Is Telemark Dead?

[Harvey]

POWDER just posted an opinion piece in which they think it is dead. Now that they mention it, I have only seen a relative handful of them the last few seasons....even at Alta.

http://www.powder.com/stories/opini...508_sf76415412#sf76415412#4XFPlvAK8ZXrqmuv.97

What do you think?

I think Powder was desperate for content.

IMO tele will always be a minority of skiers. That doesn't make it dead.

 

[Smellytele]

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

You don't see them because they are in the woods and down low.

 

[Smellytele]

I think Powder was desperate for content.

IMO tele will always be a minority of skiers. That doesn't make it dead.

My fear is they stop making tele gear.

 

[fbrissette]

You don't see them because they are in the woods and down low.

In 300 days of skiing at Jay I only recall seeing one telemarker in the woods. That's OK, there are not a lot of them and you don't see that many people in the woods anyway. However, you don't see them under the Bonnie (CanAM, Office) or the Flyer (Exhibition). But I see them all the time under the jet. Just curious. I guess they like icy groomers.

 

[teleo]

At sugarbush you don't see that many jan-mar, but in Nov and April when the masses leave, MRG closes and the woods and backcountry are not skiable, we come out of the woodwork, and you notice a lot more proportionally.

I've seen a Tele board a couple times, maybe your friend, but never had the urge to try. I now see the comparison to monomark. But different mounted at an angle. Toe edge has to be tough.

BTW monomark is just one example of the variations available on Tele gear. That flexibility is why I Tele exclusively.

Smelly that is my fear too.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[cdskier]

At sugarbush you don't see that many jan-mar, but in Nov and April when the masses leave, MRG closes and the woods and backcountry are not skiable, we come out of the woodwork, and you notice a lot more proportionally.

Yea, I've noticed that...

 

[Hawk]

I have at least 10 friends that ski tele at Sugarbush. Not a lot compared to the overall count but I keep seeing more and more people doing it. So for the sake of this conversation I would say no the numbers are not declining. They are maintaining.

 

[jaytrem]

There seems to be high percentage of tele skiers on this forum for some reason, including myself.

Seems like I've noticed a lot of tele skiers this year. Might be because I was more often on apline skis while teaching my girls to ski. Made me jealous.

How about NTN equipment? Never seem to see much of it out there except for 1 friend. Seems like most people stick with the 75mm stuff. I could see NTN dying out.

 

[Domeskier]

There are some nice shots of Ryan Saunders ripping steeps and bumps on tele skis in this video and others in the series. The whole video is worth watching. He and his brother are great skiers.

 

[Teleskier]

I always see a fair number of lift-service teleskiers at various New England mountains, but then again, they do stand out to me right away (see them way up or down the trail immediately) vs my alpine or snowboard colleagues judging from chair rides. There are probably slightly more teleskiers than people are actually noticing. Not that it matters either way.

But I do let out a little internal cheer when I see another teleskier somewhere, no matter their ability level.

And of course NATO Telefest's (and others) have a soul satisfaction akin to a normally-alone pilgrim going to mecca and being surrounded by "a whole mountain" of their similar kind.

 

[Smellytele]

I actually have seen a decrease in snowboarders - is it dying?

 

[dlague]

I actually have seen a decrease in snowboarders - is it dying?

Definitely slowing down - excerpt from Time Magazine.

Snowboarding is no longer new, no longer extreme, and—now that your mom knows how to ride—no longer quite as cool. No wonder snowboard sales and snowboarder visits at mountain resorts are on the decline.

Once all the rage among the young and active, as well as pretty much everybody else who was a newcomer to winter mountain sports, snowboarding appears to be past its heyday. Using data from SnowSports Industries America, the Los Angeles Times noted that sales of snowboards and snowboard gear have slumped 21% over the last four years.

 

[bigbog]

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.

I don't know how many people here in Maine, Bangor area to be specific, are xc people....but much of the terrain here & out in the woodlands is made for it...and one can spot evidence of those who use the trails. It's that gap of AT through the flat and low rolling terrain..and back to the elevation and AT gear that is a sticking point for more than a few of us up here. Pack the xc boots with boot warmers and wide-xc skis...and likewise with AT gear when traversing the flat & low rolling land. A little hassle of packing and carrying the other skis...but at least it works...

 

[ironhippy]

Snowboarding is no longer new, no longer extreme, and—now that your mom knows how to ride—no longer quite as cool. No wonder snowboard sales and snowboarder visits at mountain resorts are on the decline.

A lot of my friends have given it up and claim it's because
a) skis ski a lot better than they used to, especially in powder
b) skiing/riding has changed a lot, and now they want to ski untracked snow in the woods. It's a lot easier to traverse on a pair of skis than in a snowboard.

 

[cdskier]

Interesting regarding snowboarding. I haven't noticed it per se, but then again I never thought Sugarbush had a huge snowboarding population to begin with. There are certainly still a decent number of people boarding, but skiers have always way outnumbered boarders there from my memory so it is very hard to judge whether it is decreasing or just staying status quo. Oddly enough it seemed like in late spring that the proportion of people on the mountain that were boarding was higher than during mid-winter.

 

[Jcb890]

A lot of my friends have given it up and claim it's because
a) skis ski a lot better than they used to, especially in powder
b) skiing/riding has changed a lot, and now they want to ski untracked snow in the woods. It's a lot easier to traverse on a pair of skis than in a snowboard.

I do enjoy boarding and don't know if I would want to switch to skiing, but it certainly seems easier to both get to (traverse) and do tighter trees on skis.

 

[deadheadskier]

I would agree on the traversing aspect, but not on the tight trees aspect. Boards are generally a fair bit shorter and quicker to whip around. You also only need to worry about hooking one tip on a tree vs two.

Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[BenedictGomez]

Snowboarding is no longer new, no longer extreme, and—now that your mom knows how to ride—no longer quite as cool. No wonder snowboard sales and snowboarder visits at mountain resorts are on the decline.

I think it's also the fact that you can do more tricks and "cool stuff" on skis than on a snowboard due to skiing's much greater range of motion. The irony of that is the fact that it was snowboarding that took park and tricks to the mainstream / more popular level.


That said, I also think there's going to be a mini-bump in snowboarder numbers soon, because I've noticed the last several seasons that the snowboarding "moms" that you mention are now popping-out kids, who are tykes and tots in kid's lessons.

 

[Jcb890]

So you guys are saying I should pick up skiing... alright, who's gonna give me some lessons? :lol:

 

[selski]

I taught all 3 of my kids to tele when they were young. They love being part of tele and keeping it alive and well. It caught their interest early since they would be skiing among groups of talented tele skiers. Now they are out spreading the gospel. If you want to find a higher number of tele skiers you can go to Plattekill, Mad, Sugarbush and Bromley. All of those mountains have programs in place. I believe all 4 have kids programs as well.