Managing Heel Lift

Equipment Discussion with Kailee

7 min ·  Gear Management Course

I’ve always had problems with my shoes fitting correctly, but I didn’t know my problems stemmed from heel lift until a couple of years ago on a ski trip. My friend pointed out I was having trouble digging into my turns because my heel was moving vertically as I pressed into the tongue of my boots. I then realized that I have the same trouble with staying in all my shoes. I tend to wear holes very quickly in the heel of my shoes, and am prone to blisters even in my most worn-in hiking boots; even as a kid I felt like my shoe was always falling off so I would tie my laces extra tight only to break them after a couple months. In reality, I just had narrow heels and needed to tie my shoes differently to manage the heel lift I was experiencing. 

Heel lift is when the back of your heel slides up out of the heel pocket of your shoe which causes friction when you’re walking or moving. This typically happens when you have a narrow heel compared to the width of the rest of your foot. It’s especially important for rafters to understand heel lift because we are constantly manipulating our feet in different ways on the river, which is already a dynamic environment, to stay in the boat, climb on rocks, or even swim. To help avoid injuries like excessive blisters or rolling your ankle, and to simply just avoid losing your shoe while falling out of the raft, it is critical that you address these issues off the water. Buying the correct shoes is only half the battle; in addition to selecting the right piece of equipment you will still need to understand how to correctly tie your shoes to avoid heel issues.

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