How Bode Miller Got Dialed In

PARK CITY, Ut. -- A few days before he left for Vancouver, Bode Miller was at peace. He had finally got his equipment -- new this season -- "dialed in."

Few people know the incredible amount of time it takes to fine-tune a racer's boots and skis. Most of that time is spent on the boots. They have to be like a slightly-flexible carapace, a hard shell that fits the foot perfectly and instantly transmits every movement made by the foot to the ski. Modern-shaped skis require a different type of skiing than earlier models demanded. In fact, shaped skis have radically changed the sport. Race skis are now shorter. Racers today ski more off the front of their boot, which makes the heel height of the foot important. From that fact has come the new buzzword of boot fitting: ramp angle.

The right ramp angle is what Bode got dialed in just two days before the Olympics. He explained ramp angle and then detailed what was done to his boots to 'dial them in.' He also talked about his ankle. More about that:

Everybody's heard about Lindsey Vonn's shin, but there hasn't been a word about Bode's ankle. He sprained his ankle badly in the middle of December during dry-land training with the ski team. Because he's been training and racing constantly ever since, it hasn't had a chance to heal. Aside from the pain, Bode constantly has to monitor the ankle so it doesn't swell before his last race in Vancouver. The slalom is always one of the final Olympic events. The only reason he can even race is because his boot acts like a cast. But there's more to it than that. Truth is, the dude is in that special place of Olympic grace that sometimes happens to Olympians; he's inspired. Bode will be the hero of these Games.

Back to ramp angle, which is the angle of your foot from heel to toe, and from side to side, on the boot liner. Here's how Bode explained it: "We [racers] have a boot board, just like you have in your boot, underneath your liner [between the liner and plastic boot]. Normally we shave it down a lot in the heel so it drops your heel down. So your heel is lower [than it was]. Normally when you do that, you put a bit more forward lean on your boots, so your knee is a little bit more forward but your ankle is down. That gives you more ankle flexion. But with my ankle injury, I can't do that right now, it's too painful. The forward position of my ankle [when his ankle is deeply bent] is what hurts the most. And I can't go to the front of the boot when it's like that, so I was looking to open up the angle of my ankle, so it's more back, so my ankle doesn't hurt as much. That way I could at least ski aggressively. We finally found a setup that works well with an open [straighter] ankle position."

Here, Bode gets technical: "I actually lifted my heel inside the boot compared to what I've been before, and decreased the ramp angle outside the boot by a lot, and then put a little bit more shim in the back."

This is racer stuff. Your local shop-fitter may not yet even know about ramp angles. But racer stuff is always the next advance in some part of skiing. Before too long, the shop boot-fitter [and you] will know the angle at which your foot should be placed in your boot to make you ski better.

Just like Olympic skiers are skiing now.