By: William Skipin
Submitted: 2009-09-12 10:34:57 | Word Count: 504
Protective gears are always important in any sports or recreational activity. Ski boots are necessary to ski properly and safely; and above all, they have become skiing icons, especially in terms of fashion.
The Alpine Ski Boots
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These ski boots are best for safety and precision because of their hard plastic soles that are attached to their toes and heels by bindings. This type of boots comes in three different styles:
Front entry, which binds the shin of the foot, instep, and its front providing the skier a lot of adjustability and control. Its forward flex capability is excellent.
Rear entry is the best pair of boots for greenhorns because of their strength and sturdiness. They are inexpensive and easy to use.
Mid entry gives the greatest convenience to the skier because it has the strength of the front entry and the sturdiness of the rear entry.
The Nordic
They are ski boots fit for cross country and telemark. The cross country boots are attached to skis at their toes. They work very well on flat terrains. They are quite known for their light weight that contributes to motion efficiency that is important when trekking snow. Boots for telemark are those that are well fit downhill turns. They have higher cuffs and more stiff flex.
The Alpine Touring Boots
These ski boots are also called the Randonee boots. They are intended for cross country purposes and alpine skiing. They usually utilize any of the two major boot bindings such as the Silvretta and Dynafit. Their soles are made of rubber.
The Achilles Heel
Based on research, poor design and quality of ski boots have become one of the major causes of accidents during skiing that had led to deaths and severe injuries. Some of these insufficiency and inefficiency in design and quality are:
• Weak bindings that takes the control over the ski while skiing leading to the separation of the skier from his skis.
• Too stiff or too soft soles that puts a lot of stress on the feet of the skier
• Lack of the desired layers of the inner core that leads to breakage that could be very deadly to the skier.
The Purposes
Ski boots come in different styles, colors, and purposes too. In purchasing a pair of these boots there intentions must clear. Some of these purposes are cross country skiing to see the beauty of the wildness of snow, dry slope skiing, adaptive skiing, kite skiing, para skiing, and military skiing.
The Specifications
The specifications needed for different purposes and terrain are the following but not limited to them:
• Well distributed weight from the toes to the heels to ensure foot stability
• Strong rebound on the ground
• Rubber or plastic sole
Whatever decisions are made the standards in good fit, safety, quality, and performance should always be taken into consideration when choosing a pair of boots. Ski boots may be fitted before the actual purchase takes place. In fact size customization is also available for users who have special needs.
