Greetings All,

This past summer under the direction of USSA and the US State Dept., one of our Catamount IC coaches traveled to a small Tibetan village in the Himalayan Mountains. Coach Ky Tek accepted the assignment with open arms to meet with the Dalai Lama for the purpose of discussing technical aspects of boot fitting for junior racers. You say why a meeting with the Dalai Lama. Well, prior to accepting his official promotion to the 14th Dalai Lama and taking on the charge of promoting peace and social justice around the world, he apprenticed in a prestigious boot manufacturing shop; MT Everest Boot Fitters Guild. In an attempt to stay a step ahead of the Austrian, Italion and French world cup teams, Ky Tek jumped at the opportunity. The following report is a summary of the information shared by the Dalai Lama. We can not divulge the exact location where the meeting took place in order to keep this information from falling into the hands of the above world cup teams. I can vouch for the accuracy of Coach Ky Tek’s report, but not for the validity of the story setting the tone of this report. Coach Ky Tek has a wealth of technical knowledge, please feel free to approach him with your questions on the slope.

Regards,
John Greaser
I would like to add a bit about the equipment (boots and undergarments in particular). I hope you could post it (but I will relay completely on your judgment with that —

The most important part of your child’s gear is the boot.
the comfort of the boots and the way they are fitted will make or brake your child’s day.
below are several pointers that I would like to share with you when it comes to a comfortable boot fitting.

— I am assuming that your child’s boots are of the correct size. with younger children it is not a huge deal if a boot is up to one size bigger (they feet grow so it will not be a disaster if the boot is a bit bigger). those of you who rent the equipment for the season may not need to worry about larger boots, because many rental places will accommodate your child’s growing feet. keep in mind, however, that the boot selection in the beginning of the season is very much different from what is available in the middle of it. if your child likes the boots and feels comfortable in them, it may be a more prudent approach to rent a bit larger boot and keep it for the season, rather than relay on exchanging the boots in the middle of it, and getting the last dusted pair from the forgotten corner of the store.

— please make sure that, when you are gearing up your child for the day of skiing, the front part of the sock (the part that covers your child’s shin) is smooth and not wrinkled, and that a possible undergarment is also not wrinkled on the front of the leg. if the warm undergarment is used and does not fit tightly on the leg, it can be folded in the back of the leg, with the front remaining smooth and wrinkle free. there is a profound logic behind why this is very important: the only way a skier can control her/his skis is by pressing with the shin onto the inside part of the tongue, i.e. the front of the boot. the more pressure exerted there, the better control of the skis. if the socks and/or undergarments are wrinkled in that area of the leg, after a while of pressing, the leg will start aching. with the aching leg there will be less pressure that the child is willing to put onto the front of the boot, and, consequently, with less pressure, there will be less control of the skis. all other lower body clothes should be worn outside of the boot. that applies to overall long pants, ski pants with attached to them snow shields, and/or ski racing suit leggings.

— the boots should be buckled tightly. not to the point of discomfort, but tightly. the best way of determining that is by snapping the buckle back. if there is no resistance in the buckle, and the buckle is “limp,” so to speak, the boot is not buckled tightly enough.

— later, when your child will start skiing more competitively and graduates to the tri-state level, it may be a good idea to look for a qualified boot fitter to fit your child’s race boots to the racing standard. ask other parents and coaches who, in their opinion, is a good boot fitter. there are many boot fitters out there, but there are very few good ones.

— every child tolerates the outside temperatures differently. you know the best what is the proper choice of clothes for your child. keep in mind, however, that your children will be moving while on the hill. they may be feeling much warmer from you, if you choose to stand and watch them ski. try to make sure that they are not overdressed. by the same token, encourage your child to talk to his/her coach if she/he feels cold. there is the provision in our training regiments on particularly cold days that allows, if not encourages, recess for those children who feel cold.

thank you and enjoy the season.