The present invention relates to an orthotic and a boot and orthotic assembly. The orthotic insert is adapted to be removably positioned in the boot and comprises a foot portion and an ankle portion. The foot and ankle portions referrably have a releasable interconnection. The orthotic and the boot have releasable interconnecting means by which the orthotic insert can be releasably secured to the boot to restrain upward movement of the orthotic ankle portion relative to the ankle portion of the boot.

An insole for shoes having a plurality of protrusions, each of the protrusions having a ventilation hole formed through its center. A protrusion is connected with a thin support portion protruding from the insole and having a downwardly increasing diameter, so that the protrusions are integrally molded with the insole. The support portions can have a frustoconical shape. In order to prevent the insole from being easily deviated from the shoe, a pad having double-faced tape and a plurality of lugs is provided.

Footwear is provided with a series of removable insoles, each being adapted to be detachably installed to the outsole. The insoles have a wearing surface which conforms to the shape of the user's foot, the wearing surface of each insole being configured to accommodate a progressively larger foot size, increasing the useful life of the footwear and optionally eliminating the sockliner. In the preferred embodiment the footwear comprises decorative lights of as many different colors as there are insoles in the series, and each insole is provided with an actuator positioned to activate a specific color of light. Each insole may be colored or color coded to match the color of the lights activated thereby, and can be identified by the color code applied to either the lights or the insoles. The insoles may alternatively be integrated into a single insole with tear-away layers.

A snowboard binding that can readily attach and release a boot from a snowboard. The binding includes a binding housing that is mounted to the snowboard. The housing has a pair of pin holes that receive locating pins which extend from the sole of a boot. When the snowboarder inserts the pins into the holes, a pair of locking pins extend through apertures in the locating pins to secure the boot to the board. The locking pins are coupled to a lever which can be rotated by the user. Rotation of the lever moves the locking pins out of the locating pin apertures so that the boot can be detached from the board. The binding housing includes a base plate that is mounted to the snowboard and a cover plate which contains the locking pins and release mechanism. The cover plate is coupled to the base plate by a tie down bolt which can be unscrewed to allow rotation of the cover plate relative to the board. Rotating the cover plate also rotates the pin holes and the corresponding foot position of the snowboarder.