Your board, skis, and bindings are what allow you to have fun and your helmet protects the most important part of your body, but if you ask the ASO Mammoth team, the piece of skiing and snowboarding gear that has the biggest say in the type of day you have on the mountain is your boots.
You’ll use your entire body while on the snow, but the part of your body where all that movement translates into skiing and snowboarding is your feet, which means you that you need to take care of them if you want to ride for more than a few hours. One way to do so is to break in new boots as well as possible before use, so the ASO Mammoth team has listed our best tips to breaking in new ski and snowboard boots below. Do your feet a favor and check them out!
Ask Your Ski Shop About Heat Molding
If you’re breaking in ski or snowboard boots, you’re probably buying them new as rental boots typically don’t have inner liners that mold to a person’s foot. If you bought your new boots from a ski shop, ask if they include heat molding with their boots. Most shops will include heat molding with a boot package so that you get the best fit possible, but if you buy your boots online or your shop doesn’t heat mold boots you can also do it at home.
For more information on heat molding your boots at home, check out these videos on heat molding ski and snowboard boots.
Wear Your Boots, but Don’t Walk Around in Them
One of the most common ways to break in ski and snowboard boots is to walk around in them at home, but don’t think that just because you walked a mile around your house in your boots they will be perfectly broken in by their first day on the hill.
The truth is that they best way to break in ski and snowboard boots is to simply ski and snowboard. Wearing your new boots while watching tv or working on the computer will help the liner mold to your foot, but real breaking in needs to be done by loosening the materials that make up the outer layer of your boot until they flex comfortably.
The best way to get rid of that stiffness is by using your boots, so don’t spend too much time walking around your house in your boots unless you want everyone you live with to know that you’re coming from a mile away.
Wear Thin Socks
Since most of the breaking in needs to be done on the mountain, it’s incredibly important that you have the right socks on when you’re actually skiing or snowboarding.
We recommend wearing one pair of thin socks made out of a material that keeps your feet warm, but, most importantly, dry. Friction is the enemy of feet when it comes to skiing and snowboarding, and when you’re breaking in a new pair of boots there is going to be more friction than ever. The best way to reduce the impact of friction is to reduce the amount of material in your boot and to keep moisture out. More material, such as an extra pair of socks for warmth, will just rub your feet raw and even cut off circulation. Plus, moisture will weaken
your skin and increase the chance of blisters, so wear one pair of thin socks that will keep your feet warm and dry.
If you have problems breaking in your boots, visit your local ski shop to get a diagnosis from the professionals!