This is my newest article published by skiracing.com. I met with one of the top boot service men in the world of professional skiing, Florian Watschinger, who shared his thoughts about his handcraft and the challenges it can put on (young) athletes.
Florian Watschinger travels a lot, knows all the ski resorts you can think of and during the last 14 years, he has become an insider in the ski racing world as a well-known boot technician for some of the world’s best ski racers. Currently, the South Tyrolean works for Dalbello, and in the past has also worked for boot giants Lange and Head.
Since 2005, when he started with Lange, a lot has changed in the world of race boots. The trend that Watschinger says is most notable is that athletes typically have more pairs of boots than they used to. Generally speaking, there is nothing wrong with this trend, but it carries a hidden trap that many athletes, especially young athletes, can get caught in.
“Finding the right setup is important, no doubt, but testing and searching for the perfect setup can trap athletes …
Monica Hübner 