Having women’s specific ski equipment gets you only about 50% of the way toward skiing excellence. Having your equipment properly fit to your body is the critical missing link that frustrates women skiers and keeps them from skiing as well as the can. Whether you are a never-ever beginner, racer or an instructor if you have not been custom fit you will be “blown away” at what a difference it will make in your skiing.

Custom Molded Footbeds
Whether you’re a recreational skier or a racer, custom insoles will support your foot in its most powerful “neutral” stance. It eliminates a host of fit problems, makes your boots more comfortable and most importantly set you up for quicker, easier turns and comfort and stability on the snow.

Boot Balancing
To make it easier to mount skis, the ski industry has adopted the practice of assuming that the balance point of a skier is in the middle of the boot. Ski technicians are instructed to align that point of the boot with the mounting point that is indicated on the ski. While this may be the correct spot for the statistically “average” boot/binding/ski system, in practice it is nowhere close to being the correct mounting spot for most skiers, and for sure, most women. Boot Balancing is the way in which we determine the exact balance point of each individual skier and align that point precisely with the center of the edging surface of the ski. Because the center of gravity for a female is further aft in the boot than a male, most women are grossly mis-mounted on their skis. This change is one of those “knock you socks off” changes. If you’re off you won’t believe how much difference this makes.

Canting
If you look at your leg between the knee and the ankle, you’ll notice that there is a curve in the bone. When boots are made the manufacturers account for the curve and build a slight outward tilt to the upper cuff of the boot. This works great when the curve of your leg matches the curve built into the boot. When it doesn’t you end up not standing flat on your skis. The skis don’t track straight and they’re more difficult to turn. Canting is the process of measuring this alignment and correcting any misalignment.

Fore and Aft Stance alignment
This is a simple thing but when it’s off, it’s awful. When viewed from the side it’s important to make sure that when you stand in a neutral position, your knee cap is aligned over the first toe-buckle of your boot. If you’re off there are a number of fixes for this.

Tune and Wax your skis
Skiing on poorly tuned skis is like riding a bike with half-flat tires. They are slow and hard to turn. In simple terms, tuning skis is setting and polishing base and side edge angles, and structuring and waxing the base. Two things to remember about tuning are; new skis do not come from the factory ready to be skied, and shape skis require different tuning for different skiing styles. Proper base and side edge angles are critical for skiing excellence. The rough grinds that new skis get in the factory are nowhere close to being precise enough to let the ski perform as it was intended.

Soften the flex of your boot (if you’re skiing on shape skis)
Shape skis turn by simply tipping them over on edge. Older straight skis turned by flexing forward to pressure the forebody of the ski then tipping it on edge. Stiff boots put too much pressure on the forebody of shape skis. Boots that flex too stiffly can be softened.

Replace the Velcro strap at the top of your boot with a Booster Strap
The Velcro strap at the top of your boots limits the flex of the upper cuff and stiffens the boot. Booster Straps are made of elastic, which gives your boot a smoother easier flex.
Custom ski boot liners

Custom liners replace the stock liners in your ski boots and will improve your skiing more than anything else you can do. They also keep your feet super warm and comfy.

Switch to new Shaped Skis
Shape skis are designed to help skiers turn easier and progress quicker. They absolutely do that. If you are skiing on older “straight” skis, it’s time to make the switch.

Take shaped ski carving lessons
If you ski shaped skis like you did older straight skis, you’ll hate them. Taking a lesson speeds up the learning process and makes you better, quicker.

Not all women need or want everything from the list above. Bring your skis and boots in for an assessment and we can give you a prioritized list of which recommendations will help the most. Please be sure to make an appointment ahead of time. A typical appointment takes about 2 hours and can be done on Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 9-3 or Sun 12-3.