Ankle support under boot

[EggyPegg]

Last year DH fell whilst skiing. His ski stayed straight, but his leg turned at the ankle. He wound up not being able to ski for the rest of the week (though he did attempt the nursery slopes a couple of times) as it was too sore.

He followed the RICE advice and just hung out in the apartment apart from meeting us for lunch a couple of times and at the end of ski school.

Out walking in the woods last weekend and he turned it again, just slipping on a small root. It was fine, but goes to show that it turns really easily now.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a support that you can wear under ski boots please? This time we're also going to make sure we pack some Deep Freeze as DH has found that effective previously, but prevention is better than cure and all that.

Thanks.

Hi OP, not an expert but have been skiing more than 30 years. Presuming you are talking about alpine and not nordic skiing, If boot is put on and adjusted properly and the correct size, the ankle should be completely blocked which leads me to believe his boots were incorrectly put on in the first place. The boot is in effect ankle support, if his ankle moves inside then he needs to tighten it more until it cant move. If unsure hpw to choose and adjust them just ask the people at the ski rental place to help you choose and adjust the shoes. Hope this helps. Good luck and have fun and enjoy the snow :)

Thanks @spinningpenguin. We were new to it last year, so it is entirely possible that his boot wasn't tight enough. Yes, it was alpine skiing.
Great advice, thank you. This year (keeping everything crossed we can go at Christmas) we will have more time when collecting our rental things as we have an earlier flight and plan to collect it the day we arrive but not ski until the next day. Last year it was a bit frantic as we didn't arrive until 11pm so had to collect it all on the first morning, before ski school and along with everyone else that had done the same (Saturday flights/Sunday start). The staff were excellent but also completely rushed off their feet so we felt bad about taking up any more of their time.
Thanks again, your post give me the confidence to explain ankle issues to the staff to ensure a tight fit.

I concur with Spin on this. Ditto time I have been skiing. Utube has a lot of good stuff on tips for skiing. Have a look at -- on how to put on boots. Very simple, but not always obvious.

Good skiing!

Quote : Last year it was a bit frantic as we didn't arrive until 11pm so had to collect it all on the first morning, before ski school and along with everyone else that had done the same (Saturday flights/Sunday start). The staff were excellent but also completely rushed off their feet so we felt bad about taking up any more of their time. End Quote

Go back at a less busy time or the next day. The rental people know they may not get fitting right at the first go, and have no problem dealing with people later. In fact it is quite normal. You won't really know if your boots are right until you have at least skied a day in them.

Quote Last year DH fell whilst skiing. His ski stayed straight, but his leg turned at the ankle. He wound up not being able to ski for the rest of the week End Quote

Bit worried about this. Did the ski not come off? The rental people should have set the bindings to allow the boot to come out if the skier twists their legs or whatever. They should set it to come off easier for an inexperienced skier who is more likely to fall over. This should avoid the leverage (can be rather large) of the ski damaging some part of your leg. The fitter should ask you how experienced you are and set them accordingly.

Go back at a less busy time or the next day. The rental people know they may not get fitting right at the first go, and have no problem dealing with people later.

That's the plan for this year. We're flying on a Tuesday, will be in resort for around 3pm. We plan to collect our equipment that afternoon and lift passes will be valid from the next day so plenty of time to get properly fitted.
The DC and I have spent some time at our local dry slope over the last year, so that's made me more confident with putting equipment on. It was just DH almost turning his ankle last week that made me think about how easily he does it.

In fairness, the staff were great when we did go back once or twice. DS2 had one ski that was set a little too loose so it would come off at the slightest turn. I took him back at a quiet time of day and they refitted it no problem.

I can't remember if DHs ski came off. I think it did, but he'd already turned his ankle. Though it didn't really start to hurt until that evening and overnight. I certainly remember us both picking them up and clipping back into them after some tumbles.

Did he give his correct weight and ability at the fitting? For a beginner, your boot should snap out of the ski if you sneeze to stop this. They change the increase force required to do this depending on your weight and ability. Some beginners lie about their weight to get a tighter binding for some reason, but doing that is just plain stupid.

The expensive option would be to buy him some boots so that the liner is moulded to his foot and he knows exactly how to tighten them. You can still hire skis that will fit with his boot.

His fall didn't happen until the end of the 3rd day. We'd had no issues until then. I think it was a combination of fresh powder (it had only just stopped snowing), speed, and the angle he fell at. All the information given was correct and they'd been popping off fine.