It's shimmed with a wedge. So it's flat on the other side. Sorry the pix doesn't quite show that.  I'll put the problem in point form:

> Persistent and sharp pain in upper/outer hip area of back leg after skiing. This is just above the waist at my side.  Had to workaround it most of last year.

Spent the winter in the gym to resolve with typical stuff, healed and it was fine at the start of the season - but came back last month after pulling pretty hard in a heavy upwind.   When it "goes" I get this hot knife type pain during the set then I have to quit & back off to rest it.

Reason: Misalignment of leg, knee and foot during high loads causing imbalance and joint strain. (RSI)

Remedy: Extremely difficult to isolate and simulate on dryland - therefore take corrective measures. But during some inline skating I was able to get a clue that loading my foot on the outer toes only, knee bent, caused the problem.

So in order to move that load to the inside of my rear foot toe region, I installed the wedge shim. When you shim something you actually increase the pressure on that area - like heel shims increase heel pressure, toe shims increase toe pressure.

On a slalom ski our legs go from 12" spacing at the Pelvis down to feet inline, one in front.  This is a real problem long term for RSI. (Repetitive stress injury). There are quite a few skiers having hip replacements or at least seem like it.

What is your  "intercondylar distance" ?? Put your ankles together and measure the gap between the knees. I am at about 1 1/4 inches. This is part of the equation.

Anyway, by my calcs shimming should be in 1/16" to 1/4" range. Your feet can be together and still handle lifting a heavy load. Just being inline is the issue.  We are talking 2-3 degrees of angle + the effects from measurement above.

I sanded the shim to about 0.25" for now. Also shimmed the front boot just a bit 1/16". The problem is really caused the toe region. As the knee flexes forward (compressed style) to put pressure on the front-of-the-rear foot this causes the misalignment.

I skied three sets, even went two today. My leg feels great very comfortable on the ski now. But because I've hammered it pretty good for over a month it will need a long time to heal.

For the shim I am using a sandable dense EVA that we get from the factory in China. For the front - just used EVA that we have for the plates.

Last edited by Shark (Mon, Aug 9, 2010 5:57 PM)