Electric ski boot warmers

Magnetron
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:01:04 +0000

I ski quite a bit and I’m a gear junkie, so here’s my take on keeping feet warm from most expensive to least:

$400 and up: A pair of good fitting ski boots. Poor boot fit causes a lot of problems including cold feet. Full Tilt brand boots come standard with top-of-the-line heat moldable Intuition liners (see below). I don’t have Reynaud’s (wife does), but due to frostbite when I was younger my toes go numb quickly. This solved all my problems down to about zero degrees.

$150-250: Battery operated heated insoles. These have a small resistive wire heating element in the toe area of the replacement insole. They work well if installed correctly, but have the reputation of not being super durable.

$150-200: New Intuition liners. If your boot shells are in good shape and the right size, Intuition liners are the most comfortable and warmest liners you can buy. I wear Zip-Fit liners in my boots, but they are not as warm as the Intuition liners.

$30: Boot Gloves. These are 5mm Neoprene covers that fit over the foot portion of the boot. People swear by these on sub-zero days.

$15 and up: Electric socks. The ones I used did not work worth diddly. If someone has a better experience with these, please let me know.

$15-20: A good pair of moisture wicking ski socks. Anything that traps moisture against the skin is disaster in the mountains.

$5-20: Heat reflective tape. It’s an old mountain climber’s trick, but you can take out the liners and put heat reflective tape over the toe area and under the soles. It’s thin and won’t affect fit.

$3-6: Chemical foot warmers. They work for a few hours but can be bulky. We buy these in big boxes at the Costco.

Free, or nearly free: Always start with warm boots. If you have those reuseable microwave heat packs, stuff them in the boots when you are heading out, then put socks or gloves in top to keep the heat in. You can also do this with the chemical heat packs.