Can a Lange L8 boot flex be softened?

My wife is who an intermediate skier got put into Lange L8's a few years ago, by a shop in Mammoth. She is an extremely conservative skier, groomed blue runs only. I have been working to get her past this, and have realized that she can not flex these boots at all. She ski extremely up right, and when I try to get her to flex forward, the boots just wont let her. She is a big girl, 6'2" 165lbs, but these boots appear to be way to much boot for her. So, is it possible to soften these enough to be useful, or does she bite the bullet and buy new boots. She is adverse to sending money to replace something that is not worn out, it is the mid-western mentality at work.

I have recently got her technique improved enough to get off the groomers some, but I thing these boots are just the wrong boots for her.

Try removing the bolt at the back spine of each boot.

also do up the power strap around the liner only.

to soften them cut a "V" notch in the back of the shell (lower boot, not upper cuff) or lower by 1cm the front, inside cuff of the lower boot.

try the reversible stuff first

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Originally Posted by mntlion

also do up the power strap around the liner only.

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That alone did wonders for me. Considering making it a Booster strap now, to have more control over the forward tongue pressure.

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Originally Posted by hutash

She is a big girl, 6'2" 165lbs, but these boots appear to be way to much boot for her.

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I'm surprised she doesn't crush that boot. Although I guess she's quite thin at that height it isn't a super stiff boot. What size is she in? You might want to just make sure her ankle lines up in a way that matches the flex point of the boot. Adjusting things there might help a lot too. Possibly a heel lift or maybe lowering the boot board if she needs to go the other way. Like mtnlion says stick to reversible stuff first though.

Thanks for the advice. I had already tired the reversible stuff, to no avail. I was going to try to cut the boot, thanks mntlion, that was the info I was looking for, but came to the realization that the boots just weren't the right boot for her. We have fiddled with them for the few years she has had them, and even been to a few "good fitters" (but with the wealth of info here, I have come to the conclusion that a lot of them are not so good). Any ways we bought here new boots yesterday. We focused more on comfort, and less on performance, since she is not going to be really pushing it anyways. She is very happy now, and a happy wife is a good thing. With the bad year we are having in Mammoth, the sales make me happy too. (not to mention the benefits associated with a happy wife:) )