more people I have a pretty normal to low arch. I added a shim(?) a friend gave me to take up more boot space which I tried on now with a standard insole .. but now I feel that my left boot is still sending my foot sinking to outside and lifting where my arch is (making my leg and knee feel twisted)

I know the real solutions is to get properly fitting boots but that's not going to happen financially for the remainder of the season.. help!

There are about 20 different causes for the symptoms you are talking about and no one will be able to properly diagnose it over the internet. If you follow the advice of random people on the internet who have never seen, never assessed your specific foot inside your specific, you will be throwing darts, blindfolded, after being spun around 3 times and hoping to hit the dart board.

Attempting to fix a boot that is too big is about as expensive as buying new boots, and it still never does the job properly.

At the very least, get yourself come custom insoles made by a reputable, proper boot fitter in your area and have him/her pad the liner to attempt to hold your foot in place.

After that, it's new boots and you can transfer the custom insoles over to the new boot.

I appreciate the guidance! And I agree a 100%, it feels like I am taking in an endless amount of advice to a dizzying point. I'll give another boot fitter a shot

onenerdykidThere are about 20 different causes for the symptoms you are talking about and no one will be able to properly diagnose it over the internet. If you follow the advice of random people on the internet who have never seen, never assessed your specific foot inside your specific, you will be throwing darts, blindfolded, after being spun around 3 times and hoping to hit the dart board.

Attempting to fix a boot that is too big is about as expensive as buying new boots, and it still never does the job properly.

At the very least, get yourself come custom insoles made by a reputable, proper boot fitter in your area and have him/her pad the liner to attempt to hold your foot in place.

After that, it's new boots and you can transfer the custom insoles over to the new boot.

ok has anyone found a solution to pain on top of the foot right under the middle buckle

it feels like there is a band going across the top of my foot right there. my whole ski feels like it is hanging from just that one point when i am on the lift it is terrible lol. it is only in my right boot and i can alleviate it a bit by pulling the tongue up

went to the bootfitter today and he tried to push it up but couldn’t cause its slopped and right where the boot overlaps. curious if this is a problem others have had

dognutsdogfartok has anyone found a solution to pain on top of the foot right under the middle buckle

it feels like there is a band going across the top of my foot right there. my whole ski feels like it is hanging from just that one point when i am on the lift it is terrible lol. it is only in my right boot and i can alleviate it a bit by pulling the tongue up

went to the bootfitter today and he tried to push it up but couldn’t cause its slopped and right where the boot overlaps. curious if this is a problem others have had

Go buy a boot with boa

dognutsdogfartok has anyone found a solution to pain on top of the foot right under the middle buckle

it feels like there is a band going across the top of my foot right there. my whole ski feels like it is hanging from just that one point when i am on the lift it is terrible lol. it is only in my right boot and i can alleviate it a bit by pulling the tongue up

went to the bootfitter today and he tried to push it up but couldn’t cause its slopped and right where the boot overlaps. curious if this is a problem others have had

On most boots, there is actually a band across the top of your foot on the liner. Try cutting parts of that out until it feels better. If that doesn't work, it sounds like you need to grind your boot board down (if it's the type that can be done for) and/or continue to work on the liner



also, it sounds like you may have gone to an inexperienced boot fitter