Skiing with raynauds syndrome?

I've been having this too, although, without Raynauds, I'd first try wearing a thinner sock and loosening the midsole on your boot. It's also important to pay attention to how tight you have everything leading down to your toes (booster straps, the cuff of the boot, and so on). If none of this works heated footbeds and socks work pretty damn well.

If skiing is something you're really passionate about and you have raynauds shell out for some hottronics or even better some thermics for your insoles + a custom footbed if you don't already have them. Pricey, but can guarantee your toes will stay nice n toasty

Lenz heated socks. Pull out your wallet, and thank me later.

SchizoSkierIf any of you guys have or know anyone w raynauds how do they stay warm? Any time I ski and it gets below like 15 F I am completely miserable. I have 150g gloves and my hands are generally fine. My toes are the problem. I have full tilt descendant 4s and just some wool socks from rei that I wear and almost always I lose blood to my toes and am miserable throughout the day. Any tips?

I actually have the same boot and had the same problem. My feet still get cold, but I heat molded my boots and got good insoles. This definatly helped blood circulation, and had a noticable improvement in riding comfort and warmth. I'd also look at getting a boot cover thingy. I've never tried them but I image keeping snow off the top of your boot and potentially getting ur feet wet might help

SessionLenz heated socks. Pull out your wallet, and thank me later.

Came here to post this, got these for my wife a couple years ago and she swears by them, always has toasty feet now

Layer up to keep your core temp good so blood isnt further shunted from the extremities

and google says dont smoke/not too much caffeine, and nothing too tight.

I just ski really hard then my feet get sweaty

Neives_tiddiesLayer up to keep your core temp good so blood isnt further shunted from the extremities

m8 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/raynauds-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20363571

AlexHallsEyebrowI just ski really hard then my feet get sweaty

^ this.
I like to bring 2 pairs of ski socks to the hill. I swap them out at lunch. Damp socks are a killer. I get super painful cold toes and this has helped me loads.
(Also don’t drive to the hill in ur ski socks, bring a “drivin pair”)

I bought some hottronics over Christmas but haven’t put them in yet.. hopefully they work

Anyone used the hotronics heated boot system? I'm thinking about getting it for my boots after I get my frostbite healed

https://www.hotronic.com/en_us/products/foot-warmer/s4-series/foot-warmer-power-plus-universal-s4--23666x22888.html

I don’t have raynauds but I find that thin socks actually keep me warmer than thick socks to a point. Dry feet+blood flow= warm feet. Merino wool socks like Smartwool are warm because of the wool but thin enough that they won’t cut off blood flow. I change into dry socks when I put my boots on and change socks again at lunch if it’s super cold. My feet get cold really easily so I have done a ton of trial and error over the years

Ya I don’t have raynauds but my extremities are always ice blocks. Like indoors 25C my hands are cold to the touch

I’ve been trying to improve my circulation by stretching and activating all my lower and upper leg muscles before skiing, that helps a bit for sure. And thin socks. Don’t buckle up the boots too tight.

on a cold ass day at -17C there is no hope… I’ve heard electric boot warmers are life savers but can be pricey

good luck dude :-)

SchizoSkierIf any of you guys have or know anyone w raynauds how do they stay warm? Any time I ski and it gets below like 15 F I am completely miserable. I have 150g gloves and my hands are generally fine. My toes are the problem. I have full tilt descendant 4s and just some wool socks from rei that I wear and almost always I lose blood to my toes and am miserable throughout the day. Any tips?

Yeah I do to the point that I ended up wearing goose down mittens for a few years cuz nothing else worked. Leather gloves are the only other ones that worked.

Anyway my feet still go numb even after getting my own boots; it only got slightly better with good fitting boots. I find that ensuring your feet and boots are completely warm before putting them on helps but I still usually end up having to warm up my feet within the first hour or two of skiing. Don't crank that boot down super tight either until your feet have a chance to warm up and keep that inside warm. After the first warm up, my feet are usually good for the rest of the day-kinda weird.

Edit: definitely wear wool or synthetic socks but make sure they aren't super thick and are for skiing. Raynauds is about circulation so wearing a thicker sock might make it more constricting inside and make it worse?

**This post was edited on Jan 22nd 2022 at 5:57:29pm

yo im shitzophrenic too we gang

Don’t skimp on the heating tech. Spend the money to get something nicer than a hotronic

mrk127Anyone used the hotronics heated boot system? I'm thinking about getting it for my boots after I get my frostbite healed

https://www.hotronic.com/en_us/products/foot-warmer/s4-series/foot-warmer-power-plus-universal-s4--23666x22888.html

Those will only heat the bottom of your toes and require modification to your insole. Heated socks wrap around your toes and are not married to your boot so you can use them for other applications.

HypeBeastYeah I do to the point that I ended up wearing goose down mittens for a few years cuz nothing else worked. Leather gloves are the only other ones that worked.

Anyway my feet still go numb even after getting my own boots; it only got slightly better with good fitting boots. I find that ensuring your feet and boots are completely warm before putting them on helps but I still usually end up having to warm up my feet within the first hour or two of skiing. Don't crank that boot down super tight either until your feet have a chance to warm up and keep that inside warm. After the first warm up, my feet are usually good for the rest of the day-kinda weird.

Edit: definitely wear wool or synthetic socks but make sure they aren't super thick and are for skiing. Raynauds is about circulation so wearing a thicker sock might make it more constricting inside and make it worse?

**This post was edited on Jan 22nd 2022 at 5:57:29pm

This was helpful. Saw this on the lift and took a break and took off my boots for about 20 minutes and I’m having no problems so far (2 hrs 45 minutes after taking my boots off)

I've got a related question to throw out to everyone here.
Does anyone here get the screaming barfies??

I have diagnosed mild raynauds, primarily worse in my feet. I also wear as tight/small of boots as possible and only ride race boots 130+, usually redster pro w lace liners. (I know.. I do it to myself..) Just can't stand riding in anything else. And I also have other foot problems like persistent issues from broken bones/lisfranc injuries. I normally get the barfies about 1 in 3 days that I ride. Can't have my boots done up fully tight for more than 5-ish minutes and don't normally ski for more than 2-3 hours or so in a day. My barfies usually come after riding or upon taking a break inside, but occasionally mid-riding on the side of the hill depending on the cold and amount of time I ride. And ranges from light-headedness, sweating, and normal full-body nerve pain stemming from the feet, to feeling like I'm gonna die and puking my guts up. Never gone temporarily blind or deaf from it fortunately as I've heard of that happening to others. Usually dissipates and returns to normal after about 3-20 mins.

So my question out to you; Anybody else ever deal with this? Most advice out there is centred around ice climbers and more in the hands, so any advice or tips from personal experience? Besides getting bigger/different boots.. haha. I do wanna get heated socks/boots, will probably save up and get them next winter.

For anybody who doesn't know wtf I'm talking about, here's a bit of info on what it is:
https://gripped.com/profiles/screaming-barfies-why-and-how-to-avoid/

I have raynauds too, I have boot heaters and I racked out to get boots that fit me super well so I don't have any pressure points. If you don't wanna get heated gloves I'd get liners and make sure to keep your core very warm. Also sometimes you're gonna have to go warm up, like when my hands and toes get cold they don't warm up unless I go inside

SessionLenz heated socks. Pull out your wallet, and thank me later.

This. Yea hotronics are cool but modifying your custom footbeds and risking messing them up isn't great. They only hit the bottom of the forefoot, batteries are a pain, etc etc etc.

The socks cost but they're the move. The heating element is part of the weave so you get your whole leg toasty. Plus having them for any other time/activity when your feet are cold? It's a no brainer, especially with a circulation condition.

Ever since I was little my toes have always gotten completely numb while skiing and it sucks but I kinda just learned to put up with it. The only time it bothers me is when there transitioning from warm to numb and I can actually feel how cold my feet are.