Slide In with Slide On
There are lots of moments we look forward to every ski season. Chances are, putting on ski boots for the first time each winter is not one of them.
Last spring you cleaned your boots and put them away for the summer. Now, after months on the shelf or in the closet, those puppies are ready to come out and play. But not without a struggle.
Say hello to Raymond Fougere, a 77 year old one time aeronautical engineer and former ski instructor and coach who a dozen years ago concocted Slide On, a teflon-like powder spray that when applied to the inside of a ski boot eliminates the grunts and groans we all associate with that start of ski season.
Fougere, who is a company of one based in Tiverton RI, founded Booster Straps in 1999 to help racers and other performance skiers get a tighter fit in their ski boots. It is still a standard in the sport and he sells some 35,000 of them each years through his business SkiMetrix. For years, it was a one product business. He wanted a sister product to market.
A friend, a chemical industry salesman and fellow skier, suggested Fougere try to come up with a ski boot product that could tackle another problem – putting them on. Now this was not a new issue. There are silicon sprays on the market today and the Alpine Boot Horn is a long shoe horn designed specifically to help with boot entry. And rear entry boots are making a comeback. Nordica already has a model in he shops and other brands are expected to follow suit.
The secret to Slide On is a teflon like powder that forms a liquid that is packaged as a spray that, unlike silicon, when applied does not build up on inside the boot or eat away the lining. As a user of the product for several years, I can attest it works. I keep a can in my boot bag. My grunt and groan days are over. It is available in many ski specialty shops and retails for $15 for a two ounce container that for most skiers can last up to a full season. The website for Slide On is skimetrix.com.
Looking forward to that first day on the slopes. Booting up has never been easier.
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I open 2 handwarmer packs and put one in each of my boots an hour before I am going to put them on, and they go on easily.
I do the same. I the. Put my boots in their bag with a ski glove shoved into each to keep the heat in.
I microwave an athletic sock half filled with long grain rice for about 90 seconds. Place inside boot and drive 45 minutes to my local ski mountain. Boot is comfortably warm and easy to get on.
I don’t have them handy but I us3 a half sleve of a slick material topped by a wooden handle. The sleve goes in the back of the boot and my foot easily slides in. The handle is then used to remove the sleve.
Its called the Bootster and is advertised on theis site.
I bought a spray can of SlideOn about five years ago. It’s great stuff, and you only need to use it a few times per season (I usually ski 80-100 days per season). It’s obvious that Fougere won’t get rich selling a product that costs 15 bucks and essentially lasts forever!
Sounds like a marvelous way to help your heel move around while you are skiing.
I have been using the Bootster for many seasons and it works great and doesn’t leave a Teflon mess on or in your boots.
the website is bootster.com
Our local 55+ club has many members using the light plastic bags from the produce department on their feet go make the boots easy to put on.