burning thighs after about 30 to 40 mins of skiing

ise wrote:Calf ache is a bit hard to diagnose without seeing someone skiing and can be related to boots

What can be wrong with the boots?

Iceman wrote:

ise wrote:Calf ache is a bit hard to diagnose without seeing someone skiing and can be related to boots

What can be wrong with the boots?

you need a boot fitter :D If you talk to people like Warren Smith their view of ski biomechanics and physiology says that if your boot is too stiff or you're over-flexing knees you can get some tightness in the calf. But one of his big principles is this idea that ankle flex is key to freeride style skiing and most of us have boots too stiff to flex the ankles. I think he's probably right but there's a trend to ever stiffer boots for freeride so you've got to have the context this is just opinion :lol:

KevinC wrote:As everyone appears to be uber-fit has anyone experienced problems with fitting their calf into ski-boots? I've just got back from skiing and suffered for the first hour every time I put boots on as my calves didn't fit and were pinched when fastening the buckle(?) thingies. As a result my skiing style was properly off and also resulted in thigh burn.

Tried going back to the ski hire shop to see if other boots were better but a lack of language skills meant I couldn't explain the exact problem and the bloke just kept saying they need to be tight.

I do a lot of distance running and cycling - anyone had similar problems?

Hi Kevin,
I had a similar problem when I bought my ski boots, however was not really surprised as I have quite wide calves. My boots had the option to move the top two sets of buckles to give you more space or a tighter fit accordingly. After moving them, they now fit perfectly and I have all the adjustment I need (and if the liners pack out and I find them too loose, I always have the option to move them back.)

When we were in resort, my OH found that his boots (also his own) were also very tight (i.e. a struggle to get them on to the first setting) and giving him pain in his shins and calves. On taking them into a shop to try and have the buckles moved as for mine, the guy (who was British so no language problems) gave him a talk on how they were really too stiff for his standard of skiing (without having seen him ski) and this was inevitable. (They have a flex of 85.) He also seemed amazed that after 1 week on skis I could ski happily in my boots, which have a flex of 80 and was really quite condescending. :evil:
He grudging moved the clips and unsurprisingly my OH had no more problems for the rest of the holiday.... :roll:

From this, I'm guessing that wider calves are not uncommon. The boot manufacturers (mine are Nordica, his Salomon) seem to realise this and pre drill the additional holes accordingly. If you can, I would recommend investing in a pair of your own boots from a good fitter - mine are the best £200 I've ever spent and I enjoyed two weeks of skiing in comfort (as the Mastercard adverts say, priceless....) :wink:

Tony_H wrote:So how do you explain this then Ise, having just said you cant diagnose without having seen the person ski:

What I said was :

Calf ache is a bit hard to diagnose without seeing someone skiing and can be related to boots, the ache in thighs is an easy one, it's 99% or more certain caused by leaning back too far.

I can't see how that can be any clearer. I don't think you bother to read anything before posting these comments. I don't understand why you do this.

i posted this in a thread about claves but it applys to thighs as well

here's a thought

what is the circumference of the calf at the top of the boot cuff?..... a ski boot with a 14degree forward lean is designed to work optimately with a calf of 13 to 14 inches in circumference. for every 1" more than this you get pushed 1/3" forward, if this is happening then the calf and the quads will feel the burn.... the solution is to flare the top of the boot back to allow a slightly more upright stance [not the same as straightening the cuff] it is just ot take pressure off the calf muscle...beleive me this works, i always suffered a little with the calves in my own race boots [17degree forward lean] i flared the cuff back by 12mm and skiied 9800vertical meters before lunch on only the second days skiing since last march.... no thigh or calf burn at all

alternatively if your calf muscle is not greater than 14" then lots of stretching is the normal solution

other things can be the delta angle of the binding, if the skier is pitched too far forward then the compensation is to sit back or hang on the quads.... lifting the toe of the boot can make a massive difference to this position, but the whole thing needs to be assessed by a boot fitter who understands ankle joint range of motion and boot set up

Burning Thighs - weren't they a seminal band from the 70s?

You're nuts.


Nuts......


Eh.......???

I used to deal with burning thighs, but I ski 3-5 times a week and I don't deal with it anymore. It could be that my technique is a lot better than it used to be? But I would guess it to be a combination of getting stronger, and improving skill. Getting weight on the shins really makes life easier. :)

Am I the only person in the world who has problems with boots being too loose in the calf? I have really long legs, so I think that may be part of it, but no boots I have ever tried have really gotten tight around my calves. It's not a huge deal if I keep my weight where it needs to be. . .