2 planks, 1 plank or free heel

[campgottagopee]

I'm a hard core skier and do the majority of my skiing at a small hill. While skiing sunday I got bored simply because of limited terrain that was open. I started thinking that MAYBE I should look into tele to keep my interest on days like I had sunday. What are your thoughts, and if you were to pickup a different way down the hill what would it be??

 

[tjf67]

I use my AC4 inbounds.

I have Nordica enforcers with the marker dukes to venture out into the field. I will also use them in the resort when we get dumped on.

 

[bvibert]

I'd probably give snow boarding a try if I needed to do something new. I wouldn't mind learning tele either though...

 

[Paul]

I'd like to try tele, but Oscar Goldman tells me I should leave the door open for taking-up the single plank.

 

[MarkC]

i snowboard but when that gets a bit dull I will click in to a pair of alpines.

 

[Marc]

If I were to pick up another type of sliding, it'd be one board with free heels- i.e. the teleboard.

 

[Hawkshot99]

For a while now I have wanted to try boarding. What is stopping me? I don't want to start over as a beginner, and I don't want to have to buy another setup.

If I could start as a intermediate then I would take up boarding.

 

[wa-loaf]

I'd like to get an AT set-up.

 

[mergs]

kind of depends... the question i'd ask myself is: do I want to dabble around out in the back country, or just learn a new mode of downhill fun while in bounds?

if the former, try tele. its the ultimate bc weapon. (and this is coming from a very happy bc-oriented snowboarder)

if the latter, take 2 snowboarding lessons, devote 2-3 days learning and you'll have a ripping good time at any mountain, even little ones. if you get too good for small hills you can ride "switch" to add challenge. or practice spinning 180s or 3 off of every trail feature you can find.

or just try tele

 

[JD]

No Boarding will be my next mode of down hill transport.

 

[2knees]

for me, nothing is cooler to watch then a tele skier ripping down the hill. especially in bumps. Its such a fluid form of skiing. I would love to learn that but no way do i want to do all those deep knee bends.

so to answer the question, boarding. A) because i'm lazy and out of shape and B) cause i had an 8 foot halfpipe in my backyard growing up and snowboarding has always appealed to that little piece of me that still misses skateboarding.

 

[tjf67]

I'd like to get an AT set-up.

Thats what I got. You can get anywhere although slower and lock the heal down and go

 

[Marc]

if the former, try tele. its the ultimate bc weapon

How's that?

 

[Chris I]

How's that?

You can put skins on them and they are very similar to x-country skis.

I am personally a snowboarder, always have been. The past 2 years I have been thinking about dabbling into the skiing, more so tele- backcountry is more appealing.

But I just received at pair of Tubbs adventure snowshoes and intend on getting A LOT of use out of them this year for BC shredding.

Plus like many people, I certainly do not have the funding right now to get a new set-up

 

[TheBEast]

for me, nothing is cooler to watch then a tele skier ripping down the hill. especially in bumps. Its such a fluid form of skiing. I would love to learn that but no way do i want to do all those deep knee bends.

so to answer the question, boarding. A) because i'm lazy and out of shape and B) cause i had an 8 foot halfpipe in my backyard growing up and snowboarding has always appealed to that little piece of me that still misses skateboarding.

I had that same feeling about 5 years ago. I now tele probably more than I down hill. I too spend most of my days at a smaller mountain. Tele is definitely a challenege in all aspects. I love it and will probably someday when my skills are up to par I'll be an all tele-skier, but those days are a little ways away. The day I can stand at the top of the headwall at Tuckerman on the tele gear and feel confident I can ski anything, that'll be the day I never put on a pair of alpine boards again.

So I say go for it. It'll take time to learn and practice, just as alpine skiing does, but once you "get it" you'll love the brotherhood of the tele community!! Rock on!!

 

[Marc]

You can put skins on them and they are very similar to x-country skis.

If that's the requirement to be "the ultimate bc weapon" then one could just as easily argue a randonee setup is the ultimate bc weapon.

 

[cbcbd]

You can put skins on them and they are very similar to x-country skis.

When I first wanted to get into tele that was the reason why... then I learned about AT and that I could skin up anything and then ski down with my heels locked - I went AT for BC.


But... I've been wanting a tele setup for the reasons the OP mentioned - some days the mountain is just too boring and you gotta spice it up with some tele.

 

[JD]

In the East, tele is the way to go. Having done both, there are alot of times where you need to shuffle acrross a long flat to get to another pitch, or on your way out after skiing someting with a flattish approach, it's way easier on tele then AT.
Not to mention from a safety aspect, alpine touring bindings are the eqiuvalent of alpine bindings 25 years ago. No lateral heel release. Plus they put a flat spot in the flex of your ski so if you're using them at an area as well as BC, they creat a weirdness when carving groomers or packed snow. They are also lighter and way cheaper, and you can still ski alpine on tele so when sjit get's tight you can bang out some alpine style turns, the opposite is not true.
IMO.

 

[kbroderick]

I'd vote tele. I picked it up last year, and I'm comfortable now on most natural-snow trails; firm snow is another matter, but I suppose it would help if I could be bothered to tune my tele skis.

For low-to-medium-angle bc, lightweight tele is the way to go, IMO. For seriously steep stuff and cliff hucks, a bomber AT setup is probably more useful, but I haven't tried Ener-G's yet, either, to see how that much support would enable me to push my tele skiing.

 

[mattchuck2]

I started skiing Tele my freshman year in college, 8 years ago, because I was bored with alpine.

For the next 4 years, I skied alpine maybe twice the whole time. Now, pretty much the only reason I ski alpine at all is because I teach, and the mountain frowns on teaching Alpine lessons with Tele Gear.

I tried snowboarding, but I couldn't stand having my feet stuck in the same place. Tele definitely had more crossover appeal for me.