Telemark Ski - anyone know about it

[Scruffy]

^^ Right. The AT boot and binding would not flex so you'd be just tipping up your rear foot, if in walk mode, and depending on the AT binding, might even break something. For tele you need the boot to flex around the ball of the foot. You want the rear foot's ball of foot to be flat on the ski or binding in order to drive that rear foot. A lot of alpine converts that teach themselves, simple raise their rear foot and do not pressure that rear ski very much at all. In good snow, you want a 50/50 weight distribution on front and rear foot and the rear foot ball to really pressure and drive that rear ski.

 

[skimagic]

+. + 1 More toys! Switch it up!!

I'm a teledabbler - switch it up from Alpine from time to time, especially on smaller hills.

Bromley is running a telefest with clinics t his weekend.
https://www.bromley.com/winter/telefest/


. I picked up a newer, cheap set up on Craigslist , gear is easy to find there.

 

[undercover]

Can you guys explain the abbreviation AT? I assume XC is cross country. The real purpose for my tele quest is to fight of the Boredom that arises from skiing with my 9 and 11 year old daughters. The 9 year old mostly as I’m happy to say that the 11 year old can almost keep pace with this slow boarder. So the set up I desire would be used for mostly down hill. Btw, even though tele is dying there is still one employer that makes tele lessons mandatory for certain employees. My friend from high school was trained to Ski telemark. He is an officer for United States Marines and has been for almost 20 years. Now I need to learn.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fbrissette]

Can you guys explain the abbreviation AT? I assume XC is cross country. The real purpose for my tele quest is to fight of the Boredom that arises from skiing with my 9 and 11 year old daughters. The 9 year old mostly as I’m happy to say that the 11 year old can almost keep pace with this slow boarder. So the set up I desire would be used for mostly down hill. Btw, even though tele is dying there is still one employer that makes tele lessons mandatory for certain employees. My friend from high school was trained to Ski telemark. He is an officer for United States Marines and has been for almost 20 years. Now I need to learn.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

AT is alpine touring. Done with bindings that can release the heel for climbing up and be in lock mode for downhill.

 

[fbrissette]

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/

2) Very few telemarkers at Jay, but they can disproportionately be found skiing under the Jet chair.

 

[Smellytele]

2) Very few telemarkers at Jay, but they can disproportionately be found skiing under the Jet chair.

They hide in the woods so you don't seem them skiing on the groomers with you.

 

[fbrissette]

They hide in the woods so you don't seem them skiing on the groomers with you.

Good try. I ski exclusively in the woods (I do use groomers to get there however), and I've seen a tele dude in the woods once (300+ days of skiing). Granted there's not a lot of them. But I see them regularly under the Jet (while I'm in the chair). Just an observation.

 

[Smellytele]

Good try. I ski exclusively in the woods (I do use groomers to get there however), and I've seen a tele dude in the woods once (300+ days of skiing). Granted there's not a lot of them. But I see them regularly under the Jet (while I'm in the chair). Just an observation.

I would much rather ski woods than groomers or regular trails. More so at Jay where the regular trails are usually a scraped off icy mess.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

yea, def don't try tele turns in AT bindings. bad times guaranteed. I have marker barons on one of my sets of skis. I own salomon guardians which I took off skis and haven't put back on. most of my go to skis have look pivots (traditional alpine binding). the AT gear is fun for getting around the sidecountry at stowe, jay, sugarbush, and for the very occasional skin I get to do

 

[ironhippy]

I assume XC is cross country. The real purpose for my tele quest is to fight of the Boredom that arises from skiing with my 9 and 11 year old daughters.

This is great information. Telemark might be perfect for you then.

When I was considering learning it was for early (or bad) season when only groomed runs are open, so I was going to learn it to fight off boredom.

My lifestyle has since changed and I don't ski as often when it's only groomers available so I am no longer considering it.

 

[Smellytele]

Not sure what this means or entails but Saturday March 3rd is world Telemark day

 

[fbrissette]

World telemark day ???? WTF.

March 3rd is also the UN World Wildlife Day.

Let us all celebrate the Bicknell's Trush by having telemarkers trash its habitat on March 3rd. We may even get BG on telemark gear for this event.

 

[undercover]

For my first set up, What do you guys think of these bindings?
https://item.mercari.com/gl/m86765486881/

With these telemark Ski's?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[witch hobble]

Nobody cares that telemark is dead

 

[witch hobble]

Don’t overthink the fine details of your first set up. Just do it!

 

[witch hobble]

World telemark day ???? WTF.

March 3rd is also the UN World Wildlife Day.

Let us all celebrate the Bicknell's Trush by having telemarkers trash its habitat on March 3rd. We may even get BG on telemark gear for this event.

Who’s to say that north facing thickets above 3000’ in elevation will even be skiable in the northeast on March 3rd? Seems awfully presumptuous of you!

 

[Scruffy]

For my first set up, What do you guys think of these bindings?
https://item.mercari.com/gl/m86765486881/

With these telemark Ski's?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

22 Designs Hammerheads are awesome bindings, good choice. You'll need 75mm telemark norm boots, which are of course the most popular, except for the new NTN norm boot binding system, which I have, but wish I hadn't bought into and abandoned and sold my hammerheads for. The skis are ok, softish 90mm wasted ski, but those are older skis, prolly 7 years old not, nothing wrong with that if they are in good shape. May not be the best east coast ski for ice, but for soft day, why not.

Russel Raney designed that binding BTW, and then sold his business to 22 Designs. Russel is a big name in telemark bindings. His SuperLoop bindings from the 80's were a big step up from the typical Voile 3 pin bindings that were all the rage then.

 

[Harvey]

Not sure what this means or entails but Saturday March 3rd is world Telemark day

Plattekill telefest is this Friday. Come on out.

 

[Harvey]

Nobody cares that telemark is dead

Yeah we don't care.

I can vouch for whoever said the thing about the knees. I can't run a 1/4 mile without knee pain the next day, but I can tele until my quads are beat. I think building up the muscles actually helps your knees.

 

[PAabe]

Sorry for bumping an old thread...

I just rented tele skis at Plattekill today. Did not take a lesson because of short notice and expense of private lessons but I did read up and watch a lot of videos. I think I made some progress working on the turn by the time I was done but I was also surprised how it was not difficult to to snowplow and stem christie with them.

Anyway, I am now interested in buying some equipment but I don't know where to find it. Are there any ski shops in the mid Atlantic region that stock boots? Currently browsing ebay but am concerned with fit of boots from buying online - rental boots were pretty uncomfortable.

Also I have been reading up and apparently there are two trains of though for beginner tele gear. Some say the turn is much easier to do satisfactorily on the new gear. Many are saying that the old duckbill boots and cable bindings are best for beginners to force you to get the technique right (and they are a fraction of the cost).

I realize some are saying tele is dead (sadly I was told I was the first person all year to rent tele skis at Plattekill) but I had a good time. The idea would be to do something that would keep me interested and challenged on the hills in PA and slow me down - safer, easier on the knees, better excercise, more fun to do with friends who are infrequent skiers. I am also interested in skinning some hills that cannot be descended well in in xc skis, such as Marcy.

Do any of you have thoughts on beginning telemarking? Any input would really be appreciated