WTF is boot balancing??

[focus]

Browsing around at Epic, and kept reading stuff about "getting your boots balanced." What are they talking about? All I could find over there was recommendations to do it and how wonderful it was. There's so many words over at epic, and so little real information... gives me a frickin headache.

[coastal]

sounds like nerdspeak for getting thotics and canted, but who knows these days...
I did a search and didn't come up with much, gotta link?

[bklyn]

Coastal is right - it's voodoo speak for orthotics and canting. My legs are straight, so I don't have a need for canting. I think it's hoodoo that doesn't work (canting) but I wouldn't benefit from it if it did work.

Do we really think most people can detect a 1-3 degree difference anywhere in their skiing? I just don't believe most people can sense the fine differences.

[Cirquerider]

Since you asked, boot balancing is essentially alignment. A big part of Epic has always been the academies where they have a week of intensive instruction and gear improvement. Bud Heishman "balances" everyones's boots. Here is his article on what that means. Eh, lots of words in that article, so be forewarned; but this is tech talk, and words are allowed here.

[L7]

Actually I think the balancing refers more to stance balance as in fore and aft. You can get a boogie board kind of thing and centre the boot sole over the centre of the dowel it pivots on and by setting forward lean and/or shimming under the toe or adjusting internal ramp angle you get to a point where it is much easier to balance on the dowel. In extreme cases it can help but often it's pilot error.

I was at masterfitU with the 'best alignment guys' in the country and someone on the course who is a physio was getting it done. They would tell her to move her shoulders forward and she would drill her shins into the front of the boot. I suggested she keeps the ankles straight and then more her upper body but she kept doing it. I was standing with a friend who is an Canada interski team member and she said, 'why isn't she doing what you're telling her'. I said I don't know but they all seem to think it means something and it's pretty clear pilot error creates a lot of her trouble.

They also said she needed binding canting done for alignment issues but agreed it was muscular not skeletal. I thought why not just do some stretching being as she's actually a physio and all for god sakes. Instead they were quite attached to her paying $150 for the insta fix.

They also said I needed cants and insisted on me being measured in an overly narrow stance. They also didn't check on body alignment. I knew for a fact my back and pelvis were out of whack from planes and hotel beds. One trip to the chiro and my alignment would change totally. I guess then I could pay for another alignment session.

I think there is a need for some of this stuff for some people but it's usually easier than they make it and not for nearly as many people as get talked into it.

[TWINS]

I went through the HOODOO with my Solly X10`s this year. At the time I had some extra coin and had the boot planing done .Not sure if it helped or not but seemed like a good idea.

[Jim S]

...Just add to get my icon below TWINS.