The mystery of my too small ski boots

When skiing the first two days, I increasingly had sore feet.   You might be surprised, but I own my own ski equipment, which we bought about 13-14 years ago I believe when we got our property in the east of Belgium. We were enthusiastic and hoping to ski each year in Ovifat. 

It had been 12 years ago since we had been on a ski vacation.  After all that time I had forgotten what a struggle it is to get into the ski boots. Boy those are dreadful.  I got in them with perseverance just like I had just done before in Snow World. 

While skiing me toes hurt.  I know my ski technic is bad and my body leans backwards too much instead of leaning forward. That pushes my toes upward.  So I assumed that that made it painful.

Nevertheless, over lunch on the lovely terrace , my feet were terribly sore even when sitting and seemed to go numb.  I asked whether Jan and the boys had the same feeling but they looked at me in surprise.   "Are your boots ok, can you move your toes when you lean forward?" .  Yes, they are tight, but that's what skiboots are supposed to be and I can wiggle my toes. 

During the 2nd afternoon however,  I took a break before the boys were done and I couldn't relax properly with my sore feet. Screw it, I descend to the valley and I'm gonna ask in the store where we rented the boys' equipment to measure my feet and boots.  Just imagine I am not wearing the good size.  But how can I not be wearing the good size since this is not the first skiing vacation with these boots. 

And so I did.  And guess what ?  My ski boots are 1 up to 2 sizes 2 small for my feet?!? No wonder. How is that possible? How did I end up possessing and skiing with boots that are significantly too small.   Yes I could wiggle my toes but even in rest they touch the end...and I learned that's not how it's supposed to be.  I quickly rented some bigger boots and gosh what a difference.  Boots don't need to be tight at all.  I was always told that they need to be tight, but it's just around your closures.  But your toes get all the space they want. 


The next day it was such a relief to ski with boots with the correct size! It was definitely my best day of skiing...until I fell of course. 

So what remains is the mystery how I could end up with these small boots?  They are a brand of Decathlon so I assume I bought them in self-service in the store in the assumption "they need to be tight but you need to be able to wiggle your toes".  Literally, just wiggle your toes.  But how is it possible I only discover it 14 years later?  We were in Tignes in 2012...but there was so much snowstorms and avalanche risks that we didn't ski every day.  I probably really didn't ski a lot, not enough to get serious toe pain.  Same story when I just ski an hour in Ovifat or one indoor hour or ...  Or my feet grew?