Telemark Ski - anyone know about it

undercover · Feb 19, 2018

I’ve been snowboarding pretty much my whole life. Now I want to try something new. I never learned how to “traditionally”
ski and I have no desire to do so. But both my daughters Ski and I’m the only boarder. I’d like to know about telemark skiing if anyone knows anything worth passing on. Such as what size tele Ski would a 5’-7” 175 lbs fellow like myself want? What kind of Ski. What kind of bindings/boots? I want to be able to go downhill on the ski slopes and Cruze around the flats in my neighborhood on snow days. Is telemark Ski right for me?

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Zermatt · Feb 19, 2018

undercover said:
I’ve been snowboarding pretty much my whole life. Now I want to try something new. I never learned how to “traditionally”
ski and I have no desire to do so. But both my daughters Ski and I’m the only boarder. I’d like to know about telemark skiing if anyone knows anything worth passing on. Such as what size tele Ski would a 5’-7” 175 lbs fellow like myself want? What kind of Ski. What kind of bindings/boots? I want to be able to go downhill on the ski slopes and Cruze around the flats in my neighborhood on snow days. Is telemark Ski right for me?

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I’ve been telemark skiing exclusively for 20 years. When my equipment breaks or needs an upgrade I will not be replacing it with telemark gear.

I don’t use special telemark skis, just regular alpine boards. Obviously not ideal for touring.

Powder magazine recently published an article claiming telemark skiing is dead. I agree with all their points.

ironhippy · Feb 20, 2018

undercover said:
I’ve been snowboarding pretty much my whole life. Now I want to try something new. I never learned how to “traditionally”
ski and I have no desire to do so. But both my daughters Ski and I’m the only boarder. I’d like to know about telemark skiing if anyone knows anything worth passing on. Such as what size tele Ski would a 5’-7” 175 lbs fellow like myself want? What kind of Ski. What kind of bindings/boots? I want to be able to go downhill on the ski slopes and Cruze around the flats in my neighborhood on snow days. Is telemark Ski right for me?

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understanding why you have no desire to "traditionally ski" might help figure out if a telemark ski is good for you, however as billo mentioned, it is all but dead.

I still see telemark skiers at my local hill but they are less and less each year. Even a few years ago we used to have telefests and demo days, they are all gone now.

I think you want a cheap pair of cross country skis for cruising the flats in your neighborhood, you should be able to find a cheap pair (and boots) on craigslist as the season ends. Cruising on heavy touring/downhill gear is not fun especially if you are in shape for it, and even then it's not ideal.

undercover · Feb 20, 2018

ironhippy said:
understanding why you have no desire to "traditionally ski" might help figure out if a telemark ski is good for you, however as billo mentioned, it is all but dead.

I still see telemark skiers at my local hill but they are less and less each year. Even a few years ago we used to have telefests and demo days, they are all gone now.

I think you want a cheap pair of cross country skis for cruising the flats in your neighborhood, you should be able to find a cheap pair (and boots) on craigslist as the season ends. Cruising on heavy touring/downhill gear is not fun especially if you are in shape for it, and even then it's not ideal.

I have cross country skis already. I was just curious to know if teles would double for them. I really want tele for downhill. Sounds like I need to single handily keep tele alive. So now that you and Billo talked me into it, how do I get involved at an entry level? What size Ski should I look for? I ride a 155cm snowboard and measure 5’-7” with a weight of 175.

these oldies are my current cross country

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Vaughn · Feb 20, 2018

Has alpine touring displaced it? I've never seen as many people slogging up Cannon as I have this year.

It was a minor pain on Sunday because the up-hillers, of course, stick to the side of the trail but as the day went along, that's where the snow was piling up so they were go up where I wanted to go down.

ironhippy · Feb 20, 2018

undercover said:
I have cross country skis already. I was just curious to know if teles would double for them. I really want tele for downhill. Sounds like I need to single handily keep tele alive. So now that you and Billo talked me into it, how do I get involved at an entry level? What size Ski should I look for? I ride a 155cm snowboard and measure 5’-7” with a weight of 175.

I can't help you with that, I've never done it although I was considering it.

A few years ago I could get lessons/demos locally, now I would have to find some used gear and learn on my own.

I'm onto the new touring fad and have touring gear instead of telemark.

flakeydog · Feb 20, 2018

Go to Mad River and rent equipment and take a lesson. Probably one of the few place you can still do that these days. Then hit up next year's ski swaps for equipment or head to a place like Gear Exchange or Replay. The right equipment is essential (decent plastic boot, cable binding, and alpine-like ski). Don't just use XC gear, it is not the same.

Don't listen to the naysayers. Expand your horizons. I try to get out on tele-gear and a snowboard at least one day or more per season, it's all good! As they say, whoever has the most toys wins!

ironhippy · Feb 20, 2018

flakeydog said:
Don't just use XC gear, it is not the same.

to be clear, I am not suggesting using XC gear for downhill, I was suggesting it for skiing on flat ground in his neighborhood.

BenedictGomez · Feb 20, 2018

billo said:
Powder magazine recently published an article claiming telemark skiing is dead. I agree with all their points.

Posting the link below, because it's a good read.

I mostly agree. I find the few telemarkers you see on the slopes today fall into one of two camps:

1) Long history of telemark skiing in the family roots
2) Look at me! No, really, LOOK at me! NOTICE me!

https://www.powder.com/stories/opinion/telemark-skiing-dead/

ShadyGrove · Feb 20, 2018

undercover said:
I’ve been snowboarding pretty much my whole life. Now I want to try something new. I never learned how to “traditionally”
ski and I have no desire to do so. But both my daughters Ski and I’m the only boarder. I’d like to know about telemark skiing if anyone knows anything worth passing on. Such as what size tele Ski would a 5’-7” 175 lbs fellow like myself want? What kind of Ski. What kind of bindings/boots? I want to be able to go downhill on the ski slopes and Cruze around the flats in my neighborhood on snow days. Is telemark Ski right for me?

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I'd recommend going to a telemark festival or rent/take a lesson at one of the few mountains that offer it.

This weekend it the 2 day Kare Andersen Telemark Festival at Bromley - https://www.bromley.com/winter/telefest/ I highly recommend it.

Smellytele · Feb 20, 2018

If you are interested in getting the gear, skis would be sized the same as any downhill ski for you height. I like shorter poles for going downhill than when I used to alpine. If I am going up hill then down I use adjustable poles.
I personally do it because when I moved to a town with a smaller ski hill and my kids were young, to fight off boredom I started to tele. No long family history and don't care if others see me or not. Although I do see those that do care and bend their knees more when they know someone is around. These are the same ones that yell to me from the lift when they see me and that I ignore for the most part. I find it easier on my knees (tougher on my thighs yes). I find them easier in bumps and in the trees, tougher on less than ideal conditions (hard pack/ice).
The trend is to go with AT gear but My main thing is to actually tele and it is just an added bonus that I can use them to go up hill. AT gear it about being able to go up hill and then ski alpine. Alpine skiing isn't what I want to do.

Smellytele · Feb 20, 2018

Also the boots are way more comfortable than downhill boots not sure how comfy AT boots are but assume they are better than alpine boots in the comfy category

ThinkSnow · Feb 20, 2018

flakeydog said:
Go to Mad River and rent equipment and take a lesson. Probably one of the few place you can still do that these days. Then hit up next year's ski swaps for equipment or head to a place like Gear Exchange or Replay. The right equipment is essential (decent plastic boot, cable binding, and alpine-like ski). Don't just use XC gear, it is not the same.

Don't listen to the naysayers. Expand your horizons. I try to get out on tele-gear and a snowboard at least one day or more per season, it's all good! As they say, whoever has the most toys wins!

+1 MRG is the place to take a tele lesson. + 1 More toys! Switch it up!!

Hawkshot99 · Feb 20, 2018

Smellytele said:
Also the boots are way more comfortable than downhill boots not sure how comfy AT boots are but assume they are better than alpine boots in the comfy category

That is all personal opinion. I am VERY happy in my alpine boots. I have never tried on a snowboard boot as comfy as my alpine boot, and everyone says how much more comfy they are.
It all comes down to how well they fit.

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Scruffy · Feb 20, 2018

First, I thought you might be a troll, so I ignored you the other day when I saw your post, sorry.

"I’d like to know about telemark skiing if anyone knows anything worth passing on. Such as what size tele Ski would a 5’-7” 175 lbs fellow like myself want? " 170-175cm would be fine for you.

"What kind of Ski." For down hill at a resort or serious backcountry: Any soft round flexing ski, doesn't have to be a dedicated tele ski. Something in the mid 80s waist. The fact that you do not alpine ski, is probably making these words fall on deaf ears. So I'd suggest a lesson and rental. If you're set on buying and just going for it, go see Base Camp outfitters at across from the base of the Killington access road. For boots, you're talking about plastic tele boots. If you want to earn your turns, you'll need climbing skins.

For XC downhill ( small mellow mountain terrain, hills and meadow skipping. This is a step above your XC skis ) you'll want something
like the Fischer S-Bound series ski ( I have the Rebound, there is also the Outbound and maybe one more model in that series ). These have scales on the bottom so you don't need skins and are perfect for XC downhill type excursions. For boots, there are both leather and soft plastic options. These are not suitable for a ski resort or serious mountain terrain.

Lastly, the most important piece of info I'll give you is: go hang out at this site:
http://www.telemarkeast.com/forums/

becca m · Feb 20, 2018

yup - get a lesson - lots of reasonable options. AMC has cheap lessons at Gunstock every 2 weeks midweek, every mid-winter. Go where you can rent. I did it for a few years but making the "perfect turn" is freaking stressful unless that's all you want to do. Found it stifling and tiring, personally. Switched to snowboard and never been happier

Used to do both but not any more. Good luck.

bdfreetuna · Feb 20, 2018

Don't take this as an educated opinion... only considering your situation and what I'd do...

I would go for the most versatile, modern, mid-range AT gear you can get in this situation. I see no reason to telemark on alpine terrain, normally. I see these guys going down and think, holy crap, my knees. Seriously, your knees. It doesn't even look fun to me it looks like dudes who want to ski something weird and are willing to compromise.

At least AT gear, from what I gather, you can ski alpine at least almost as well as dedicated alpine gear, and XC style, say if you want to go along the Long Trail and find some backcountry most people don't get to. Or at Bolton Valley you would have access to a large amount of side/backcountry terrain -- *** I would use it for this ***. Seems like a more versatile choice especially for someone getting into things. And you can explore some backcountry / earn turns as another hobby if you want.

My next investment in ski gear might be something like this, it seems to be an area where gear is coming into maturity in many ways.

Scruffy · Feb 20, 2018

Telemark skiing is NOT hard on your knees, not in the least; on you quads, well, that's another thing.

bdfreetuna · Feb 20, 2018

Well I'm glad to hear that. The worst thing for knees seems to be back seat riding and lack of conditioning on the legs muscles surrounding it.

So Scuffy, can people just telemark ski with AT gear and have the best of both worlds, or am I getting things mixed up?

Smellytele · Feb 20, 2018

AT gear is not made to tele. It is made to lock the heel down when going down hill

Telemark Ski - anyone know about it

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