Buckling your Boots

A common question I get in the shop is how do you do up your ski boots buckles properly? 

Rather than think about it as a set way of doing it, you should focus on where you want to feel the tension and do up your buckles accordingly. Your buckle tension will be a dynamic thing that changes with you and the conditions.

The most important part where you want to feel security is at the instep and around the ankles. This is the part of your boot that drives your skiing. You should be held back and down firmly into place.
There is no particular order in which you should buckle up the boot. All that matters is to get the right amount tension.

Middle/instep buckle
As I said, the most important buckle is the one securing the instep. This is the second buckle down if you have an overlap boot and the middle buckle if you have a three piece boot.
This buckle gives you the locked in feeling and will hold your heel back. You should start with this buckle in the buckling up process. Give your heel a kick in the back to make it settle into the heel pocket properly.

Top buckle
Move on to the top buckle and secure your lower leg. Be aware with the tension on this one since you may have issues if you set it too tight.

Lower Buckles
You shouldnt be cranking too hard on these buckles. If your fit is correct, you wont be able to. This part of the boot really only requires lateralsecurity. Too much tension on these buckles will cause a restriction in blood flow and can flare up nerves. So to keep feeling in your feet you should be able to just close these buckles with a single fingers amount of tension

The power strap
The power strap is there to look after your shins. There are two ways in doing them up:
-Fix the power strap across at the front of the plastic and tongue
-Take the power strap across the tongue ONLY
Both ways will work, as long as you make sure your shin is always in contact with the front of the boot, not bouncing of the front.

Most of the buckles these days have the option to be micro adjusted. These can be adjusted according your preferences so counting your ladders will be useless. Do it all by feel.
Never ski with your buckles loose! You can loosen the buckles once you get to the bottom of the hill to give your feet additional blood flow. But if your buckles are loose to are going to annihilate your feet and legs!!

And remember kids, safety first!

Cheers

Craig