Kids can start skiing essentially as soon as they can walk independently and fit securely in the smallest available boot sizes. The earlier they start, the easier it’ll be: a six year old may actually have some advantages over a more-coordinated eleven year old- they’re lower to the ground and generally less afraid of falling. A small child in the snowplow position is incredibly stable- you’ve seen little munchkins straightlining groomers in an unflappable combination of snowplow and tuck.

With modern skis, the learning curve has shortened considerably; shaped skis make for a direct transition from wedge turns to carved turns, eliminating much of the phase we used to call intermediate skiing.

Initially it’s probably better to rent for a while- the equipment that fits now might not next season. Every kid on the hill should have a snug fitting helmet and goggles, and be slathered with copious sunblock.

Boots are the key to the system- they should fit snugly with one pair of thin socks (the boots will be warm enough without thick socks). Make sure the socks are pulled up and their long underwear or ski pants aren’t getting caught inside the boot cuff.
As children improve beyond the wedge turn, rent or buy conventional overlap boots (they’ll probably start in simple rear-entry models). Overlap boots with buckles over the instep are harder to put on, but provide far better control.

For skis, sizing is crucial. Skis that are too long are hard to turn; the overcompensation that results can lead to exaggerated skiing and bad technique. Skis should be about nose height- better too short than too long. If you’re looking for new skis, flex and sidecut are also important. The softer the better: a softer flex will be easier and more forgiving to ski. Skis that are wider underfoot are definitely better: wider skis are easier to balance on and are easier to ski in soft snow.

Poles- not until the skier has a solid wedge turn: at first it’s just a pokey distraction or an impromptu weapon. As with skis, better too short than too long.

Children’s bindings are scaled-down, lighter versions of adult models that will only accept children’s boots (which have smaller toe and heel dimensions). Bigger kids using adult boots need lightweight adult bindings- but not heavy high performance models. For the transitional period, there are ‘junior’ bindings that accept both children’s and adult boot norms.

Make sure to have children’s bindings checked and reset at least once a year- the settings are based on weight and boot length, so as kids grow their bindings will need to be adjusted.
On the hill, watch out for icy or dirty boot soles- kid’s binding settings are so light that anything creating friction where the boot and binding meet can interfere with release function. Always make sure that boots are scraped clean before they step into the binding.

The most important thing to remember with kids on the hill:  don’t take it seriously and have fun.

Most equipment is made with the “average� skier in mind. If you weigh much more or less than an average adult, you’ll have different equipment needs.
The good news: if you’re a smaller skier, you probably won’t have to spend as much on gear as the heavyweights. The bad news: if you’re a lightweight expert, a lot of the high-performance equipment out there may be stiff or too heavy (as you probably already know).

Just as with bigger skiers, the idea is to keep equipment proportional. Featherweights can get away with lighter, softer skis and lighter bindings, and they will also need softer-flexing boots.

Boots: Skiers with small feet may have to get creative. Because manufacturers don’t make ‘men’s’ boots below size 24.5 (about US 7), small guys may need look at women’s performance boots (which are usually the same shell with softer plastic and a smaller size run), and small women may need to look at junior race boots.

Skis: The lighter you are, the softer ski you need (because you have to be able to easily flex them). A ski that’s to stiff will be more work to turn, and it may transmit too much impact from abrupt terrain changes- instead of flexing and absorbing bumps, a stiff ski will just throw you into the back seat.

That said, lightweight skiers may find that some of the skis that are soft enough don’t have the mass or vibration-reduction technology to keep the skis firmly planted on the snow. It’s ok to go with a heavier ski as long as you can flex it- some light skiers prefer a relatively heavy, damp ski that feels more solidly connected to the snow.

Ski size runs are finally catching up to the market: there’s a variety of skis available in short sizes- as short as 142cm, and you can get powder skis, race skis, all-mtn skis, all in appropriately short sizes for smaller skiers.

Bindings: High-performance, high-DIN bindings are unnecessary for lightweights- its just extra material that you don’t need. If you are an aggressive skier, use the lightest version of a company’s performance series- they’ll provide the solid, flex-free connection required for high-energy skiing, without un-necessary extra mass of the more expensive high-DIN models.
By the same token, bindings with performance-enhancing lifter plate systems, or skis with integrated binding systems may be excessively heavy as well- but don’t be afraid to give ‘em a shot if you ski mostly packed snow- the plates improve ski stability without inhibiting flex and turning ease.

Poles: If you use a pole shorter than 44� (for skiers under about 5’ 4�), try a kid’s pole- they’re cheaper, lighter and have smaller grips for smaller hands.

There are two important points to include here: first, the best way to figure out which ski boots will work for you is to demo-“Try Before You Buy�; second, the best investment you can make in your skiing in general and your ski boots in particular is a pair of properly made, biomechanically sound custom footbeds.

Skiing is dynamic, it is balance in motion.
Trying ski boots in the shop will tell you only so much.
With the guidance of our bootfitters the choices that may fit can be pared down to a select few then a pair can be chosen to go skiing in. Skiing in the boots provides the best information with which to make a very important decision.
Try Before You Buy.

A pair of custom footbeds is money well spent.
Superfeet pioneered custom footbeds for ski boots with the Insta-Ski-Thotic in the late 70’s. Now named the Superfeet Kork, they help solve a vast majority of the boot woes that plague skiers regardless of level.
Custom Superfeet Kork footbeds eliminate a multitude of fit problems in virtually any ski boot; for demo clients contemplating the purchase of footbeds, do so before demoing boots.

The Superfeet Kork can be completed in 45 minutes, fits into any ski boot and will outlast several pair.
Superfeet Korks transfer easily from demo boot to demo boot, streamlining the decision making, giving you the most accurate information from the process.

For problem solving there is no better foot bed than the Superfeet Kork. Ultimately comfort is the benefit.

Superfeet Korks and a well fitted, properly balanced ski boot will help you elevate your skiing to new levels.

The same rant as last season…and seasons before, etc.

There is a lot of room for development in women’s ski boots.
Women represent half the skiing population. A sizeable segment of this market is largely neglected.

Several ski manufacturers have women on their design teams and involved in the decision making. There are woman specific skis for all skill levels.
Skis with the appropriate geometry, flex and lengths for women’s mass and physiology have met with unqualified and well documented success.
Boot folk need to look at this success and make genuine changes.
Small sizes in real women’s boots…real 22.5’s for some (you know who you are) would be appreciated.
A 23.5 is not and cannot become a 22.5.
In all critical dimensions ski boots that come from 23.5 molds yet are sized as 22.5’s are the same internal volume, cuff height, hinge point and sole length (think leverage here) as the larger size. Except for fillers in the toe of the shell molds, more padded and shorter liners making them seem a size smaller, functionally they still are 23.5’s. This is a real compromise for women skiers who should be in boots proportionally smaller.

How about 21.5’s? Boot molds are expensive to be sure, but is the financial burden such that it is impossible to undertake? 21.5’s and true 22.5’s in good, sound women’s ski boots-particularly for proficient women with really small feet-will sell through…guaranteed.

Someone at an executive level needs to make a stand here…smell the espresso!

The paradigm shift brought about by shaped skis throughout the last decade has been a driving force in the industry; carving skis, twin tips, all mountain skis, powder skis, park skis and for the few still into it, pure racing skis. The transformations have forever altered the topography of skiing. At the outset changes were explosive, radical and all over the place. With the passage of time shaped skis (please, please, please…no more “parabolics!�) have settled into well defined categories and modifications from year to year consist of smaller, more subtle changes in construction, geometry and materials.

The proliferation of ski and binding systems, whether one likes the idea or not, is here to stay and at least in our area acceptance has become less of an issue.
Merging the distinctive character built into each pair of skis and the traits inherent in all bindings into systems that complement one another goes back some time. Salomon started as a binding company that began producing ski boots then skis; marrying the separate components from concept through the design phase into complete systems. Atomic skis, ESS bindings and Koflach boots, consolidated by way of the Austrian government, were also forerunners in this.

It was known early on that certain bindings (the Marker MRR and Look Nevada N17’s up to and including the more recent Look Pivot and Rossignol Axial series) with shorter mounting platforms allowed skis to flex in a smoother, rounder arc. Skis ran faster because ski-to-snow contact was more consistent.
Current systems are put together from the initial concept and design phase and now several companies integrate the bindings into the construction of the skis.

What has all this to do with ski boots?
As elements of a system, the skis, bindings, boots and skier interact with and affect the others. Each piece contributes to the balance of the system; skis have geometry and flex, bindings secure skier to ski, balance retention with release, have a range of elasticity at the heel and lateral travel at the toe and ski boots have different functional characteristics as well as diverse fits.

The skier is the “X� factor in this equation.

Ski boots are the crucial link between two large and opposing levers-skier and skis. The importance of a properly fitted and functionally balanced ski boot cannot be emphasized or reiterated enough.

Boot designs have caught up with the explosion in technology we’ve seen in skis.

Ski boots must do what they’ve always done; fasten the skier to the skis, contain the feet, provide a predictable range of motion and transfer the skiers’ energy to the skis. Several recent factors have altered the way ski boots are designed.
Until the introduction of custom footbeds, insoles, orthotics-whatever you choose to call them, a majority of boots were designed to accommodate a certain amount of pronation. Accordingly there was generally more room on the medial or arch side of the boot for the mid-foot and heel and typically there were far more instances of boots being oversized to allow for the elongation of the feet as they pronated. With universal acceptance that a vast majority of people are going to insert a footbed in their ski boots, boots have become more supportive and tolerances have become tighter.

With the edge angles that can be created on shaped skis the requirements placed on the lateral stiffness of the ski boots is substantial; this along with having to more precisely control what happens with the feet inside the shell. Hence many boots have become more “neutral�…the mid-foot and heel are more vertical-the fit more precise, there is less allowance for pronation. In fact those in the habit of using the articulations of the feet and ankles in a more relaxed fashion many of the newer boots must have “pronation punches� or to be ground in specific areas in order for the individual to do so.

As a result of these requirements, boots now are more functionally efficient. Many boots have taken on the look, feel and functionality of what in the not-too-distant past would have been considered the sole domain of “race� boots.
What this does for the skier is significant; better steering, very efficient transmission of energy to the skis, better feedback and ultimately a much better platform for achieving a good fit.

Several manufacturers are developing ski boots that allow a limited amount of sole flex. Atomic has been at the forefront of this development with Rossignol and Lange now stepping into the fray. This advancement has not been an especially conspicuous talking point or part of any marketing campaign although it’s been an aspect of boot design since the Atomic Beta series shells a few years ago. Atomic is expanding this idea further…see the Atomic page.
This has been written about in past reviews and testimony to the merit of the concept is that other manufacturers are “borrowing� the idea.

Abducted (duck-footed) boot models will increase for the upcoming season. As discussed last season, what this does for the skier is quite dramatic; turn initiation is early and steering the uphill ski-outside edge is more precise. Coming out of turns set up for the next is equally efficient.
There have been reports of “boot out� with this style of shell-in a turn the outside of the foot on the uphill edge of the inside ski hits the snow when tipped up at high edge angles. This then bumps the downhill boot/ski causing an abrupt loss of edge contact on both skis…with the inevitable result; Yeeeeeeha! For the most part complaints have been minimal and there are solutions.

There are some model changes here and there but for the most part things remain status quo.
Boots continue improving in terms of last, liners and the biomechanical attributes of the shells.