This is not a commercial website but I welcome feedback and will respond to questions as soon as I have the time.
I discovered the elements of cant adjustment by reading the late Warren Witherell’s classic work “The Athletic Skier”. Being on the fringes of ski racing, I discussed this issue with many coaches (mostly Austrian), and eventually corrected my own boots by trial and error.
When I discovered John Gorman’s beautifully elegant analysis of lateral alignment, and his equally simple and highly functional ‘KPS Gauge’, I decided that it might benefit many skiers if I made this information public on this website.
Contact addresses:
Peter White (website author) peterwhite17@hotmail.com
John Gorman (who developed the KPS concept and KPS Cant Gauge)
please contact via this link on his website
www.lower-
Comments, Feedback, Further Thoughts, & Links
Below is a hodgepodge of stuff. Extracts from emails that Peter and John have received, further thoughts of our own plucked from rough drafts or emails, and some weblinks we have discovered which should further illustrate the issues. All this material will be incorporated more neatly into the website when time allows. But for the time being I am dumping them all here so that you can enjoy the thrill of exploration and the satisfaction of discovery.
With reference to your question about over-
That's the whole problem I think. Top professionals undergo a natural selection because, within limits, over-
Peter White in email response
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I am sorry to hear that so few people are interested in your gauge. On the slopes you can see how many of them are struggling with skiing because of bad alignment. Luckily we have internet now so if you pursue certain goal you can always find an answers on the web, but generally people are too ignorant or lazy. Also lots of great things are hidden to general public because of lack of money for promotion.
email to John from purchaser
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Gauge was finished way ago. It is much easier to measure this way than Warren's method. Also it seems accurate as it confirmed things that I suspected. Now I am eagerly awaiting some decent snow on Austrian glaciers to check out things live.
email to John from purchaser
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I would like to order one of your gauges for my shop. Craigdon Mountain Sports, 78 Academy street. Inverness. IV1 1LU. I believe that the staff in our Perth shop have been using the gauge for a year and have found it very useful.
email to John from purchaser Craigdon Mountain Sports website here:
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Boot fitters, when they address these issues at all, tend to complicate the argument. Typically, they will say that cuff alignment does something different from using canting shims under the binding (or grinding the boot sole). In fact the effect on leg geometry is identical and stance can be returned to normal by any of these methods. However, I would argue that, so long as no more than about 6 degrees of adjustment is required, it is easier and simpler to shim the boot cuff. In addition, this method leaves the foot standing flat to the ski which may have a slight advantage in that it ties the ski directly into the skier's proprioception as to foot position. It also allows the skier to jump onto any ski and retain alignment, which under-
Another common misconception, promoted by some boot-
The final damaging nonsense sometimes promoted by boot-
Peter White, Surrey, UK , 2011 (somewhat grumpy at the end of a long season on snow)
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Brilliant video illustrating an important issue for racers. Boot fitters (even the absolutely excellent Jules in Chamonix) simply don’t get this. Top coaches do understand and racers should get a grip on this subtle issue themselves. If this was good enough for Ingemar Stenmark it is certainly good enough for Jon. Many thanks for having the courage to show this on-
Top skiers will nearly always need small adjustments in or out to the cuff angle of their boots. And a huge number of recreational skiers will never be in balance without very large adjustments. Very few people will understand.
Peter White commenting on this excellent video of freeride legend and aspiring ski-
(and I think he should have gone further)
Watching that video reminds me that some racers cant their boots but don’t call it that. They use the expression “Set-
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Here is an excellent illustration of a young ski racer set up with under-
If you were to remark that quite a few World Cup level women skiers have this sort of stance I would have to agree. The $29,000 question is whether any correction should be made. My opinion is that they should be brought into alignment. You never see the likes of Vonn, Maze, or Fenninger skiing in this stance!
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And here is a slightly less useful illustration of an over-
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A while ago I discovered a wonderful video online which started off with a discussion of Ingemar Stenmark’s system of canting the underside of his boots. If anyone has the link to that video I would be very grateful if they would send it to me as I have lost it. It is one of those hidden gems buried so deep in cyberspace that the search engines can’t find it and I certainly can’t.
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Finally (for now) a link to an outfit in the USA that certainly talks the talk when it comes to boot alignment. I hesitate a little because I rather fell out with Harald Harb when I contacted him by email. He seems to have what I might call a very ‘Austrian’ attitude with regard to the superiority of his own experience and qualifications. And his total self-
By Peter White
Virtually every skier will benefit from the correct alignment of their boot to exactly match their legs.
And large numbers can never hope to ski well until this adjustment is made.