This is a symptom of...?

[Guest]

Second day of the season, first day on my favorite mountain - very crowded.

I got some good runs in, but I had to do more "skidding" than I usually do. I have finally dialed in my boots to where they do not hurt in the living room, no matter how long I leave them on.

I started getting cramps in the outside of my feet. Moreso on my rear foot. I feel like it was from skidding a lot and trying to move my foot laterally, left to right, but I don't know.

1) What is causing my pain in these areas of my feet? Shouldn't I be able to skid around and not have this kind of pain? What would fix it? (NOTE: these are not my feet ahha, just an image I pulled from google). Feel free to say "your technique probably sucks" but please also follow up with what I should be doing instead :). But again - it's not while carving, just while skidding around and standing in the lift line.

2) Why am I getting so much heel lift? I'm talking about being able to lift my heel in my boot. I hesitate to crank down the 2nd strap for fear of cutting off circulation. Will cranking down the top straps help this?

Info: I'm riding Raichle SB 413's. 56/54 angles. 3* toe lift in front, 3* heel lift in back. 21" stance.

Should I shorten the stance?

So many questions, more will come soon as I feel like all of this is starting to come together now.

[Bora20]

I fixed my feet problems with a set of better footbeds and a trip to a bootfitter.

I had pain on the sides from using improper footbeds with too much arch lift for my low arch feet.

The bootfitter also helped with me cranking down the buckles too much. There is no need to do this.

[Corey]

For me it was inward cant on the bindings. I removed it and that pain went away.

[koldo]

This happes to me pretty much every time I get to the slopes at the begining of the day. I have to open my lower buckles after each run. It fades away after few runs, i think because i stretch a boot a little bit, but it just comes back on the next time at the slopes.

The other case this happens to me is when the conditions aren´t really good I´m forced to skid.

[BobD]

Sounds like a classic case of boots too big. Read a bunch of threads on boot fit.

[Jack M]

You may need to fiddle around with canting (inward or outward), but I think you should try custom footbeds and moldable liners too. Your foot is probably twitching around in the boot grasping for support and balance. Footbeds will solve that and moldable liners should eliminate heel lift.

[Guest]

I think the real issue is my boots. Any tighter on the buckles and they will hurt. I have a "high volume" intuition liner in them, and heat moldable footbeds, both done at a pretty good ski shop. Both the liner and the boot are MP 27. I followed the guidelines for measuring your feet for MP last night and on my longest foot I came up with 27.6 cm. I don't get it. Sometimes I feel like the boots are just big in the wrong places.

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on those Head Stratos Pros, and I hope that helps me. Until then, I will try the canting...I guess I will just mess around with a bunch of different combinations.

Thank you guys!

[Jack M]

"High volume" sounds to me like the liner is thinner than usual. I'd try a standard (thicker) moldable liner first. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. A 27.6cm foot shoot not get heel lift in a 27 shell.