Don't ski with your boots in "walk" mode!

[tirolski]

Being able to ski well in loose boots is related to the earlier comment about "front of the boot, no matter what."

The Massanutten instructor I've worked with the most in the past 15 years did a 2-day PSIA clinic quite a while ago with unbuckled boots at Hunter. The clinic was on icy bump runs the entire time. That was before he was ready to take the Level 3 exams. Gave him a lot to work on afterwards in order to pass the Level 3 skiing exam.

Lots of banter here:

Unbuckled boots

Who skis with unbuckled boots? How much unbuckled - a couple loose to everything including the power strap undone? How frequently - rarely or always a few runs per day or always? If an instructor do you get students to do this? What type of students? What type of runs?

www.skitalk.com

And Donny’s timeless instructions:

 

[MarzNC]

Lots of banter here:

Unbuckled boots

Who skis with unbuckled boots? How much unbuckled - a couple loose to everything including the power strap undone? How frequently - rarely or always a few runs per day or always? If an instructor do you get students to do this? What type of students? What type of runs?

www.skitalk.com

I've skied with KingGrump at Taos and Snowbird. The standing joke is that if he reaches down to buckle his boots before a run then the rest of the group following him better be ready for an adventure on double-black terrain that is both super steep and has tight trees. That's what can happen when someone is adventurous and pays close attention during lots of Taos Ski Week lessons over a few decades.

 

[Harvey]

What year was that?

Honestly I can't remember. I did it two years in a row, certainly before I was married, so more than 20 years ago.

 

[Benny Profane]

I was all over the place on Monday. Felt like I was learning to ski again. Had very little control compared to 3 weeks earlier on the exact same slope. I think now I know why. Probably also had more ice, but still.

I've sort of come to the conclusion that, if your boot has a walk mode, it's not the right boot for ice.

 

[Sbob]

This thread has me wondering if I'm really weird? Ok yes but if I so much as have one loose buckle I can tell without looking.
I notice the performance difference immediately.

 

[MarzNC]

This thread has me wondering if I'm really weird? Ok yes but if I so much as have one loose buckle I can tell without looking.
I notice the performance difference immediately.

Not weird at all. There are a lot of ways to make turns. Fair to say that racers don't ski with loose buckles.

I wouldn't deliberately ski with loose boots in the northeast. Have gotten good enough in recent years to notice the difference when I forget to tighten my boots after a break out west on soft snow but I don't feel the need to stop and buckle up immediately.