How to Buy Women's Ski Boots
Women often struggle to find the proper fit when renting or buying ski boots. Most smaller ski rental shops order one or two types of unisex ski boots designed to be rented to both men and women of all shapes and sizes and levels of skiing competency. However, men and women are not built the same way. Most women have lower centers of gravity, wider hips and calf muscles that are lower than most men. To get a proper fitting boot, women need to rent or buy a women's ski boot.
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Things You'll Need
- Ski socks
- Ski pants without stirrups or other fabric parts that go inside the ski boot
Instructions
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Women Have Less Body Weight and Mass than Men
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Consider the female physique when choosing a ski boot. Women tend to be lighter and have less body mass than men of equal weight. Women often have trouble finding boots that they can easily flex to initiate turns. Rule out brands in which the material of the boot is too stiff and inflexible for a woman.
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Choose a pair of boots that are designed for women and made of a softer material that flexes with less forward pressure. This structure should make it easier for you to initiate turns.
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Select a woman's ski boot that has a rear cuff that goes higher up the back of the calf. The cuff will help you to generate more forward flexion in the boot.
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Select a boot that has a more pronounced forward angle of the boot's cuff or is capable of being adjusted. Adjusting a cuff's angle with a more pronounced forward angle will make it easier to initiate a turn.
Women Have Different Shaped Calf Muscles
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Select a women's ski boot that is wider at the top of the cuff than a man's boot. Many women have calf muscles that connect lower on the leg. That construction does not lend itself to the fit in a man's boot.
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Ensure that the cuff of the boot has ample buckle settings to allow for wider calf muscles. Some boots even allow for the buckle to be moved and mounted in a wider position.
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Buy or rent a women's ski boot with wider tongues that provide more comfort when pressing forward on the front of the boots.
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Select a boot that includes a power strap, an additional Velcro strap that encircles the top of the boot and provides added ankle support. If the boot you're buying doesn't come with one, you can buy the strap as an accessory.
Women Have Narrower Heels
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Measure your heel width to determine whether you need a narrower heel than the unisex size. Women generally have narrower heels than men, requiring a narrower heel cup.
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Test several heel widths. If your heel moves up and down inside the boot, you may experience difficulty in transferring your weight to the front of the skis and performing many common maneuvers.
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Select a women's ski boot that either comes with a narrower heel cup or has a custom, moldable liner that can be fit to the individual's heel shape. Most high-quality boots can be fitted with heat-moldable or foam-injected liners to create a perfect fit.
Women's Hips are Wider Than Men's
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Measure your Q angle to determine if it is larger than a man's. Most women's hips are wider than men, resulting in a more pronounced Q Angle--the angle that the leg makes between where it connects at the hips and at the ankle. If you try to ski in a boot that does not accommodate your Q angle, you may experience problems with ski control and fatigue.
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Choose a women's boot that has an adjustable ankle cuff designed to accommodate a larger Q angle.
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Select a boot with adjustable tops. While you can accommodate a woman's Q angle to a certain degree using custom foot beds, the tops of the boots should be adjustable to your individual hip structure.
Women's Feet Have Less Volume than Men's
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Select boots that account for a woman's lower mass. If you find that your feet are always getting cold, you may have poor circulation or an ill-fitting boot. Women's feet generally are narrower and have less mass than a man's foot of the same length.
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Avoid adjusting buckles to compensate for narrow feet. By cranking down the buckles to accommodate a narrow foot or arch, you can cut off the circulation to the foot.
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Select a woman's boot that has a narrower last, the actual footprint of the bottom of the foot. Most women's boots include a liner material that is better suited to a foot shape that has less mass.
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References
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