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Why Insoles Are The Missing Piece in the Ski Boot Fit Jigsaw Puzzle

Henry
11 hours ago
4 min read

The insole you get inside a ski boot off the shelf is rubbish; let's change that.

It is thin, flexible, and offers no support to the arch of the foot in the ski boot. If this was in a pair of trainers (sneakers or runners) then you wouldn’t notice it, but in ski boots this can cause great discomfort.

Therefore, it is always important to upgrade the insoles in your ski boots, something that any decent boot fitter will recommend as part of the fitting process, to increase the comfort and performance of your ski boots.

This post dives into insoles – also called footbeds – and why they are the final and often missing piece of the ski boot fitting jigsaw puzzle.

Your Foot

When you apply pressure to your feet, they expand. Sometimes a lot.

The pressure from simply standing up and putting weight on your feet can cause your feet to expand forwards by as much as one centimetre (0.4in) and sideways at the balls of the feet by half a centimetre. This is part of the foot’s natural shock absorption system, something that has developed over millenia of evolution to allow humans to walk and run great distances in just bare feet in comparative comfort.

This shock absorption system works really well, and is unnoticeable in everyday shoes. You may notice some discomfort when breaking in hard leather shoes or if you wear steel toecaps for working on, say, a building or construction site, but in soft everyday shows such as trainers you won’t notice this expansion.

But if your foot is placed inside a hard plastic shoe, such as a ski boot, suddenly you do. Suddenly, your foot has nowhere to expand to, both forwards and especially sideways, and this can cause great discomfort. Extra pressure down the edge of the foot or the balls of your feet being “squeezed” together can cause cramping or just outright pain, as well as numbing the foot increasing how “cold” it can seem.

Footbeds

The answer to this is footbeds, which, handily, play two roles in comfort and performance within the boot.

The first is that it locks the foot in the right place in the boot, meaning that, if the foot continues to expand, it at least does it in the space created for that part of the foot. This can also help lock in the heel in the heel cup and stop the ankle bones rubbing against the boot.

As you might have guessed from earlier on in this piece, footbeds play a huge role in limiting this forward and sideways expansion. By supporting the arch of the foot, the footbed provides a platform for it to sit on, and eliminates most of the expansion.

By doing this it will immediately increase the comfort of the boot, helping eliminate the pain and cramping that can occur. It can also increase performance by allowing you to get in a lower volume boot, bringing the plastic close r to your foot and increasing the transfer of power through the boot and into the ski.

What Footbed is Right For Me?

There are two major types of footbed available – pre-moulded and custom moulded.

Pre-moulded insoles offer good value for the price conscious skier. They are versatile, meaning they can potentially be used in other types of footwear, and are really easy to fit – simply pull out of the box, trim to size, and pop in.

Pre-moulded footbeds come in at around half the price of custom moulded, but at the same time in my experience offer half the comfort.

Custom moulded insoles are, as the name suggests, custom moulded to the exact shape and volume of your feet. Traditionally this is done by standing on a cushion to create an impression of your foot, around which the heated-up footbed is moulded. This creates a footbed shape that is unique to your foot, providing the ultimate level in of comfort and support.

This is the model used by many ski shops across the UK and around the world - you'll see the machines, like thrones, in the corners next to the ski boot shelves all over the place.

But there is a new way to do things with 3D printing, such as that provided by Solemate design in the UK. Using the same technology that Apple use to unlock your iPhone with facial recognition, Solemate's technology scans a huge amount of data points on your foot which is then sent to Solemate's bank of 3D printers.

A week later, and the final results arrive via the post; Solemate have a huge bank of measurements from different ski boot manufacturers, meaning they can print to the right size and shape of your boots. Once they are with you, simply swap out the standard insoles, drop in the new ones, and away you go.

Fundamentally, however, the right insole for you will depend on a few factors. Pre-moulded are great for the price conscious skier maybe looking to dip their toes in, something that is enhanced with schemes like Superfeet's 60 guarantee; if the footbed is not right for you, Superfeet offer full refunds if returned within 60 days of purchase.

Custom moulded are often double the price - and 3D printed can be double again - but what I would say is that it is one of the few occasions where doubling your investment doubles your return. The extra support that is offered by custom moulded insoles is double the comfort and support you get from pre-moulded. It is that simple.

One thing to note is volume. Traditional custom moulded insoles take up a fair bit of volume in the boot whereas pre-moulded don't quite have the same depth. One of the benefits of 3D printed is that these offer high level support and comfort, but at a lower volume to traditional custom insoles. Which one works for you will depend on how "performance" oriented the fit of your boot is (i.e. how tight it is).

Final Thoughts

Getting the right insole is the important final part of your ski boot "system" - that combination of boots, insoles and socks. It's almost always best to spend the money to increase the comfort, support and performance of that system, however there are circumstances where a different option may be best.