Skiing in a pair of well-fitting boots in bottomless听pow is snow-sports nirvana.听And ill-fitting boots? Well, that鈥檚 undisputedly the opposite鈥攑ainful and unresponsive鈥攔egardless of conditions. Making sure your feet have the room they need to听flex, swell, and stay warm, all without sacrificing the stiffness your boots need to effectively drive your skis is critical to enjoying your time on the slopes. And because no factory fit is perfect for everyone, you鈥檒l probably need some way of molding them to your feet. Here鈥檚 how to do it yourself鈥攚ith a few variables to consider听before you start.
Should You DIY?
Undoubtedly听the most reliable way to go is to put your trust in boot-fitting experts to precisely tune your new kicks to your feet. Many manufacturers recommend going this route. If you have unusual feet (abnormally wide or narrow), old foot injuries (especially screws or plates), bunions, or other special concerns, you鈥檒l probably save yourself a lot of time and discomfort by going to a professional who can analyze your feet, build you custom footbeds, or do more extensive work to your boots.听
(liners with uppers that fold around the leg and overlap on the side, rather than using a traditional tongue) are tricky enough to make them worth a professional鈥檚 touch as well. And according to Jonathan Lantz, president of听, first-timers would benefit from getting the perfect fit from a boot fitter听so they can get a sense of how the ideal听feels on their feet.
But once you know what you need and like in boots, an expert鈥檚 attention might not be necessary. 鈥淲e know a lot of outdoor people are do-it-yourself people,鈥 says Lantz. 鈥淚t鈥檚 possible to mold your liners at home.鈥
鈥淥ur home-fitting method is basically foolproof,鈥 says Crystal Maguire, president of听Intuition, the industry鈥檚 top brand of replacement liners. 鈥淭he only way you can really mess up the liners is by heating them too long, or at too high of a temperature.鈥 While it鈥檚 difficult to irreversibly destroy your liners, if you do, say, leave them in the oven until they鈥檙e a pool of melted foam, you鈥檝e definitely voided your warranty. Otherwise, you can just heat them up and try again.
One caveat: molding your liners isn鈥檛 going to magically make them fit. Always try them on first with any orthotics or footbeds you plan to use to make sure they鈥檙e not too small (molding won鈥檛 make them bigger) or too large.
Heat Them Up
Heating may be the trickiest part of the process, only because the critical temperature varies among听brands or even liners, which often have different thicknesses and materials. Intuition provides . (Lantz says La Sportiva uses the same foam as Intuition, though his brand also provides directions.)听It recommends filling a thin stocking (which comes听as part of the听, $16) with three to four pounds of short grain-rice (because it holds heat better than other types) and tying it off, then microwaving it. Intuition recommends heating the rice for four to seven听minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave鈥攖he rice should be too hot to touch (pick it up by the knot), but be careful not to singe or burn any part of the sock.
While the rice is heating, remove any footbeds from your liners. Once your rice is hot, drop the sock into one boot liner, tapping the exterior to work the rice all the way down into the toe box and filling as much of the liner听as possible. Depending on your shoe size, you might need two rice-filled socks to do this. Let the sock rest in the liner for four to 12 minutes (for Intuition liners, use ). 鈥淭he liners will go from feeling stiff to soft to the touch鈥攎alleable, but not squishy or mushy,鈥 says Maguire.听
It鈥檚 also possible to heat liners up in the oven directly, rather than dealing with rice, but this is where you听risk听melting issues, which is why Intuition doesn鈥檛 recommend it. First check that your liners don鈥檛 have any plastic pieces that could be damaged. La Sportiva recommends heating its liners to 266 degrees鈥攁nd this is a good target for liners made of similar foam. Preheat your oven to slightly beyond that temperature鈥攊n this case, about 300 degrees鈥攖hen turn the oven off. You want to use the residual heat, and some of it will be lost by opening the oven door.听
Lay one liner (footbed removed) on its side on a wooden cutting board and slip it into the oven. Turn the light on and watch it. After just a couple of minutes, you鈥檒l start to see it sag a little bit under its own weight. That鈥檚 when you want to pull it. As with the rice method, you鈥檒l want it to feel spongy and soft but not mushy or floppy.听
Mold Them to Your Feet
Whichever heating method you use, once your liners are hot, you鈥檒l need to move quickly. Don鈥檛 panic: just have everything ready to go ahead of time. Remember, if you mess up, you can always try again.听
Insert your footbed into the liner and slip the liner into the boot shell. Put on either an Intuition toe cap (also included in the kit) or a piece of an old extra-thick sock (think , cut off to just cover your toes) and then a thin ski sock (Intuition recommends using one of the stockings in its kit). Pro tip: it鈥檚 a good idea to get this sock and toe cap on while you鈥檙e waiting for the liner to warm. Smooth out the sock before you put on your boot, making sure there are no creases or wrinkles.
When the boot is on, pull up gently on the tongue and back of the liner, and then give your heel a couple of sharp taps on the ground, pushing it into the back of the boot. Buckle your boots one to two notches tighter than you would usually, so there鈥檚 a little extra pressure. 鈥淚n situations where the liner was extremely snug before molding, you want to buckle as tight as you can without deforming the shell听for maximum results,鈥 says听Maguire. It seems counterintuitive, but buckling tighter creates more space in your liner听(if you need it), while keeping it looser compresses the liner less (if it already fits well).听
Once you鈥檙e buckled in, stand up and place your toes on a two-by-four or thick phone book and lean into the tongue of the boot with your knees bent as if you were skiing. (Even though you鈥檙e only molding one boot at a time, it helps to do this with both feet.) Sit tight until the liner cools down to near room temperature鈥攖his could take anywhere from five to 15 minutes depending on the thickness of your liner. While you鈥檙e hanging out, wiggle your toes as much as possible. It will feel difficult, but once you鈥檙e skiing, you鈥檒l be grateful for the extra bit of space.听
Inspect Your Work
Take your boot听off and give your handiwork a look, checking for creases or folds on the inside of your now cool liner. If everything looks smooth, repeat with your second liner, then try them on with your regular ski socks鈥攐r better yet, take them out to the hill for a couple of test runs. Hot spots? The foam will mold to some degree from the heat and pressure of your foot, so you might be able to push through mild, general pressures until they work themselves out. But for more precise fixes or intense pressures, use a smaller rice-filled stocking to heat up just the problem area and, Maguire recommends, push it out with the rounded back end of a screwdriver until you have the shape dialed (or just slip your foot in听if it鈥檚 hard to reach).