A complement to a custom fit - Shim wedge system can enhance skier’s balance in boots By Cindy Hirschfeld, As Published in Rocky Mountain News.
PRESS ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS. MARCH 02, 2005
A complement to a custom fit
Shim wedge system can enhance skier’s balance in boots
By Cindy Hirschfeld, As Published in Rocky Mountain News. March 02, 2005
Custom footbeds can work wonders on all manner of boot-fit issues, but they are an admittedly pricey add-on, especially when you already have spent several hundred dollars on boots.
For that reason, Eric Ward, an Aspen ski instructor, developed the Shim Balance System, which prescribes small rubber wedges that slip between the liner and boot board to put the foot in a neutral, well-balanced position. This relatively affordable alternative also derives from Ward’s unconventional approach to fit and performance.
Ward, who also makes custom footbeds, veers from standard boot- fitting wisdom by focusing on how to balance on one foot at a time instead of two simultaneously weighted feet.
“We spend very little time equally balancing on both feet (when skiing),” he said. “The foot needs to be understood in this application.”
Pronation, which causes the foot to collapse inward, typically interferes with an ability to balance. While we might be able to compensate when standing on two feet, balancing on one foot signals the extent of pronation. And pronation, in turn, hinders an ability to effectively edge on skis.
The patented Shim Balance System is “like front-end alignment for your feet,” Ward said. “When you let go of your steering wheel and your car stays on the road, you know everything is cool.”
In a similar vein, Ward suggested a self-test. On a catwalk or other relatively flat slope, try skiing straight while standing on one ski.
“If you can be fairly relaxed and cruise on a flat ski, then things are going well,” he said. “If you have to use tension and body English to keep the ski going straight, then you know there’s a problem.”
To evaluate balance indoors, Ward developed a metal box that clients stand on; he can then change the surface angle until a client can balance well on one foot. The goal, he said, “is to get the foot positioned so the knee tracks forward and you can balance with the least amount of muscle tension.”
The shims come in 12 angles to mimic the effect of the balancing box.
Today’s skis and bindings helped drive Ward’s research.
“Shaped skis demand that we be in a functional place in the boot,” he said. “The input/output factor in these skis has quadrupled in the past few years; we put so little in and get so much back. And with integrated binding systems, there’s no more opportunity to cant under the binding. We used to removed the binding from the ski and place wedges under it.”
Ward, though, doesn’t refer to his system as canting.
Instead, Ward works from the bottom up, focusing on the foot’s position within the boot.
Even if you already have a custom footbed, Ward said adding his shims can enhance fit and performance.
At the One Stop Ski Shop at Steamboat Springs, boot fitter John Kole recommends the Shim Balance System in conjunction with the footbeds he crafts.
“I’d prescribe it for anybody,” he said. “As people stand in a neutral position (with custom insoles), there’s (still) a space under the feet. The shim fills it in.”
The result, Kole said, is “incredible edge control.”
Currently, seven stores in Colorado offer the Shim Balance System; the process of evaluation and shim fitting costs about $75. For more information, go to www.footfoundation.com.