To maximize skiing enjoyment, proficiency and safety, all skiers should have their equipment anatomically adjusted so that they are balanced when in a flat static condition. One of the most critical anatomical adjustments is referred to as “ramping” and another critical adjustment is referred to as “canting”.
It is common to see skiers in the “back seat” when skiing. When a skier's weight is over the tails of his skis, it is difficult to turn and to control speed. Bumps tend to throw the skier further out of balance to the rear. Significant muscular effort is required to pull the body forward over the center of the skis or to pressure the front of the boots. The cause may be related to the fit of the ski boots, but even if the fit has been optimized for the skier's feet, the heel height versus the toe height when mounted in the ski/binding system is not likely to be optimal. Since by design most ski-binding systems have different heel versus toe heights, an optimal boot and binding combination is unlikely to be achieved even if the boot fit is originally correct. Although often referred to as ramp angle, the actual measurements are given in millimeters of difference with positive numbers meaning the heel is higher than the toe. Ramping alters the longitudinal tilt or “ramp angle” at which a boot supports a skier's foot and lower leg, relative to the longitudinal running surface or bottom plane of an attached ski, by raising the toe and/or the heel of the boot. Adjusting the heel and/or toe height to create an optimal ramp angle has a number of important advantages. In a static position such as on a cat track, a traverse, or the run-out at the end of a slope, the amount of muscular effort is minimized as is also the case when standing in a lift line or stopping on the hill. In a more dynamic situation, the skier adjusts his balance away from a neutral position but returns to it or passes through it frequently. With modern skis and skiing technique, the neutral or balanced position is one where equal weight is felt by the skier to be on the ball of the foot and the heel and the skis are not felt to be “tipped out”.
The basic turns in skiing require either sliding a flat ski sideways or tilting the “outside” ski on its edge creating an arc for the ski to follow—or some combination of these two actions. If the ski is in a laterally tilted position when the skier is in his normal skiing position, skiing is very difficult and turning even more so. Excessive anatomical positions are required to flatten and “edge” the skis at the appropriate times. Canting alters the lateral tilt or “cant angle” at which a boot supports a skier's foot and lower leg, relative to the longitudinal running surface or bottom plane of an attached ski. Optimizing the cant angle improves skeletal alignment and allows the skier to tilt or “edge” the ski with the least amount of muscular effort.
In the 1993 book The Athletic Skier, authors Warren Witherell and David Evrard wrote that, “In our 1994 clinics with racers and ski instructors, we found that more than half were out of balance to the rear. A great many (especially the women) needed some heel lift inside the boot, where it should be integrated with an orthotic. (page 43, footnote added in 1994)” and “Only when properly canted can our bodies and skis work as efficiently as possible. By tilting or canting our boots, we can precisely control the geometry of our legs and establish an ideal position over our skis. Canting is the final step in the alignment process that makes efficient and balanced skiing possible for all skiers.”
Recent changes in equipment design have only magnified the importance of optimizing a skier's cant angle and ramp angle. Some of these changes include the lateral stiffening of boot shells, the increased elevation or stand-height of binding systems, and the exaggerated side cut or shape of modern skis.
Unfortunately, most ski shops still do not offer canting services. Therefore, only a small percentage of skiers ever have their cant angle tested or altered. There are numerous reasons for this which will become apparent in the review of prior art.
Ironically, although ramp angle is even more important than canting, even fewer ski shops adjust the ramp angle once the boot is found to be acceptably comfortable by the skier. While ramp angle is dependent on the ramp angle defined by the boot, it is more dependent on the angle defined by a particular ski binding toe and heel height. Manufacturers do not specify to the ski shop or to the skier the relative heights of the toe and heel on a binding. This difference can vary in current binding models from one binding model to another by over ten millimeters.