Anyone use these (downhill skiing content)

They look interesting, but all I know are telemark boots which are fairly comfortable.

Update***

I now have the ski frames. They actually showed up pretty quickly after ordering them, but I have had a lot going on plus I am now a World Cup Champion in procrastination.

Although I haven't had a chance to ski with them, they seem to be made of quality materials. 

I brought the frames into my local ski shop, -unfortunately the only non chain ski shop left in my area-. The owner was intrigued by them. He made a few suggestions before even discussing boot options. He recommended me purchasing spare buckles from the manufacturer just in case of failure. He stressed that snowboard binding straps and buckles do experience failures from time to time; and because these appeared to be proprietary buckles and straps a slopeside repair shop may not have something to get me back skiing. He did however say that they can be very creative, but better to have spares than spending the day in the lodge.

On to the boots, I tried a number of different boots the ones I liked most were VANS HI-STANDARD PRO boots. I liked the fit better than the others (YMMV), they didn't have BOA lacing which I would have preferred but the only drawback to that is it will takes me longer to lace the boots. Edit** these are not compatible with dual BOA lacing and always bring the frames when buying boots to make sure there are no compatiblity issues.

Earlier in the thread there was mention of stiffness possibly being a issue.  Again I haven't skiied with them yet, but the frames had little flex with any of the boots I tried on. Also there is also no provision for adjusting the level of flex which some may not like, but overall I don't think excessive flex will be an issue for me.

A few other things I noticed. There are alot of fasteners, these things have 40 fasteners per frame, 80 total. Just a thought but you are using these you might want to keep a few spare tools in your ski bag. Maybe even a few spare fasteners although I removed one  fasteners and there appeared to be thread locker used on the threads, but a once over at the beginning of the day might be a good idea. 

Anyways, Holiday Valley, and Bristol are open this weekend. If I am lucky, I can post what they are actually like to use.

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Maybe you all know this but the key to well fitting boots is to have them professionally fitted, and then come home and put the outer boot in the oven at about 280 degrees. When they are good and hot, put the liners back in, put your ski socks on and wear them around the house until they are cool. Then repeat the next night. No more pressure points. This works for hockey skates as well.

I wasn't going to make another comment about custom fit boots, but in Ellicottville there is a boot shop. I cannot claim that they are good or bad, but the chair you sit in for a fitting looks like an electric chair. The place is called "The City Garage" and its right around the corner from the Gin Mill on Monroe street. Its worth stopping in just to see this chair.

I really hope these contraptions work out for you. I was really sad a few years ago when my 90's vintage rear entry boots finally broke and I had to switch to a modern style boot. I do ski better in the new boot, but they are nowhere near as comfy or warm as the old rear entry boots.

In reply to asoduk :

Funny enough when I last got custom liners, I went to Dekdebruns in Ellicottville. I also went there to look at the Apex boots which are a similar concept to the ski frames. But I balked at the price. I will be there to ski at some point this winter so I will have to check out The City Garage even just to see the chair!

Hopefully, I can get out soon. There are already 3 areas open within a 2 hour drive from me which is a record for me this time of year.

I finally got a chance to try these things out. The TL;DR version is they don't ski any different than ski boots. They are as comfortable as snowboard boots when set up properly, and there are no ridgidity issues that I could find.

The longer version is this. 

They were a bit difficult to get on or off but not a major issue, I will probably get better with practice. 

The first run I took it easy just to get a feel for them (it was also my first run of the season). As I mentioned in a earlier post I typically undid all the buckles on my previous boots and just had the Velcro straps done up so to me these were a huge improvement. 

It was not all smiles und sunshine though. My second run I got my good old foot pain back. About halfway down that run, I stopped at a picnic table spooking some teens inhaling some sort of herbal remedy.  At this point I thought WTF!!! I got the boot liners heat molded and worked them in by wearing them as much as I could around the house.

With the table to myself, I took off the frames and loosened the snowboard boots. The pain went away pretty quickly. I geared up and continued on my way. Halfway up the lift the pain was back. Many swears inhabited my head at this point. 

I stopped back at the same picnic table I took off the frames and the boots . The pain was gone but I had to do something. 

Apparently these things need some tinkering to set them up for each individual. Who would have ever expected something like that!!! 

If you look at the straps you will see some holes and some sort of screw and cap thing that makes quick adjustments easy. After moving it to a larger setting, I was good! Moving them one way or the other affects the way the straps contact the boots and helps focus or distribute the pressure depending on what you are looking for. BTW there is thread locker on the threads so I will reapply more before my next trip

After that the rest of the day was smooth for the first time in years I felt like I had total control of what my skis were doing. No pain other than the first trip of the season pain which I am paying for today!

A couple of other things I noticed. 

1. The ski frames provide a lot of rigidity. I purchased the stiffest snowboard boots I could get, thinking they would help the stiffness. I don't think it was necessary. I am going to rent or borrow some much softer boots to see how they perform

2. Walking in them was no different than ski boots. I chose not to though as it is much easier to walk in snowboard boots. If you take the Velcro straps on the frames and connect them they make a handy handle to carry them. I slung them over my shoulder.

3. They don't have to be ratcheted very tight to be effective. Once the straps were snug I moved it one more click. Nor do the snowboard boots need to be tight at least not mine. After doing hill side adjustments, I had them laced and tied but that is all not tied tightly at all.

4. These are more comfortable than any ski boots I have worn since I was a kid.

Very interesting.  I've always envied snow-boarders' comfy, easy to walk in footwear.  Always thought there should be something like this.

My ski boots are old front-loaders that were rental-store end-of-the-year close outs.  They are ok, but not great.  They don't cause any pain, and they're not too cold with chemical warmers.  But they're nothing special.

I was thinking about going the custom boot route, but those look awfully tempting.

What kind of terrain do you ski?  I can tumble down a moderate mogul run, but mostly anymore I cruise with my teen girls.  Though they're getting faster and stronger every time!

Color me surprised. I have used snowboard boots in a decade or more, but they had no rigidity compared to my ski boots, I never thought a frame would be enough.... Skied icy stuff yet where you really need to get on an edge?

Glad its comfortable for you!!

In reply to TVR Scott :

I didn't go down anything too extreme when I tried them out. Although I did hit some black diamond runs, and had no issue with them. The grading of a slope is in comparison to other runs at the same ski area so your results may vary depending on where you are skiing.

I ventured into the woods and had no problems navigating the trees. Tight quick turns were no more drama than when I used my conventional boots (for those wondering I would buckle my conventional boots when I headed into the woods)

 I  didn't get to try any powder as it was (not kidding) 68 degrees Sunday in Western NY. I actually had a bug land on me going up a lift. 

For the record the snow conditions on the maintained runs was corn snow which tends to be easier to ski than some other types of snow. In the woods where there were no previous tracks it was mashed potato like so it did slow things down and corn snow where there were previous tracks. Also I would like to add I was skiing on Dynastar 4.1 skis. They are now old enough to qualify for vintage racing. A modern ski would probably be more suited to the frames.

In reply to java230 :

No icy stuff yet as I mentioned in my previous post it was 68degrees Sunday. Although Western New York usually has no shortage of icy slopes. I will update this thread next trip out and if there is ( very likely) I will let you know how they handle it. 

drsmooth said:

In reply to Toebra :

When you say add supports to the boot, am i correct in assuming you mean adding them to snowboard boots?
 

yes, should limit the amount your foot moves around inside the boot

Problem is, if you don't like them, you may need to add an extra sockliner to take up the space in the boot.  

When I was going to podiatry school I made myself custom orthotics for my ski boots.  Used black plastazote, which is like heavy duty styrofoam, light and fairly stiff.  I was able to make them thinner by removing material from the bottom and not adversely impact the support they provided.  The boots buckled at the back, sort of a clamshell arrangement.  They fit well when I bought them, fit perfectly when I was done.

Ok good to know. Despite finding a good setup, I am probably still going to have to tweak things. 

 Round 2. I was in the Lake Tahoe area this past week.

I went to Sierra at Tahoe last year using conventional ski boots and other than pain,things were fine.

This time, I skied Heavenly Valley. The boots and ski frames performed well on rented skis.
Unfortunately I didn't.

Last year, I waited a few days to ski (Sierra At Tahoe) and things were good because the base elevation of Sierra At Tahoe, was only a few hundred feet higher than lake level. The summit of Sierra At Tahoe, while much higher than lake level, isn't much higher than the base of Heavenly.

When they say every little bit helps, in an advertisement they are not fooling!! Especially when it comes to tiring me out. Heavenly's  base is 7168ft. I took the gondola to the mountain which brought me up another 2,874ft and I still wasn't at the top. I skied a few runs then headed for the top. I was over 10,000 ft up and my body was not prepared.

I wanted to do a top to bottom run. I did, but it took 45 minutes and that was my last run of the day. At the bottom, my legs were jello. that was it, i was done.

The upside is, my feet were mostly comfortable.

The longer runs did however bring to the forefront a problem with the snowboard boots that the shorter runs back home would not have uncovered. Insoles with good arch supports are needed (by me at least) for longer runs; something I would have never found out in Western New York, since it was at most a 5 minute ride from the top of the lift to the bottom.   



 

My last two weekends were spent at Bristol Mt and Horseshoe Valley. I removed the stock insoles and added some off the shelf insoles meant to enhance arch support. Wow did it make a difference. It was as if my feet were a part of the ski for the first time since I was a kid. Had a great time especially at Bristol (what a underrated ski area). Horseshoe Valley was good for a small (vertical) area lots of variety but I don't know if I could ski there all the time. In case anyone is interested, I haven't had any issues with wear or loose fasteners. That being said I have checked the fasteners after every day. Hopefully going to get a few more weekends this year. I will be heading to Holiday Valley for the weekend hopefully I can check out the electric chair.

An update on these things since I am bored, and have some new things to post about them.

I got out 9 times this year, I finally had them as close to fully sorted as they will be until I find some sort of new challenge with them. 

It took a bit of trial and error, someone more knowledgeable than me could probably get them sorted within a few runs. There is a lot of adjustability built into these things.

After having them fully sorted, I can confidently say they are a great option for those who have problems with their feet while skiing. I went to a demo day and was able to try several different Snowboard boots with them. Even the softest snowboard boots still Handled like ski boots without the discomfort and each set of snowboard boots had their pros and cons no different than a ski boot. I had a huge amount of interest from the demo reps who had never seen such a thing and were initially reluctant to let me demo their boots. They were very interested in my feedback.

Thanks for the update. This is good to know. I’ve never been able to get a pair of ski boots that were comfortable for a full day of skiing.