Keystone Day 2

There was a Surefoot store there in the village, so we decided to have the custom boots made. WOW what a painful experience that was! First of all, our feet were already hurting pretty bad because of the run we had just done on rental boots. It's interesting how these are custom made.

First they measure your foot all kinds of different ways with different high-tech machines that record how you put pressure on your foot. Then they make an orthotic (corrective shoe inserts) for your foot. For mine they had to build up the insoles since I have such a high arch. 

This is the guy putting tape on Rob's feet and getting them ready for the boots. His face sort of says it all.

Here he is getting my feet ready for the boot. There was significant padding already put around my bunions, that's why my sock is poking out so much on the side.

Then they put the boots on you with tubes connected that go inside the boot shell (but outside where your foot is).

After that you have to stand on the swivel pedestal contraption. The handlebars are not just there to keep balance. At several different points you have to pull down really hard for 30 seconds or so. It hurts really bad, so you're actually having to add to your own pain.

The way the boots come is just a shell. Not much padding - this is so they can put the padding where you need it for your particular foot. The squeeze bottle in the middle of my feet is actually liquid foam. It shoots up through the tubes and into the boot. This is where it gets tight and painful. It molds around your calf, ankle, and toes. And this is where you have to push down until it "sets" and gets hard. You have to stand there for several minutes with that painful pressure.

This whole process took a few hours. We had lunch, then hit the slopes again. We knew the boots had to be broken in and therefore would still be pretty tight, and might need more adjustments, but they were SO tight and painful that I was having to stop every few minutes to try and relieve the pain. We were still only on a green slope! But the even the green slopes are obviously a lot steeper out in Colorado compared to the slopes in West Virginia. You are forced to ski a lot more athletically - there is no just being lazy or sitting back a bit (the way I like to do!)

By that time the sun had set and we were night skiing. I kept trying to make it, although I was crying the whole time and my feet were in terrible pain. Rob said he could hear me the whole time even though we weren't skiing very closely. He kept asking me if I could make it, and I really wanted to. I tried to. But I didn't know if I could make it, because I didn't really know how far it was. We finally stopped at a phone and I just collapsed while Rob called the ski patrol. I was just crying and crying. It hurt, but I also felt bad.

When the ski patrol girl got there she helped me get the boots off. It was tough to do. But we got it done, and the she skied me down to the bottom pulling me on a sled! She told me to cover my face as much as possible because the snow kicks up high. She was right about that! I had goggles but had to try to cover my face with my coat. She was going pretty fast and it still took awhile, so at that point I knew there is no way I could've made it. I was so glad we called!

I walked back to the lodge in sock feet. I didn't care how cold it was, I was just glad to have those boots off! Rob's feet were hurting pretty badly as well. We got into the hot tub for awhile. It was neat because snow was falling fairly heavily from the black sky while we were in soaking in the tub. When we felt ready, we went down to the village for dinner. The guy that fit us happened to be in the same restaurant so we told him about our problems. He said it should not have been that bad, and told us to bring the boots into the shop the next day. The dinner was at a restaurant called Kickapoo, and it was great food. Certainly hit the spot after all that ordeal! Although it wasn't funny at all at the time, I can't tell the story to anyone without laughing!

Even if I can't ski in them, I will still look great because these are some really pretty ski boots! Hopefully I'll be able to sport them next winter.