Boots! If you snowboard then you know how important it is to get them right. 8 hours on the hill with foot pain is enough to put you off snowboarding for life. If you’re new to snowboarding then this will be your most important purchase!

Bear these very important guidelines in mind when buying boots:

• Make time for trying on many pairs. Don’t come in 5 minutes before we close and buy the first pair you see!
• Different brands will fit differently. Even different models of the same brand can differ in width or flex.
• Just because you’re a 9 in your work shoes, it doesn’t mean you’re a 9 in every snowboard boot. To be sure, we will measure your feet in store.

This open-minded approach will give us a good chance to have a look at the shape of your foot. Is it wide? Do you have a high instep? Our experienced staff can then give you a head start on which boots to look at first. Not in your favourite colour? Tough! Fit first people! Boots are hidden away under bindings, pants and snow most of the time, so they rarely make an appearance anyway. Stiff for freeriding, soft for freestyle, right? Not any more. You need a boot that reflects your riding and the rest of your set up. A super soft boot inside a super stiff binding is a mismatch in our opinion. If you’re just learning you may prefer a softer, more forgiving ride. If you ride fast or need more ankle support you may prefer a stiffer boot. But at the end of the day its best to have a chat with us, try on different boots and get them expertly fitted to your feet… it makes such a difference!

Do Your Snowboard Boots Fit?
The fit of your boots is probably one of the most important aspects of your whole riding set-up, not only is it a matter of comfort but also one of control. An ill-fitting pair of boots will slaughter your feet after a whole day on the slopes and will also reduce the response and performance of your board. If you think about it, the boot is the key interface between yourself and the board, it’s the bit that transfers your input into response. If you have a problem with that interface then information will get lost en route and as a result the data at the sharp end (the board) will not correspond with the input that you downloaded. This will manifest itself in slow response, the inability to hold an edge all the way through the turn, and sore feet and tired legs.

TSA’s unique boot-fitting programme allows our fitters to understand each individual’s foot characteristics and to recommend the ideal boot and fitting process to enable you to achieve the perfect fit. Our boot fitters will assess your feet looking for areas that may cause discomfort or alternatively compromise performance. Once we have made this assessment we will discuss which products we feel best suit your needs in respect of fit, performance and use. After you have selected your boot our fitters will ensure that they give you the ultimate fit for both comfort and performance. To achieve this our boot fitters have access to the most advanced custom fit equipment available.
Boot Performance
It wasn’t too long ago that the characteristics of a snowboard boot varied massively between freestyle and freeride. A freestyle boot used to be super soft, little more than a pumped up trainer, whilst a stiff freeride boot was a reinforced walking boot. Thankfully those days have gone and lines between freestyle and freeride have become blurred. With riding becoming more technical and boots becoming increasingly more advanced most boots now offer performance designed for the whole mountain. As with choosing a board selecting the right boot is equally important. There is no point choosing a super stiff boot if you are a relative beginner, they will be too responsive and will end up causing fatigue as you struggle to ride them. Equally unsuitable is a soft boot if you are looking for high-speed performance and response. It will be slow to initiate and will be unstable through the turn.
Forward Flex
The Forward Flex is the driving power of the boot. A stiff flexing boot will offer quicker response and turn initiation whilst retaining more control throughout the duration of the turn. A stiff flexing boot needs to be ridden hard as they can be somewhat unforgiving and a little twitchy when riding a little more relaxed.
Lateral Flex
A softer Lateral Flex will reduce the likelihood of hanging up when riding undulating terrain. It will give you the equivalent of softer suspension in a car and will absorb the terrain. The downside is that it will react slower and will reduce the amount of energy transfer when loading the nose or tail when riding aggressively. Some freestylers prefer a softer laterally flexing boot for increased ability to tweak. This is becoming less important as manufacturers are now giving a controlled lateral flex for tweaking without compromising response.

 

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