Skiing - should I take my ancient boots or hire some?

[Chris71]

I'm going skiing for the first time in a decade in February. I've decided not to lug my ancient and rather tired skis around, but wondering what to do about boots.

I've got a set of decent quality ski boots that were professionally-fitted in 2004. They did a full season that winter and a couple of holidays afterwards, but they've hardly been used since and they've just been sat in a cold, damp shed. So, I was wondering, do I:

• Get them re-fitted at a ski shop somewhere before I go (not sure if that's even possible?)
• Take them as they are
• Leave them at home and hire some

Any thoughts?

[malks222]

hmmm hard to say without seeing them. but i’d be tempted to not bother taking them and just get some hire boots.

they might be absolutely fine, but the plastic could’ve deteriorated, may be brittle. especially once they come into contact with minus whatever temps in resort. what’s the padding/ liners like? has the foam in them wasted away or rotten? any of the buckles or screws rusted? has you foot changed much in the 15 years? build up of callouses/ hard skin at at pressure points??

i’d be tempted to just leave them behind and get some newer rentals in resort

[Chris71]

malks222 said:

hmmm hard to say without seeing them. but i’d be tempted to not bother taking them and just get some hire boots.

they might be absolutely fine, but the plastic could’ve deteriorated, may be brittle. especially once they come into contact with minus whatever temps in resort. what’s the padding/ liners like? has the foam in them wasted away or rotten? any of the buckles or screws rusted? has you foot changed much in the 15 years? build up of callouses/ hard skin at at pressure points??

i’d be tempted to just leave them behind and get some newer rentals in resort

That's what I'm leaning towards.

They look okay visually and I've used them a handful of times when we've had snowy winters over here. I get the feeling that they don't flex as well as they used to, though. I'm not sure the fitting was perfect even when they were new - probably more comfortable than a rental boot was in 2004, but don't know if that would still apply 15 years later.

Had a quick Google and the prices don't seem to have gone up a great deal since then, but whether or not I will get to go skiing with any sort of regularity again in the future (and get my money out of a new pair) remains to be seen.

[oddman]

If you're close to a snow dome then an hour in there will probably tell you the answer and help you get your mojo back

[CAPP0]

What's your ski level? You'll only get basic boots on hire.

It also kinda depends how much fitting you needed originally. If lots - take your own boots. If you feet are anything other than very standard, the chance of getting a properly-decent fit from hire boots is low, and if your feet hurt it's REALLY going to spoil your day. As a minimum take your own footbeds. Are your feet pronated? Are the boots built up in any areas to support your feet? Were they blown anywhere to relieve pressure?

I doubt the materials have deteriorated that much unless you've left them in the sun and in the wet, and they won't be anywhere near worn out on the usage you've given them.

[castex]

Agreed Cappo. If they fit well, no need to muck about.
No performance gain from new boots unless I missed a memo.

[Chris71]

oddman said:

If you're close to a snow dome then an hour in there will probably tell you the answer and help you get your mojo back

Alas, I'm now about as far away from a snow dome as it's possible to get in this country ... and the choice of ski shops isn't overly generous in the South West either.

CAPP0 said:

What's your ski level? You'll only get basic boots on hire.

It also kinda depends how much fitting you needed originally. If lots - take your own boots. If you feet are anything other than very standard, the chance of getting a properly-decent fit from hire boots is low, and if your feet hurt it's REALLY going to spoil your day. As a minimum take your own footbeds. Are your feet pronated? Are the boots built up in any areas to support your feet? Were they blown anywhere to relieve pressure?

I doubt the materials have deteriorated that much unless you've left them in the sun and in the wet, and they won't be anywhere near worn out on the usage you've given them.

Difficult to say. I've spent quite a lot of time on snow - half a dozen holidays over the years and a full season in the Alps - but that was a long time ago and even then I wasn't as good as I should have been. I think my boots have always been a little too stiff for my ability and slightly concerned that they may have got worse with age (don't know how much of the flex comes from the material itself?)

Fitting is a very good point. I've got quite wide feet and the original fitting took quite a while. I came over very British at the end and sort of politely mumbled something to the effect that it was all fine when I'm not sure it was. That's part of the reason I'm a bit sceptical about taking my own boots - I'm not sure the fit was 100% even back then.

I dropped Snow & Rock an email and they reckoned it should be possible to do a second fitting on my 15-year old boots, so that might be a good compromise.

[southendpier]

last time i discussed updating boots, that is new liners and a bit of fettling i was told that the costs were likely to be X. When X is considered by the owner a quick bit of man maths suggests X + Y = a lovely new set of fully fitted boots.

jobsagoodun.

[Chris71]

southendpier said:

last time i discussed updating boots, that is new liners and a bit of fettling i was told that the costs were likely to be X. When X is considered by the owner a quick bit of man maths suggests X + Y = a lovely new set of fully fitted boots.

jobsagoodun.

Yeah, I'm wary of upselling (justified or otherwise) if I take my boots to a shop and enquire.

If I could be sure that I'd go again I'd definitely invest in a new pair, but this year is a bit of a trial run to see if the rest of the family can be persuaded to enjoy it enough to pay half-term prices next year. If not, I might struggle to justify going on my own.

[EddieSteadyGo]

Chris71 said:

I dropped Snow & Rock an email and they reckoned it should be possible to do a second fitting on my 15-year old boots, so that might be a good compromise.

I'd do this. Even if they charge you a fee, it will likely be less than the cost of hiring a pair. And they should be able to give you a better fit even with old liners than you will get with a hired pair.

One problem with older boots is the plastic loses its rebound. The boot cuff will flex forward when pressure is applied but it then doesn't spring back quickly to its original position. This makes skiing in a dynamic way harder than it should be. However, if you haven't skied for a while and you're happy to ski in a more relaxed style, you should be able to ski around that.

[CAPP0]

Chris71 said:

I dropped Snow & Rock an email and they reckoned it should be possible to do a second fitting on my 15-year old boots, so that might be a good compromise.

S&R used to have a policy that they would re-fit as many times as you needed them to to get it right. Whether they still do, and whether that applies after 15 years, I'm not sure!

[Francois de La Rochefoucauld]

Christ, mine are 21 years old this season, perhaps I should look at upgrading as well!

[EddieSteadyGo]

Francois de La Rochefoucauld said:

Christ, mine are 21 years old this season, perhaps I should look at upgrading as well!

Any reason is a good reason if it helps justify new ski gear!

[Chris71]

Francois de La Rochefoucauld said:

Christ, mine are 21 years old this season, perhaps I should look at upgrading as well!

Until recently my dad was still skiing with boots from the seventies and he has leather boots (from the late sixties, I'm guessing) in the garage. He's also got some hilarious skis that have no visible carve and stand about two feet higher than he does.

[chandrew]

CAPP0 said:

What's your ski level? You'll only get basic boots on hire.

This is not necessarily true depending on the resort. Our local shops have multiple levels of skis / boots at increasing prices.

Boots in my experience don't degrade as much as skis. It is possible to get a new liner although it might be more sensible to buy a whole new boot in these instances.

They are the most important piece of kit as they're the link between your body / technique and what the ski does. Ski racers care much more about their boots than they do their skis.

Over the last 10 years there have been some changes in boot design. There is more choice of width / comfort fittings for different types. Having a racing type boot used to mean very narrow. Now you can get various fittings and hence it's easier to find a comfortable boot. In fact at any performance level a modern boot is much more comforable than they used to be.

My understanding is that the angles will have changed to reflect the new ski technology and skiing style.

A key advantage to renting kit is that if it isn't right you just go in and change for something better. Personally I would rent.

(I personally don't rent and have owned several boots over the last 20 years. Every time I've changed I've thought 'I wish I had done this earlier'. I live in a ski resort, last year skied on over 60 days so get a lot of use from my kit. I now have a pair which were custom-made for me by a specialist firm who make boots for many of the top racers. They're the best skiing investment I've ever made but certainly not cheap. I season rent for my club-racing children.)

[feef]

Chris71 said:

I'm going skiing for the first time in a decade in February. I've decided not to lug my ancient and rather tired skis around, but wondering what to do about boots.

I've got a set of decent quality ski boots that were professionally-fitted in 2004. They did a full season that winter and a couple of holidays afterwards, but they've hardly been used since and they've just been sat in a cold, damp shed. So, I was wondering, do I:

• Get them re-fitted at a ski shop somewhere before I go (not sure if that's even possible?)
• Take them as they are
• Leave them at home and hire some

Any thoughts?

Some shops won't refit boots that they didn't sell.

some will, but it'll depend on how busy they are as their sale customers take precedence (and this time of year is the busy period)

My concern with your ones is the storage; cold and damp isn't ideal. I've seen old boots fracture in use when the plastic's been allowed to degrade.

I'd probably err on the side of caution and rent in resort. Most decent retail shops now have a range of skis and boots to suit different abilities. Not just that, but boot technology and design has moved on in 15 years (granted it may still just look like a plastic boot with clips, but the flex characteristics and angles have changed to complement the forces applied with newer ski shapes)

[Chris71]

feef said:

I'd probably err on the side of caution and rent in resort. Most decent retail shops now have a range of skis and boots to suit different abilities. Not just that, but boot technology and design has moved on in 15 years (granted it may still just look like a plastic boot with clips, but the flex characteristics and angles have changed to complement the forces applied with newer ski shapes)

That's what I'm thinking.

Whatever happens, I'll keep the old ones for snow days over here (unless I buy some more). But on top of the question of whether or not they've degraded, there's the possibility that improved technology on the new boots could outweigh the comfort benefit you get from you're own old boots. Plus, like I say, I don't think the fitting was 100% perfect when I had it done either (which further complicates things).

I now face the totally unrelated question of how to get my four-year old to ski. It came up in conversation yesterday and he was adamant that he wants one of us there while he's having his ski school lessons. Not sure either us or the instructors would enjoy that!

[feef]

Chris71 said:

I now face the totally unrelated question of how to get my four-year old to ski. It came up in conversation yesterday and he was adamant that he wants one of us there while he's having his ski school lessons. Not sure either us or the instructors would enjoy that!

They say that, but once they get going they're usually fine. My son started at 4 and despite having a cry first thing in the morning the first couple of days, he was fine once he got going.

The worst thing you can do is hang about if they aren't 100% happy as all they want to do is come back to you and don't embrace it. My boy's now 9, loves skiing and has no recollection of ever not enjoying it or complaining about me not being there

[FBP1]

Take your old boots with you and see how they are - if they don’t work for you any more then chuck them and hire or buy in the resort. Most decent resorts have a good boot fitter who can sort you in a couple of hours, particularly if you can nip outside for a quick ski and then report back!
FWIW my boots are well over 20 years old now and are mainly held together with scar tissue and duct tape - to the horror of my kids who have all the latest gear, although their old man can still keep up with them. I also have a few sets of up to 2.07m GS and downhill skis that are of similar vintage that I occasionally take with me ( we always drive so it’s easy to take all this stuff) for a laugh.
I had a little French bloke, who must have been at least 75, behind me in a queue for a cable bar make a great show of bending backwards and shading his eyes as he looked up to the very top of my skis which were at least a foot longer than anyone else’s before he muttered “ ah, l’ ancien régime”. 😄
Modern skis are so much better.

[feef]

FBP1 said:

Take your old boots with you and see how they are - if they don’t work for you any more then chuck them and hire or buy in the resort. Most decent resorts have a good boot fitter who can sort you in a couple of hours, particularly if you can nip outside for a quick ski and then report back!

Not a bad shout. Where are you going and I may be able to recommend a fitter.