Okay after 10 months of problems getting new boots (yep that long but it is a long story worthy of an Academy award type saga - Steven Speilberg should make a movie about it) over the new year I finally got them on my feet.

It has been worth the wait. I have skated in them 3 times so far and today I was able to do my sit spin, all jumps up to a flip (they felt a little bit uncomfortable) and a bit of footwork.

They are of course a bit stiff and feel very different from my old Risports but the biggest blessing is they DO NOT HURT MY FEET like the Risports did. Every time I skated in the Risports I had to take them off three or four times during a session because they hurt my insteps so much and this was over FOUR YEARS (I just could not afford to buy new ones until last year). These Jacksons, apart from a couple of sore sport around the tounge area are so comfortable that I am sure in two weeks I will be able to work on new programs and do every thing I could before but even better. Some elements seemed to work so much better than previously and I think they have better balance because they a positioning my feet much better than the old ones.

So blessed are the Jacksons and a pox on the Risports. I still have not thought of an appropriate way to treat the ye olde Risports. Any creative methods of disposal would be great (I could throw them in the local river but that has already been done by Toller). A ceremonial burning on the ice? I was actually thinking of painting them gold and creating a little statue out of them.

__________________
Check out Cool Cat Skating Products - Australian Owned and Produced Skating Stuff.
www.geocities.com/aussiecoolcat/index

Remember that all feet are different and different boots suit different feet. Risport from what I understand is a fine brand, and somebody else would likely be happy with them. If they're still in usable condition (unlike my poor old Klingbeils), stick a sign up at your rink offering them for a cheap price, or free if you're so inclined.

Oh these ones are definately unsellable - the leather is so ripped inside and they are pretty horrible. So burial of some kind (or sacrifice to the skating gods) would be more appropriate.

I used to have a pair of Risports (Super Diamont) that I loved and lasted 6 years. But the RF2s that are these ones were just awful.

__________________
Check out Cool Cat Skating Products - Australian Owned and Produced Skating Stuff.
www.geocities.com/aussiecoolcat/index

i have jackson's too, and i adore them. i've had them for over a month now, and i have not one blister to show for it. the only blister i have is from wearing a new pair of shoes.

if you had some good times in those skates, you could always get them bronzed and then show them to your kids/grandkids/great-grandkids and have them passed down from generation to generation as a sign of skating glory!

or you could do what my grandmother did and keep the skates like a packrat, and when you immigrate to the US from Russia, make sure to take them with you in hopes that you might have a grand kid who will wear them without realizing skates are a fair bit cheaper and easier to come by than they were in the former soviet union. Lemme tell you, those skates are old! and no support, i think over the years, holes have started developing in the leather.