Bootfitting Guide Page 3 - Footbeds
By Christian Denis of Elite Feet, November 11, 2000

Footbeds

Another important aspect of getting a good fit is the boot's footbed. Picture your foot on the flat sole of a ski boot. Now buckle the boots down tight so your foot isn't wiggling around. Without a solid footbed, the bottom of your foot is going to flatten out like a pancake and make your foot longer than it normally is. Additional benefits of footbeds include improved circulation and reduced (or eliminated) cramping. In short, putting an arch support or footbed under your foot will actually shorten your foot and improve the blood flow which will be more comfortable and keep your feet warmer.

You can purchase a generic footbed for about $30. This is a preformed footbed that comes in different arch lengths and heights. However, a custom footbed ($125-$175) is by far the best way to go. This is a precise impression of your foot, and will improve your comfort, performance, balance and circulation.

There are two primary processes for creating custom footbeds. Each is a multi-step process that takes less than an hour. The fist method is to mold a heated footbed to your foot by having you stand on it (applying your full body weight). The alternative, is to place a plastic bag around your foot and then have a machine suck the air out of it - this pulls the heated footbed material firmly against your foot. The former weight-based method may incorporate arch problems into the mold. The latter suction-based method, however, will produce a mold with all the support needed to maintain your foot's natural shape - this is the method we recommend (and is the one employed by the Superfeet footbed system). Once you try these footbeds you will wonder how you ever skied without them.

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