# Heel lift issues?



## Snowboarder150 (Oct 18, 2012)

Hello everyone, I am new to the forum, and relatively new to snowboarding in general (just got finished with my 7th day snowboarding) and, unfortunately, through all the issues that I've had and solved, one seems to be really standing out and causing me problems. Now, I'm sure this has been gone over before and is a fairly common issue, but let me explain a little bit if you would be so kind and have a little patience. I've been through 3 pairs of boots, and have tried on at least 30 in various stores. And yes, I've tried on all the different styles: Traditional lace, quickfit, boa, dual boa, combos, etc. I've tried on many different sizes from many different companies too: 13, 12, 11.5, and 11 (I wear a size 13 shoe, so a 12 or 11.5 boot seems to fit me best) but I cannot for the life of me find a boot that inhibits heel lift with my foot. I have come to the conclusion that it must be my foot, and not the boots. I have flat feet, a condition where the arches of your feet are basically flattened/nonexistant, and it is especially pronounced when you put pressure on the foot. Point is, this widens that part of the foot. Now think about it: As a result, when you tighten the bottom part of the boot, it is going to tighten the foot and then the heel. Boots are engineered for people with normal feet, so the heel gets tight; with my feet, it is impossible for the heel to get tight enough, because my fat (no, that's not a typo) foot is preventing it from doing so. 

At first, I thought it was normal for my heel to lift out away from the sole a good inch or so every time I did a toeside turn (or just pushed up on my toes when trying them on) but apparently, this is not the case. Time after time again, I get different people telling me that something is wrong: friends, coworkers, etc. They all tell me that their heels are simply one with the boot, and that they don't lift out a centimeter; that they should be firmly pressed up against the bottom in all situations. And yes, I am totally knowledgeable on how to put a boot on and tighten it down enough, so please don't lecture me on that. May I also add that I've been trying to just deal with it, but it is getting out of hand. I am getting incredibly sick of this nuisance, because it really has, believe it or not, caused some crashes. I don't think I need to explain to you the reasons this needs to be fixed. 

Whew. Now, before I finish, I'd like to applaud you, reader, for getting this far into my "story." I know that it is long, but I am just trying to help you understand my situation, and therefore be able to provide me with a helpful answer to my final question:

What can be done to fix this?


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## Basti (Sep 22, 2011)

We seem to have very similar feet and I had the same problems you have. I know how much of a pain in the ass it is. I've tried a lot of things and here's what I came up with:

There are two brands that you should look into because they have great heel cuff articulation in their liners, at least in their higher end models: Nitro and Salomon. Try the Nitro Team TLS. They should hold your heel down and they have a pretty wide toe box. Those are the only boots that ever eliminated my heel lift completely. On another note I didn't find them overly comfy.

Secondly, get custom insoles! Regular insoles mostly suck and with customs you can make sure your arch will be higher and fit better into your boot. Either have them made for you (expensive) or look at Remind insoles, Footprint Gamechangers, etc. This won't help very much with heel lift but will assure you're much more comfy.

Don't let anyone tell you that tools like J-bars will help you very much with boot fit problems. They are nice for fine tuning the fit but will not make a boot fit that didn't fit in the first place.

Good luck!


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## ETM (Aug 11, 2009)

I have extra insoles under my normal insole to bring my foot up to the top of the boot.

A bit of stick on foam above the ankle helps too but they do fall off regularly.

Boots with the inner harness attached to the outer are awesome for stopping heel lift.

Just took pics but photobucket wont open


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## behi (Feb 27, 2013)

Basti said:


> Don't let them anyone you that tools like J-bars will help you very much with boot fit problems. They are nice for fine tuning the fit but will not make a boot fit that didn't fit in the first place.


+1

IMO, tight fit in the heel area doesn't matter that much. What matters is that the boot isn't too wide around the ankle area, so that the ankle strap can hold down your foot.

You might want to try the boot along with your binding. Even if you have heel lift with the boot alone, things can look quite different once you strap in.

Also try a different ankle strap angle (if it is adjustable). The highest/most backward mounting holes work best for me.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

I find this to work really well. You can also add some j-bars above the ankle for added hold-down. Not too many boots fit the foot well. Liners are very generic in design.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

There are Dakine Heel Anchors, I used them for a couple of years and they work...they go between the liner and the shell and can only be used with lace up boots. Its basically a heel wrap that cinches the ankle/heel locked down...works really well.


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## TheNorminator (Jan 6, 2013)

wrathfuldeity said:


> There are Dakine Heel Anchors, I used them for a couple of years and they work...they go between the liner and the shell and can only be used with lace up boots. Its basically a heel wrap that cinches the ankle/heel locked down...works really well.


Wait, why can't they work with other lacing systems? No BOA, speedlace, etc.?


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

I got a couple sets around somewhere and would take a pic....but they have 2 loops that the laces run through. I guess you could run a boa through but it would cut through the web loop tabs pretty quick. Anyway I used them with old 32 lace 305's and used the dual zone lacing technique so my foot could loose but cuff was tight and heels were locked down. It would be pretty easy to make a set out of seatbelt webbing and take it to a shoe repair or heavy sewing place to sew up.


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

has anyone tried:

The Eliminator Auto Molding Custom Tongue


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

tanscrazydaisy said:


> has anyone tried:
> 
> The Eliminator Auto Molding Custom Tongue


I have. They work ok but hasn't eliminated my heel lift. They helped though. but not eliminate. I have super skinny heels and ankles. But wide feet, and wide in the middle not the toe box. and only my left is wide. My right is normal.

Basically I'm fucked when it comes to boots.


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## suburbanlegend8 (Nov 14, 2012)

If you don't want any heel lift check out K2 boots with the boa conda system. Unlike other double boa boots, its an internal boa that locks down over your ankle. I've had the same issue in other boots and my K2 Maysis have eliminated the problem completely.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

jdang307 said:


> I have. They work ok but hasn't eliminated my heel lift. They helped though. but not eliminate. I have super skinny heels and ankles. But wide feet, and wide in the middle not the toe box. and only my left is wide. My right is normal.
> 
> Basically I'm fucked when it comes to boots.


I'm the same way. I almost always have to add mod's to reduce heel lift, no matter what boot it is. Thank god for boot fitting foam.


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

suburbanlegend8 said:


> If you don't want any heel lift check out K2 boots with the boa conda system. Unlike other double boa boots, its an internal boa that locks down over your ankle. I've had the same issue in other boots and my K2 Maysis have eliminated the problem completely.


DC has the winch.

But after 5 days in my DC boots the front is starting to fray and it got really wet today in spring slush.


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