Now socks off, all the compounds off the feet, socks back on and back into the ski boot. Yes, somehow better, but that's not it. Before we tackle the shell, we need to give my lower legs, with their non-existent calves, more guidance in the shell. Because before I feel the wider Atomic Racebooster, which has now been fitted, I still have almost a finger's space to the edge of the ski boot at the front and back. So I get out again and attach the available Atomic rear spoiler to the back of the Mimic liner and get back in. Better, not ready yet. The upper buckles only close over the outer flanks of the shinbone at the front. Out again and we stick a hard foam pad from Beni's accessory equipment on the tongue. Back in and voila, now the pre-tension is really applied to the calf and I can press diligently into the shell, which clearly shows me the remaining points for adjustment.
Reduce pressure with heat
Once we have decided on the order of the points, I can take turns getting in and out of the boot at least three more times. The shell is clamped in without the liner and the hot air gun is used locally to heat up the areas where my foot wanted a little more space. The Atomic shell made from recycled polyurethane (PU) is relatively easy to deform locally, says Beni. And so, step by step, we adjust the points in the shell. After the metatarsophalangeal joints and the outer ankle were already well adapted, it turned out during running tests with open walking mode that my big toe made it onto the shell. As a result, the shell was even lengthened a little locally.
I step into the boot for the penultimate time, because now that all the side pressure points have been removed, I can feel the edging for the first time. Before I even realise that I'm squirming a bit, Beni asks me if I'd like to try lateral heel wedges again, as I did in my old shoes. Of course, they've always helped me a lot. And so I get out again and the plastic wedges from his workshop repertoire are glued to the insole under the inner shoe. They help to prevent the ankle joint from buckling on the inside. The inner ankle of my flat foot thus moves noticeably less and stays in the shell where it belongs. The lower leg has a much more direct influence and you lie noticeably more firmly on the side of the upper. The edging is much more direct. Nevertheless, I want to get out of the boot for good now and only want to get back in for the first test on snow, for which I now have high hopes. Beni agrees that any detailed problems that arise can then be tackled in further sessions.
Ski boot on! Ski boot off! Sustainable?
Even though my feet needed a break after the 'eternal in and out', the time flew by with the accompanying intensive conversations about equipment, experiences in skiing and the further developed sports articles. In addition to the detailed impressions of my feet and the pressure they felt in my untreated ski boots, I will always remember his perspectives. While I'm still thinking about how to repair my old ski boots so that I can use them as sustainably and for as long as possible, his preferences are different: "A big step towards sustainable outdoor sports would be, for example, to reduce all labels and tags on every item, no matter how small, or to replace them with digital solutions".
For me, the argument is at least as good as the ski boot that has now been customised. A bootfitting workshop that individually replaces the individual parts of the boot and, above all, reuses them for other customers, would also ensure resource efficiency with less packaging material and ultimately less stock of unused parts for users at home and in the workshop.
Since then, I've only been back once to change the tongue of the liner, as the first one left too much volume over the back of the foot for the power strap. I took the old tongue with me for the time being to test it once or twice, but then I announced that Beni could add it to his workshop repertoire so that he could hopefully install it on the next liner.
The current Atomic Low-Volume Race tongue is thicker and was simply attached to the liner via the Velcro fastener; the BOA fastener is now much more direct. In addition, the pressure distribution on the shin is even more even when the buckles are closed thanks to the thicker tongue. Finally, Beni mentioned that further stiffening of the shaft with an additional plate under the buckles would bring further improvement if the current setup wasn't enough for me. I've been busy testing the boot for the rest of the season and will report back soon.
