IF YOU ARE A SKI RACER


To have shown the early promise that allowed you to advance beyond children's ski-racing you must be lucky enough to have a shaft angle of your lower shin that is a fairly good match to the angle built into the average race boot. But you aspire to be better than fairly good in performance and it is unlikely that the configuration of your lower leg is anything other than individual. During your career so far you have probably discovered that some boots feel good and others not so good. And we are talking performance here not mere comfort! This probably reflected the differences in built-in canting. Believe us when we say that this can be a very big issue and if you want to achieve peak performance you must address boot alignment and not simply squeeze into the latest race boot available from the team pool, your favourite manufacturer, or ski race supply shop. Educate yourself and gain a real insight into cuff-canting and boot alignment. The KPS Cant Gauge should help you to work towards perfect equipment alignment for yourself. A level playing field will be opened up to let you achieve your full potential.


In the September 2011 issue of Ski Racing Magazine, USA World Cup skier Steven Nymen explains that he runs zero degrees of cuff-cant (perfect KPS in other words) and comments:  


"Some guys are one degree in or out. It sounds crazy that one degree changes that much, but that's the way it works."


We can only agree. You will even feel the affect of a half degree change!



IF YOU ARE A RECREATIONAL SKIER


Whether you are a beginner or an advanced skier you can benefit enormously from a knowledge of ski boot alignment (or canting). The KPS Cant Gauge is a tool you can use to check your alignment. Optimise your equipment and, whatever your level, your progress will then be limited only by your fitness, application, and desire. Don't let your boots block your progress or your enjoyment of this great sport. A level playing field will make skiing much more fun.


Even novice skiers taking their first steps into the sport will make much more rapid progress if their ski boots are correctly aligned. The rental boots you are using could be adjusted quite simply, or exchanged if you cannot bring them anywhere near correct alignment. The KPS Gauge cannot teach you to ski; that is a job for your instructor. But if you can utilise the gauge to avoid skiing on grossly misaligned boots you will be better able to perform the basic exercises that your instructor will be introducing and progress quickly to the satisfaction of you both. I should add that most complete beginners are rather preoccupied with the on-snow lessons and are unlikely to see the point of messing around with ski boots, which seem like mortal enemies at first. So someone, you perhaps, will have to modify their rental boots for them. Unless they are lucky enough to stumble into one of the tiny handful of ski-schools that will take the trouble to sort this out for them.


EVERY SKIER


Every skier needs to wear boots that allow a natural stance. It is as important for the novice trying to master the rudiments of the sport as it is for the expert trying to extract maximum performance in difficult terrain. And it is just as vital for everyone in between.

 
YOU should ski on a level playing field!

GET your ski boots aligned. CHECK that they are by using the KPS gauge.

This is for every skier: man, woman, or child.


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By Peter White