Keeping warm and comfortable on the slopes this season

There are three key factors to staying warm in ski boots:

• Starting the day with warm and dry boots
• Regulating moisture throughout the day
• Maintaining good blood circulation to your extremities

Start with warm and dry boots – It’s crucial that we take the time every day to dry our boots. Almost all hotels/chalets in leading resorts provide some kind of drying facilities, in busy periods these quickly become overcrowded and commonly wet ski boots are placed around or above your own. 

For peace of mind, or just personal preference you can have your own personal drying station to use in the hotel room. We recommended the Hotronic Snap Dry System as the best personal dryer.

The Snapdry dries and warms boots and gloves using gentle air and heat, ensuring drier, more comfortable feet and hands (without damaging or effecting liner heat fitting or custom footbeds).

It folds away small, fitting inside a pair of ski boots, it’s multi-region compatible at the flick of a switch (North America/Europe) and a built-in timer provides up to 24 hours of drying time (great for splitting drying times – gloves/boots).

Regulating moisture throughout the day - Choice of socks can have a profound effect on comfort and warmth throughout a ski day. However good your boots are, a bad pair of socks can ruin your day. Cotton socks absorb sweat and will quickly feel wet next to your skin, causing discomfort and an increased risk of blistering.

By contrast, performance ski socks are made from a wicking material such as merino wool or a synthetic fibre. Our sock of choice has to be the new Smartwool Phd ski socks, the fabrics draw moisture away from your skin, leaving it feeling dry and comfortable. Cushioning will be zoned under the heel and ball of the foot to provide shock absorption, while strategic use of thinner mesh zones helps keep feet cooler and anatomical design gives a really great fit.

Maintaining good blood circulation to your extremities - When colder outside temperatures are detected, the nervous system restricts blood flow to the extremities to maintain the body's core temperatures. The toes (and other extremities) quickly become uncomfortably cold.

Other factors aggravate the situation such as poorly fitting footwear, physical activity levels, individual physiology, and improper selection and use of socks. Also, the presence of moisture (damp socks, wet footwear) increases thermal transfer significantly. This causes heat to escape more rapidly and cold to penetrate faster.

By providing a base level temperature at the toes, Hotronic's E3 Footwarmer heating element blocks and neutralizes the penetrating cold keeping the blood circulation open and maintaining comfort and warmth in the feet.

Heated insoles have come a long way in the past few years, developments in this type of product has created a practical and affordable solution for fending off cold and painful feet whilst skiing.

Instructors, first and last chair enthusiasts or just skiers not so keen on the cold are starting to realize that having heated insoles provides a means to battle the elements and enjoy their skiing in some of the harshest conditions the mountain can throw our way.

We stock the Hotronic's E3 Footwarmer set because it packs in all of the must have features – 100-240v settings at the flick of a switch and American, European and Uk power converter/charger come as part of the kit, compact NiMH battery pack capable of providing up to 17hours of heating selected for its cold temperature performance and all the components required to adapt existing custom/stock insoles.

A really great product which brings the option of comfort and warmth at an affordable price for any and all types of skiers.