Is Telemark Dead?

[fbrissette]

No.

There're skis with fishscale bottom that can climb moderate grade without skins. Much like waxless crosscountry skis.

I don't know if you can use them with AT bindings... I've never seen one setup like that.

There are some Alpine touring skis with fishscale bottom for skinless touring. Can't see them becoming mainstream however. If you do Alpine touring, you want access to the good stuff, and the good stuff is steep and most ascents will feature steeper pitches where such skis are useless.

They could be a special ski in a quiver for long rolling approaches (you would still have to carry skins once you reach the good stuff) or on extreme avy days when you just want to go out on mellow terrain.

 

[abc]

There are some Alpine touring skis with fishscale bottom for skinless touring. Can't see them becoming mainstream however. If you do Alpine touring, you want access to the good stuff, and the good stuff is steep and most ascents will feature steeper pitches where such skis are useless.

They could be a special ski in a quiver for long rolling approaches (you would still have to carry skins once you reach the good stuff) or on extreme avy days when you just want to go out on mellow terrain.

You're still speaking from the alpine perspective.

I was a xc skier before taking up alpine skiing (though that was 20 years ago). I still prefer xc skiing over alpine whenever condition is favorable for xc. So for me and my cohort, going places in rolling terrain IS what we live for. Not something one does in high avy days!

In the circle I hung out, telemark binding on fishscale skis is still the hottest fashion people are after.

Granted, it's a very small community compare to alpine ski. The whole xc ski circle is a tiny portion of the skiing world, never mind the BC segment of xc. That segment is neither dying nor thriving. Just going steady and strong as it has been since the introduction of these new tele gear.

What I think maybe dying is the in-resort use of telemark gear, which burst onto the scene some 10 years back and is now pretty much run its course. Back then, a lot of alpine skiers tried tele for various reason. Or at least thought of trying.

A few took to it but the majority never put in enough time and effort to see whatever the benefit that got them started. And most of those who thought of trying never did. It's funny all the excuses came up by those who never tried.

AT gear had been around for a long time. Very popular in the Alps. It's finally getting the attention it deserves in north America. Alpine skiers who want to go back country now have the right solution. So there're far fewer of those "misguided" alpine skiers trying out tele these days. Not good for development of tele product. But that's how it should be anyway.

 

[jimk]

I've never tried tele, but very much admire a good teleskier when I see one. Are there ski areas in New England/NY that have a higher ratio of telemarkers than others? In the mid-Atlantic there is one standout, Timberline, WV. T-Line has a very decent tele crowd, maybe 10-15% percent of those on the hill. At other mtns near me the ratio is lower. There is a Nordic ski area very close to Timberline (WhiteGrass, WV) with good hike-to terrain and that is where many develop their skills before hopping on a chairlift. Some tele people I know switched to it out of boredom after mastering alpine on small hills. I have to admit in my wide circle of older personal ski buddies there are only about three that do tele, but they are skilled and except for one who is age late 70s, can stay with or out-ski most alpiners.

R: Blue Knob, PA

T: Snowbird, UT

 

[mbedle]

Its got more life and support than alpine snowboarding... lol

 

[jimk]

One tele-buddy of mine depicted in earlier photos has an old snowboard fitted with telemark bindings. He uses a bamboo pole for a lurk to help balance when in this mode:

 

[Smellytele]

One tele-buddy of mine depicted in earlier photos has an old snowboard fitted with telemark bindings. He uses a bamboo pole for a lurk to help balance when in this mode:

this is not an old snowboard - it is a teleboard created by the Fey brothers - http://www.telemarkdown.com/

 

[fbrissette]

this is not an old snowboard - it is a teleboard created by the Fey brothers - http://www.telemarkdown.com/

Teleboard... Just when I thought I'd seen it all. Why ????

 

[Jcb890]

Haha holy crap that's weird looking. How would that even work in terms of snowboarding technique?

 

[mbedle]

Teleboard... Just when I thought I'd seen it all. Why ????

That is a good question!

 

[Smellytele]

Haha holy crap that's weird looking. How would that even work in terms of snowboarding technique?

It wouldn't work with snowboard technique

 

[fbrissette]

Haha holy crap that's weird looking. How would that even work in terms of snowboarding technique?

Yep. Cant figure out how it would work in terms of physics. Just watched a few videos on youtube and it's beyond me why would anyone pick that up (beside the 'look at me' factor).

All the disavantages of telemark, skiiing and snowboarding all merged into a single piece of equipment.

 

[jimk]

Action shot of him in the middle of the crowd in this photo:

He only breaks it out once in a while for fun.

 

[Scruffy]

Yep. Cant figure out how it would work in terms of physics. Just watched a few videos on youtube and it's beyond me why would anyone pick that up (beside the 'look at me' factor).

All the disavantages of telemark, skiiing and snowboarding all merged into a single piece of equipment.

Tele boards, are nothing new, been around for a long time, but yeah, they didn't really take off. The idea was similar to a hard boot carving board for those that tele ski. One boot for ski and board. Plus if you tele ski you're use to pressuring the ski with the ball of your foot, so with the same bindings on the tele board and tele ski, you'd use a lot of the same techniques as tele skis, without changing which ski is fore or aft, and without changing stance. With tele skiing there is a concept of mono-mark; you keep the front and back feet in the same position for right or left turns. Tele-board is like a mono-mark all the time.

 

[jimk]

Informative tele talk here. I'm learning things. This board has a decent representation of telemarkers! What about my other question? Are there a few northeast ski areas especially known for a lot of telemarkers?? And why?

 

[fbrissette]

Informative tele talk here. I'm learning things. This board has a decent representation of telemarkers! What about my other question? Are there a few northeast ski areas especially known for a lot of telemarkers?? And why?

Very few telemarkers at Jay. And they appear to ski almost exclusively under the jet chair.

 

[abc]

Are there a few northeast ski areas especially known for a lot of telemarkers?? And why?

I know MRG has a pretty significant present of telemarker skiers. Closer to me, Plattekill also has a few resident telemarkers I see from time to time.

I can't answer the question of why. But both of these mountains are non-mainstream, retro'ish mountains.

 

[Jcb890]

Yep. Cant figure out how it would work in terms of physics. Just watched a few videos on youtube and it's beyond me why would anyone pick that up (beside the 'look at me' factor).

All the disavantages of telemark, skiiing and snowboarding all merged into a single piece of equipment.

Action shot of him in the middle of the crowd in this photo:

He only breaks it out once in a while for fun.

I'm failing to see how that really works well. I would think I'd prefer to just telemark, or ski or snowboard. I can't imagine combining them into one terrible amalgamation. Interesting looking though if nothing else.

 

[jimk]

The only time I skied Wachusett was a pretty day back in March 2006. One side of the 10th Mountain Trail was moguled-up good. There was a young telemark skier in a train engineer type hat who caught my attention for a while on this day because of his blazing repeat laps through the moguls including some nice airs.

 

[Abubob]

Tele's not dead. It just smells funny.

 

[Teleskier]

Are there a few northeast ski areas especially known for a lot of telemarkers?? And why?

To me, the genuine/rooted soul of MRG mates very well with the genuine/rooted soul of teleskiing.

In short: it is mecca. Double-camber skis and Leather boots optional.

From MRG website:

Mad River Glen offers some of the finest lift-served telemark skiing in the East. Uncrowded trails, natural snow, award-winning terrain and great tree skiing have always attracted telemarkers, making the skier-owned mountain New England’s Telemark "Mecca." Skiers at Mad River Glen will notice a greater concentration of "free-heelers" than can be found at almost any other ski area in North America.