Survey: Heel blisters and stride technique

When I learned how to tour 20 years ago, I was told to not use a walking motion and rather, a pull-your-foot-with-your-knee/hip-flexor stride. You don’t push off with your toes to propel you forward.

While walk modes have come a long way, I still believe in this method as I have never had a hot spot on my heel and my boots still don’t flex at the ball of the foot. I also prefer a boot that has a good grab of the Achilles, but many touring boots have zero heel cup. When you push with your toes, you create a lot of friction at your heel.

Throughout my years bootfitting, everyone who complains about heel hotspots and blisters also pushes off with their toes in a walking style stride. But I’ve never asked people who don’t have blisters so my data set isn’t full.

So, the survey:

While touring, do you drag your foot or push off with your toes?

Have you ever had blisters or hot spots? How often?

What liners do you use?

great question and I dont have much for answers

I have seen good results with only changing people to a compression sock (tighter = less rubbing = less blisters)

or buy a sled/ride a chair lift

Xt3 tour pro with GFT. I got hot spots at first and started tightening my upper cuff buckles once I was in walk mode. I push with my toes. Seems to stop it from happening for me. I agree with mtnlion. Sock choice matters. I only tour in my mons royal merino socks.

Intuition pretty much cured all my blister issues but I used to get blisters on the back of my heel in leather and before Intuition, i would mitigate using a very careful application of ductape, a 2" rectangular piece with the edges carefuly rounded/ no creases

as for stride this sound like my wife asking me what I was thinking, I dunno and she no longer asks me

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenBC

When I learned how to tour 20 years ago, I was told to not use a walking motion and rather, a pull-your-foot-with-your-knee/hip-flexor stride. You don’t push off with your toes to propel you forward.

While walk modes have come a long way, I still believe in this method as I have never had a hot spot on my heel and my boots still don’t flex at the ball of the foot. I also prefer a boot that has a good grab of the Achilles, but many touring boots have zero heel cup. When you push with your toes, you create a lot of friction at your heel.

Throughout my years bootfitting, everyone who complains about heel hotspots and blisters also pushes off with their toes in a walking style stride. But I’ve never asked people who don’t have blisters so my data set isn’t full.

So, the survey:

While touring, do you drag your foot or push off with your toes?

Have you ever had blisters or hot spots? How often?

What liners do you use?

---

I tour like I XC, the latter of which I have done all my life. The natural XC stride is obviously the one where you drag your foot. Makes the bases/skins glide lightly along the surface, but you're not actually lifting the ski (well, you do, but it doesn't feel like it).

Never had blisters in either XC or touring boots.

My current liners are stock Backland XTDs, but I've toured in powerwraps and various other intuitions over the years.

Disclaimer: I XC more than I AT, though, by a 3:1 margin.

Sent fra min LE2123 via Tapatalk

Engo stickers on the heel cup of the shell = no friction going into the liner
And socks, as discussed

Dissent tours for me. I have no idea what I do with my stride other than not lifting my feet more than I need to. Also, fix that blister/red spot/hot spot asap. Like put duct tape on it now, on the up while skinning even.

I know I tour like I xc ski, but haven’t really thought about the specifics. Only time I have had trouble is from kicking in long booters, my big toes have taken a beating. I try to be a little gentler now when I can.

Thanks for the replies from those that did.

FYI, as I said, I have never had hot spots and I can fix them whenever clients have them. I’m not looking for tips.

Purely looking for correlation between hotspots and people who push off their toes, therefore putting a bunch of force through their heels and either getting heel lift and blisters, or increased Pressure and hot spots.

I get blisters on my heels and go through at least one pair of dissent socks every year. If I focus and consciously "sink in my heels" there's less rubbing but I feel it slows me down. I wonder if it's a matter of practice or there's a difference in speed and efficiency between the two strides.

I get wicked blisters in various boots. It’s usually because they are a touch large but not so big as to go up a shell or size down. Some K tape across my heels before I get started usually works wonders. It’s really adhesive and can last for days or even a couple of weeks.

I do get heel blisters, especially if my intuition liners have been used enough times to have packed out a little. So Every time I dress up in the mornings now I just duct tape my heels as a preventative measure, and voila, no blisters at the end of the day.

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

I'm pretty sure I use the same not-walking stride as the OP, but I can get heel blisters on long tours. The cause seems to be worn liners, sweat, and heel lift especially in combination. Easily solved with ezee-fit ankle booties or wrightsock socks.

Leukotape strips on the heels. Good to go

if you ductape the heels and leave it on for 2 days you will get tape residue on your bedsheets

OK, I'll be more pacific:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenBC

So, the survey:

While touring, do you drag your foot or push off with your toes?
I kinda drag and push, as a variation of kick and glide. Frankly, I think I use my poles more than anyone I know.
Have you ever had blisters or hot spots? How often?
Only once on an all-day warm spring tour. The sweat is what did me in.

What liners do you use?
Intuition tours in the past, and currently Scarpa Intuition.

---

Ultimately, I'm not sure you can teach your clients anti-blister skinning technique. I think enduring tight buckle pain would be superior to blisters.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenBC

While touring, do you drag your foot or push off with your toes?

Have you ever had blisters or hot spots? How often?

What liners do you use?

---

On the approach I try to move as smooth and efficiently as I can, just like on the down. The way I learned was slide the skis forwards, not pick them up. Pretty much a variation on kick and glide like plug is saying below.

I think I've gotten blisters on my heel's once or twice from boots that didn't fit right. Probably on warm spring days.

To date all my bc boots have been Scarpa's with stock Intuitions.

I start the season getting my blisters out of the way - they always happen on the inside of my heel between my Achilles and ankle. A couple of touring sessions and that area gets toughened up for the season.

After that happens I put some body-glide product on the skin every morning and have no further issues the rest of the winter.

No idea about my technique though - it probably sucks but I’m never the slowest or most hurting in my group and I feel good all day. I’m too old of a dog to learn new tricks :)

XC ski drag style, dissent tours and GFT’s, never had a blister in any boot.

It’s all about the boot for me. Ideally it’s a boa boot (scarpa FI, Skorpius II) with good heel / ankle hold down (eg the Maestrale XT with an ankle buckle); of course the usual liner fitting tips apply.

I’ve had several boots that create heel blisters regardless of the fitting tricks I used. Typically this seems to happen when the forefoot has no buckle placed rearward enough.

Guess I’m saying that with the right boots, I can do long kick n glide strides with no blisters, or any stride I want that maximizes efficiency. But Yes, if I’m wearing shitty boots that tend to cause blisters, I adopt a stride style that minimizes blisters but that to me is a fail.

I got a wicked blister on the inside of my foot, above the heel. I narrowed it down to the sock, and friction from undone top buckle. I can’t tour in darn tough socks because of it.

I’m definitely a push off from toes, but interested to try the drag method. I’m not the slowest in my group by any means either.

Boot is Roxa R3W.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

I do the pull / light drag motion. I get blisters on any new liner until I get the heel fit dialed. I have a skinny heel and bony ankle so it's always a struggle to get the fit just right. Recently got GFT's. Still fiddling with them; currently still getting blisters.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenBC

Thanks for the replies from those that did.

FYI, as I said, I have never had hot spots and I can fix them whenever clients have them. I’m not looking for tips.

Purely looking for correlation between hotspots and people who push off their toes, therefore putting a bunch of force through their heels and either getting heel lift and blisters, or increased Pressure and hot spots.

---

I have had them but of memory serves its when my boots were way too big so pushing from the ball of the foot was even possible.

I don't get them anymore but I think it's partly because I stride as you describe... learned behavior.

Sent from my SM-A536W using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

Engo stickers on the heel cup of the shell = no friction going into the liner
And socks, as discussed

---

What are engo stickers? Haven't heard of those?

Sent from my SM-A536W using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shorty_J

What are engo stickers? Haven't heard of those?

---

They work.

The only boot that caused me blisters, both heels, are the Scarpa T4 tele boots. I have a “Scarpa” foot.

Fixed the problem by not ever wearing them again.

Intuition liners, molded, in all my boots.

Use the shuffle/drag method as much as possible.

Skiing and touring for over 40 years. Alpine, AT and tele.

Also use Leukotape for PF when hiking but not when skiing/touring.

Everyone's stride is a little different, but I always thought that someone that picks the ski off the snow is doing it wrong. I remember watching Reudi at the Durrand Glacier Hut. He had this crazy full on lower body rotation thing going on. He would turn his hips in a way that let his stride get as long as possible. Go ahead and try to keep up with him!!

As for blister prevention, I've been using ladies knee high socks, yes pantyhose, under ski socks. Read that some where's a hundred years ago and it works great.

I also like to limit use of the walk mode switch unless on a long flat approach say. Once up high in the goods, upper buckles are medium snugged and cuff locked. This keeps the heel seated. YMMV.

Duct tape will work, but can ruin a good pair of socks.

I struggle with blisters. Always on the inside of the heel on the upper half closer to Achilles.

I tour 20-30% of my days each season. Like others, I take the first few walks expecting them. I put on mole skin or bunion pads to help minimize and encourage some callus of the skin in the area.

I have the Fischer Ranger Free hybrid which could be part of it. I have their stock liner which was molded/fit for me, but I usually have the cuff quite loose when walking up. I might change that and try to keep the cuff tighter to see if that helps.

As for gate - I think I used to be more of a toe pusher (former hockey player) but more recently changed to a “stand on one leg, slide other leg with no weight, stand up on new forward leg, slide unweighted leg, repeat…. Thoughts on how that compares to the strides above? Same? Could I be doing it wrong? To be honest both produced blisters - hence my thought on tightening the cuff… or jettisoning the boots altogether. Previous Mastrales weren’t as bad but they don’t give me the downhill, race boot support I prefer…


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Shuffling short strides, use your hip flexors. No blisters.

Toe pushing, really ball of foot, is reserved for Nordic gear with flexible soled boots.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Foot dragger here, seldom have blister issues, though there have been a couple boots in the last 25 years that were problems (notably a Garmont MegaRide back in the day). Also shorter strides and using your lifters properly is good practice. At the first sign of a "hot spot" it saves the day to stop and apply a Compeed blister plaster . . .

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenBC

Thanks for the replies from those that did.

FYI, as I said, I have never had hot spots and I can fix them whenever clients have them. I’m not looking for tips.

Purely looking for correlation between hotspots and people who push off their toes, therefore putting a bunch of force through their heels and either getting heel lift and blisters, or increased Pressure and hot spots.

---

gotcha - sorry to miss-understand.

i guess my question/response is why limit yourself to a single stride?

long road grade approach? Xc kick and glide.

steep slippery refrozen? Heel shuffle

blown out kick turn? Toe weight on uphill ski for balance and heel shuffle the downhill ski to prevent slipping.

very interesting topic, sorry to derail

I don't get blisters. I don't lift my skis up unless I need to. My boots are snug.

I did get blisters when I had some kleenex-box shaped Scarpas 20 years ago (Lasers?). Fixed that by adding material around the heel in the liners. The instep buckle did a pretty good job holding my heel down, but my heel would make more contact on side, which would eventually cause problems.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds!

I don't get blisters. I don't lift my skis up unless I need to. My boots are snug..

---

Second this. Only got one blister ever in a blown out pair of old scarpa freedoms at the tail end of a 20 mile day. That had more to do with the pool of sweat I was walking in more than anything else.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marshal Olson

gotcha - sorry to miss-understand.

i guess my question/response is why limit yourself to a single stride?

long road grade approach? Xc kick and glide.

steep slippery refrozen? Heel shuffle

blown out kick turn? Toe weight on uphill ski for balance and heel shuffle the downhill ski to prevent slipping.

very interesting topic, sorry to derail

---

All good! I agree with using different techniques for specific, short sections, however that’s not how blisters happen. I’m talking about the repetitive, standard stride that you would use on your average piece of skin track.

I barely xc so I’m not sure exactly what the xc stride is but I definitely push off on my toes when I classic xc.

Both techniques that I mention would keep your ski on the ground. I think everyone knows you don’t lift your ski.

The reason I think there is a connection between blisters and stride is that when you push off with the ball of your foot, you are literally pulling your heel up against (or out of) the heel pocket. If your heel pocket is loose, you will get movement and rubbing. If your heel pocket is tight, you will get pressure and tension (or micro movements). Socks are obviously a place where you can reduce friction.

It seems some ski boots are designed to allow a lot of heel movement , potentially for pushing off with the ball of the foot for a faster stride. I’d say Dynafit does this with their large heel pocket. They seem to want to hold the heel down by using a buckle to pull down/back on the top of the foot, rather than a cupping heel pocket. I know a few traverse oriented ski tourers that hate any sort of heel pocket/Achilles pinch mechanism to hold the foot down. They would rather have space there and extra padding at the front of the ankle.

Since we are all flexing sock choices, I ski in the Intuition fitting socks every day. Same pair for four years. Always touring.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GoldenBC

It seems some ski boots are designed to allow a lot of heel movement , potentially for pushing off with the ball of the foot for a faster stride. I’d say Dynafit does this with their large heel pocket. They seem to want to hold the heel down by using a buckle to pull down/back on the top of the foot, rather than a cupping heel pocket. I know a few traverse oriented ski tourers that hate any sort of heel pocket/Achilles pinch mechanism to hold the foot down. They would rather have space there and extra padding at the front of the ankle.

---

I'd guess the reason most touring shells have a fairly roomy heel pocket is not for touring efficiency but rather the desire to fit all types of heels into one last. Same as the reasoning behind most of the new designs being "medium wide" and people with really narrow feet having no real good option in touring boots - they only intend to make one last, so they make one they think will fit the vast majority of feet. The reason they don't have sculpted heel contours in touring liners is weight; putting a healthy amount of foam around the Achilles like an alpine boot will certainly help heel retention, but will add 100-150 grams.

Very tight fit shells and intuition/palau tour wraps. Bootdoc electric heatsocks or their thin racing socks, I think both are compression socks. No blisters.

On the flats I do kick&glide like XC, in avarage up hill I keep skis on the ground and do drag the back ski up. Don't use heel lifters that much, I have very good ankle and hip mobility. With out heellifters I'll get extra 10-20cm on every step and save some energy. I do tour atleast 60 days per winter and have done it for last 10 years since I moved to place without lifts close by. During summer I walk in wading gear a lot for fly fishing. So assume my feets hate me and have developed very thick skin in all the places that have possibility to get blisters. I think that's also something that have a big affect. If one stays in office most of the time, body won't adapt so well to all the shit one makes it to do out of office [emoji16]



Lähetetty minun LYA-L29 laitteesta Tapatalkilla

The cushion you get from those fancy blister pads are nice for when skin is really beat up, but If you catch hot spots early I think I piece of duct tape applied directly to the (dry) skin is better. Duct tape is easier to apply, adheres extremely well, and pretty much eliminates all friction. Plus you can cut it to size/shape. I don't see any real purpose for mole skin unless that is all you have.

Agree, in my experience, moleskin is best for making donuts to relieve pressure on tender bone spurs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cocximus

I get blisters on my heels and go through at least one pair of dissent socks every year. If I focus and consciously "sink in my heels" there's less rubbing but I feel it slows me down. I wonder if it's a matter of practice or there's a difference in speed and efficiency between the two strides.

---

Dang. While it felt annoying at first, I focused on technique rather than go. No more blisters, and my liners and socks are in way better shape. Thanks.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds!

The cushion you get from those fancy blister pads are nice for when skin is really beat up, but If you catch hot spots early I think I piece of duct tape applied directly to the (dry) skin is better. Duct tape is easier to apply, adheres extremely well, and pretty much eliminates all friction. Plus you can cut it to size/shape. I don't see any real purpose for mole skin unless that is all you have.

---

this ^^ 1 layer only of ductape carefully/ smoothly applied on dry feet pre-trip so there are no creases and round off the edges, leave it on all weekend, also wear your socks to bed with the ductape under otherwise the glue will bleed onto your bed sheets

you don't really need any of that other stuff unless you failed to apply the hippy chrome BEFORE you left the house

The problem is you need to ditch anything that sez palau and buy the intuition liners, they stopped blisters IME