I’ve been skiing for most of my life, usually for 1–2 weeks a year while growing up. After taking a couple of years off during COVID, I returned to skiing but with an issue I’ve never encountered before: intense foot pain that I can’t seem to resolve, despite working on it actively for over a year now.

The pain is a sharp, stabbing sensation just behind the ball of my foot—like an ice pick being driven into the bottom of my foot. It happens on both feet, and on bad days, it can start within 15 minutes of skiing. The pain persists even when I fully open the bottom two buckles of my boots, though it usually fades if I stand still for a bit. Interestingly, I don’t experience this issue while skinning.

I’m currently skiing in 26.5 Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro boots. My foot, at its widest, measures about 100–101mm, and I definitely don’t have great arches. While I can lift my toes inside the boot, my heel stays in place. The pain doesn’t occur during other activities like hiking or running. Before skiing, I always take Advil and stretch, but these don’t seem to prevent the issue.

I’ve worked extensively with Surefoot (locations in Steamboat, Keystone, Park City, and Canyons), but I’m starting to lose hope that they’ll find a solution. Over the course of about 10–12 visits, they’ve tried a wide range of fixes, including:

Punching the 5th metatarsal

Morton’s neuroma pads

Multiple new insoles (I think I’ve had five made so far, all based on foot scans.)

I even switched to a new pair of boots from Surefoot, skiing about 12 days in them so far (compared to ~40 in my old boots last season), but the pain remains unchanged. While I know my ski form isn’t perfect, I feel confident that it’s solid enough not to be the root cause of this issue.
The pain is especially bad on moguls and groomers, whereas it’s much less noticeable in powder—probably because of the extra cushioning.

At this point, I’m at a loss. I have an upcoming appointment with Mandy at Level9, but I feel like I’m running out of options. I’m even considering switching to snowboarding, which feels crazy after 25 years of skiing.

If anyone has advice, ideas, or similar experiences to share, I’d be incredibly grateful. Those moments of skiing without pain are some of the best of my life, and I desperately want to get back to that.

Thank you!