i’m at mammoth right now, packing up and getting ready to return home. an observation: i’m seeing a lot of ski patrolmen ripping up the mountain on telemark equipment. it seems to be the newest thing, over the last 5 years or so, to take heavy duty garmont telemark boots, fix them to shaped alpine skis (or backcountry skis which are flexier, but are even bigger in terms of surface area), short (alpine length) poles, and go.
i talked to a few of them, and it’s no big deal really (tho i think it’s the height of grace and agility to see a really good telemarker on a steep alpine slope). the interesting thing is, they’re blending alpine and telemark. they don’t mind doing a parallel turn on their tele skis, to them it’s just “skiing.” and, they’ll strap skins to this equipment and go into the backcountry with it.
I am no expert in this area, but I have demo’d modern Tele equipment a few times and it’s truley remarkable gear. You can have a lot of fun with it in lift access areas, or you can venture into the back-country if you want to. It’s lighter than traditional alpine gear. You heel is free - which if you are coming from a cross-country skiing back ground feels much more comfortable than full on alpine gear with a locked down heel. And yes, you can paralell turn on this stuff and of course to classic Telemark turns to.
I’ve been telemark skiing for the past 10 years or so now. I can say that some of the bigger mountains on the upper right (Jay-Peak, Killington, Massif etc) have seen an exponential growth in the sport. Not one to follow trends, I started freeing my heels simply to access the sidecountry/backcountry - always hunting for some pow (a rare find on the East Coast). Yet, I usually have at least one or two skiers/boarders in the lift lines come up to me and ask me what’s up with the weird bindings.
I can attribute this growth to (much) better equipment, trained patrolers/instructors and the wave of new school kids doing insane tricks in the half pipes with tele gear mounted on twin tip slopestyle skis. Have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8Sukk23_g
Although the learning curve is a little steeper than alpine skiing, the benefits you reap (skin up, earn your turns, back/side country access, extra cardio, strenght workout, not having to rely on lift chairs) are really worth while.
My biggest advice for someone getting into tele skiing is to take lessons right off the bat. Also, most outdoor/ski friendly shops rent decent equipement now a days. I know a place in Montreal (leyeti.ca) that offeres complete equipement rental, a 4 hour lift ticket and a two hour lesson w/ certified tele instructors on weeknights for like $60. Redonk! Also, wait until the resorts close and score some rental gear at bargain basement prices.
Definitely good times. Boots and bindings are plenty stiff to parallel on, and nothing beats the feel of dropping a knee in powder. Absolutely incredible sensation, it’s pure bliss. Shaped skis are fun on the groomed stuff, they carve beautifully if your balance is good, and going out of bounds is easy enough. Plus a lot easier to skate on then alpine gear, and definitely no snowboard kicking! Worth demo’ing if you get a chance, count on achieving a new height of quad burn.
I started tele-ing when I was an alpine race coach back in the late 80s because it was much easier to schlep gates and drill around and set courses without popping in and out of bindings. That said, the key to the gear is the lighter skis when you get off piste. They need to be beefy enough to blast through crud, but light enough to float on powder with less weight distribution- and the modern advances of skis have allowed this. Plus, it is so much more fun! Like the previous poster said, banging some clean tele arcs in powder is the closest thing I have ever gotten to surfing, including snowboarding…it is bliss…
Dan
What you find out is the core of skiing: they don’t mind doing a parallel turn on their tele skis, to them it’s just “skiing.” and, they’ll strap skins to this equipment and go into the backcountry with it.
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Modern Telemark skiing has its roots in the US. But backcountry skiing with xc equipment has always been a part of skiing. I would also add AT skiing. You can find films from the 30 where Norwegian ski jumpers are doing front and back flips on xc-skis of wood and soft boots. Also remember that the current world record for ski jumping is 240 meters on free heel skis (just do a search on Youtube and you will be amazed).
The modern era of Telemark skiing had is biggest breakthrough with the high and stiff boots. Asolo had one model in leather, but Scarpa really made them better with their first plastic model T1. Then came the new skis, something that both boosted Telemark but even more managed to make alpine skiing fun again.
Bindings became a problem when boots got stiffer and skis got wider. The new Rottefella NTN is a step in the right direction (it was project managed by an old friend from Norway so I naturally thinks he did a good job
The Telemark technique is harder and more difficult. But a lot of skiers choose Telemark skiing because of that, and of course the novelty of doing something not so many others are doing.
If you have a alpine background the free heel can make you feel a little bit off balance, but if you have a xc-skis background the stiff equipment will make Telemark skiing easy.
when i looked at the youtube alex_m linked to, i followed the references and found this one that i think you’ll appreciate.
i paid my way through college as a nordic racer, so telemark skiing is not foreign to me. but we used to do our telemark turns on our racing skis. my racing buddy and i used to live in a ski in, ski out condo at heavenly valley north, at lake tahoe. half our training was just skiing up the switchback service roads (the “green” alpine ski trails) to the top, down the california side, then back up and down the nevada side back home. telemark turns were a part of the routine for us, but on waxable racing equipment.
i dropped all modes of winter sports for almost 30 years, and am just now picking it all back up. so, it’s a shock to see this new tele equipment. the thing about it that’s so cool, to me, is that i love stuff that is interdisciplinary. my favorite bikes these days are road/cross bikes that can go anywhere, do anything. i like the idea of equipment that’s fully functional as a backcountry ski, and something you can rip a double black alpine run in.
the one area where there seems to be no consensus is what to do with the poles. i see these guys with (short) alpine length poles, new schooling their tele turns one pole at a time (alpine style), while others have longer poles and old school their tele turns both poles planted each turn.
As an old xc-skier you will find the Telemark technique with today’s equipment an easy transition. Even if the equipment has changed, the law of physics that made you turn back in the days will still apply today. The biggest changed is that it is easier, less hard and more fun these days.
It is always easier to have short poles when you ski downhill. A lot of backcountry skiers are using adjustable poles. You keep them longer when you walk up and shorter when you ski down.
The Telemark turn is exactly the same as an alpine turn, but with one leg behind. I know that some will disagree with me and say that you should have more weight on both skis, but my approach to technique has always been to see what racers are doing and adjust it to recreational skiing. The same with the arms and poles, they should help you with balance and decrease the risks for over rotating.
I remember I was blaming my equipment for a not so perfect ski run down from a mountain top in Tromsoe Norway (I went to the university there in the 90), when a guy in his fifties with long narrow skis and soft boots just ripped it down the hillside. There went my excuse and I just had to admit that I needed an technique adjustment.
I’ve always thought of tele as the ultimate badass getup. I’ve never tried it myself, but it’s been one of those things in the back of my mind for ever. As a crappy descender on nordic skis I think spending some time working tele would probably be really beneficial as well…
Of of these days I’m just going to take my nordic gear up to Whistler and do runs on Magic all day. That’ll learn me in a hurry (especially if I can get one of my ski instructor buddies to buy in).
