Development of the Ski Boot: from its earliest days as a shoe to the modern era of high-tech manufacture

The "skill", if you can call it such a thing, to skiing is to make sure that you go from the top of a mountain to the bottom, preferably as fast as possible! As far as this "skill" is concerned, there is very little need for equipment - after all, if you are at the top of a mountain and want to go to the bottom, the laws of gravity and physics are going to ensure that it happens. However, there is a secondary skill to skiing: to make sure that you survive the journey down the mountain without causing harm or injury to yourself. In order to do this, one needs a little assistance; but, aside from warm clothes, skis and ski-poles, one essential element of clothing that you are going to need is a good, safe, pair of Ski Boots.

The early development of the Ski Boot

Although man has been using skiing as a means of transportation for centuries, the Ski Boot (as a specialized piece of equipment) did not really factor into the safety/comfort equation until the early 1900s, when a modified shoe was used as a Ski Boot. At the outset, as with everyday wear shoes, these early Ski Boots were lace-up shoes made entirely from leather that strapped, by means of leather straps, onto the ski. However, this very early primitive shoe had its problems - not least of which was that it had almost non-existent protection for the ankle, which led to a large number of ankle injuries.

The safety factor drives the development of the Ski Boot

In the 1970s mass produced shoes made from rigid plastic were introduced once everyone realized that using a stretchable fabric - like leather - for boots meant there was a good chance of the non-waterproof shoe getting wet; which, in-turn, meant that the skier's ankles were not being protected. These more modern boots also made sure that the skier's foot was protected all the way up to the calf. The result of this fairly simple change in design and manufacture was an almost 80 per cent decline in ankle related injuries!

Today's Ski Boot

Today's Ski Boot is a far cry from its cousin of the 1950s and early 1960s. Today Ski Boots are professionally manufactured and are seen as an essential safety element in any skier's clothing equipment. As well as developments in the design and manufacture of the boot itself, advances have also been made from the primitive leather straps, from the initial concern that the boot and ski remain attached, so that today's skier has a well honed choice of strapping to use when skiing - and includes strapping that allows the boot and ski to part so as to ensure that the skier does not suffer any injury as a result of a fall where the ski cannot separate itself from the boot. All of these changes to the Ski Boot have certainly helped to develop a safer modern-day sport.

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