Telemark Skiing--Easy, Hard ? Do you care?

[JohnGD33]

tele skiing is alot of fun. I started about 2 years ago and love it. It is alot more fun on corn or powder but so is alpine skiing. I split my season with about 35 days on tele and about 15 on alpine( usually when there are bumps). Here is a pic of my wife and I skiing on my honeymoon in portillo.

Wish i was still there!!!!

On a side note look into bindings that release

 

[OppositeGeorge]

Re: Ice and hardpack.

I took a two-day tele clinic with a bunch of other downhill instructors last year, most of whom had never freeheeled before, myself included. By the end of the clinic everybody was doing tele turns and got their PSIA Level I Nordic Downhill cert. If you're a good skier, you can tele, and if you do it right, your knees won't complain.

My experience, after the first half-day of getting the balance thing straightened out, was that the instructors who were good on ice on regular downhill skis were good on the tele skis too. If you're too far back on alpine skis, you'll have a hard time on ice. That seemed to be the same on the teles.

 

[kingdom-tele]

Having never alpine skied I don't know about the differences to much between the two, but having tele for the last decade its not that hard to have fun, and once to you can dial in the edging(like alpine) and weigth shift and balance it isn't to hard, I think the big thing is how much you can feel subtle little shifts in the snow depth and consistency, you can still make alpine turns with tele bindings, so why not try it

interesting note: my buddy who alpined for years had wicked low back pain after skiing everyday, he started tele and is able to ski as hard and longer without ANY back pain, the stance allows a much more neutral spinal alignment

 

[tarponhead]

One things for certain, I don't think their is a more attractive form of snow sliding than an accomplished tele skier. Beautiful to watch.

+1

 

[St. Bear]

I've always wanted to tele, and I was going to start this year, but I'm going to have to put it off at least another year due to the initial financial investment.

I'm disappointed in myself, but that's life.

 

[luvinjaycloud]

telemarking

I started telemarking when me kids were skiing consistently on the intermediate groomers and I was looking for a new challenge on the hill being an every weekend skier. Rented the first 2 days and had to hit the bunny hill to get the turns down. Fell over the front of my skis at least a couple of times. If you want to be humbled and relive those first few days on the mountain when you first tried skiing, give it a shot.

I actually bought the rental and tele boots i used and made it 20-25% of my time on the hill with the free heels. One thing I will say about telemarking is that you gain further knowledge and feel about your edges that translates backs to your alpine set up. When telemarking, you need to focuse more and you get much more feedback from the terrain than with downhill skiis.

regarding knees: everyone comments to me that the tele work must be hard on your knees. It is not really your knees but your thighs and butt that does the work. In fact, i feel much less torsional stress on my knees when telemarking vs. alpine. Today's newer skis and bindings can really make tele turns an incredible experience. I have the TM releasables, new last season, but have never come out of them. Free the heal! Free the spirit!

 

[RootDKJ]

One things for certain, I don't think their is a more attractive form of snow sliding than an accomplished tele skier. Beautiful to watch.

+2

Nothing beats riding the lift up and watching someone tele down and making it look easy. I'd love to try it, but with my knees, I don't think it's for me. If I were to "start over" I'd most likely pick up snowboarding.

 

[mattchuck2]

I rock the Tele. I'm pretty good, but I keep trying to get better (and smoother - the mark of a great tele skier). I picked it up about 11 years ago when Alpine was getting boring for me. My college roommate showed me the ropes, and I was off. I pretty much skied Tele all through college, and only picked up alpine again when I started ski instructing. I still try to get 10-15 days on the Tele skis every year, and I prefer the Teles on powder days. I'm not a big fan of them on hardpack, because both my Tele setups are on really soft skis . . . When I get some new skis this year or next, that'll change.

 

[ta&idaho]

I'm eager to see what Jspin's kid becomes on tele boards. I was blown away by his son in his TRs from last season.

I agree. That little guy rips.

 

[Glenn]

I'd like to give it a shot. It does look pretty interesting.

 

[jarrodski]

I've got two guys at work who are both Tele, one actually works Ski Patrol at Ragged. I can honestly say, I have no desire to even try. It looks like it would just be SCREAMING for me to snap my knees in half. :-D

ive had some of the worse crashes of my life on tele's just tryin to get the rythem of the wierd turns down. its horrible... you're knees and some how your teeth are being injured at the same time

...

...

i would like to revisit tele again for woods runs with teh dog...

 

[JD]

I switched to tele after tearing my ACL. I think it's way easier on the knees then alpine. Yes, it is way more difficult then alpine skiing, but after 6 years of that, I was so bored with it, even with AT gear and doing a fair bit of touring. I like the challenge of learning. With Alpine I had plateaued and was just starting to ski faster and faster to try and capture the feeling I wanted. When I switched to tele, I didn't have to ski like a jackass to have a good time.
Also, it's so versitile. There as so many different kinds of turns to make to express yourself. It has really helped my balance in general. Skiing lighter boots has eliminated the habbit of skiing in the backseat because there is no back seat. it really is like taking the training wheels off a bike. You actually have to stay centered and you can't just muscle turns, you have to ride the ski more....
It's all about fun, and challenging myself is fun. Tele is definitly a challenge.

 

[ts01]

I switched to tele after tearing my ACL. I think it's way easier on the knees then alpine. Yes, it is way more difficult then alpine skiing, but after 6 years of that, I was so bored with it, even with AT gear and doing a fair bit of touring. I like the challenge of learning. With Alpine I had plateaued and was just starting to ski faster and faster to try and capture the feeling I wanted. When I switched to tele, I didn't have to ski like a jackass to have a good time.
Also, it's so versitile. There as so many different kinds of turns to make to express yourself. It has really helped my balance in general. Skiing lighter boots has eliminated the habbit of skiing in the backseat because there is no back seat. it really is like taking the training wheels off a bike. You actually have to stay centered and you can't just muscle turns, you have to ride the ski more....
It's all about fun, and challenging myself is fun. Tele is definitly a challenge.

+1, also a post-ACL tele convert. 60/40 tele/alpine, with alpine reserved for tough terrain. Free-heel is a great way to make the smaller hills bigger and when the bigger hills get too steep or my alpine friends lose patience, then I switch to alpine. Though honestly, parallel on free heel is quite doable and I always mix it up between tele and p-turns on free-heel gear.

IMHO the "hard on knees" impression is mistaken. More of a full-body workout for sure, lower body muscles get more of a workout - but doesn't seem to strain my post-op knee.

Heels not locked down seems like a lower risk of injury to start with but there's no reason not to use releasables, really: two mfrs: 7tm (Karhu) and Voile. I use Voile CRB and they're kind of ugly but work just fine. Plenty of people like the 7tm but it's pricier by over $100 a pair and less versatile in some respects. Not to start a debate here, if anyone is interested search on telemarktips.com forum for endless debate on pro's and cons of 7tm v. Voile CRB. Basically both work fine, both need a little attention to get dialed in in the first place and are more complicated than non-releasables, but IMHO are worth the trouble. I started with a non-releasable eBay deal and then switched over to releasables once I was hooked.

BTW, great bang for buck tele intro lessons: North American Telemark Organization (NATO) 2-day clinics. You'll be nearly as good on tele as you start out on alpine, after 2 full days of instruction and tele fun for $200.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I used to tele alot out west. I still use my old Epoke 1100's and stiff leather boots. Mine do not have metal edges which work better going to and coming back from the area I go to. The key is stiff boots. Since I ski for free haven't done it much since I moved back east but it's awesome for backcountry skiing, getting away from the crowds on the hill. Teton Pass is my fav place to go.

 

[ta&idaho]

+1, also a post-ACL tele convert. 60/40 tele/alpine, with alpine reserved for tough terrain. Free-heel is a great way to make the smaller hills bigger and when the bigger hills get too steep or my alpine friends lose patience, then I switch to alpine.

This is an interesting point. I may end up having to move to DC, in which case I think I may take up tele to keep things fun. I've heard there's an abandoned downhill ski area converted into a touring center in West Virginia that seems like a fun place to explore when the local hills aren't getting the adrenaline going anymore.

 

[boston_e]

My experience was that Tele was easy to get the gist of (assuming you are an experienced apline skier) but would be hard to do really well (just like alpine and snowboardnig).

My only experience trying it was on a couple of free "learn to tele demo type of days"... I didn't take a lesson or anything, just grabbed some gear and started experimenting on the easier slopes. I enjoyed it and if I were able to go more often, I'd probablly get some tele gear and mix it in some.

 

[Johnskiismore]

I love tele skiing, just need to get better at it. When you do get the rythmn of tele skiing it feels great, probably could get better if I owned the equipment.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

after 25 years of alpine skiing, I've been looking at a new challenge...i had been thinking about tele for a few years, but didnt want to take the time out of a ski day to grab a lesson and learn all over again....finally bit the bullet and took a 2hr private at bromley last march.....all i can say is...WOW...I was hooked with the first turn....its a whole 'nother world, hard to explain but boardered on a religious experience...its tremendous, do it, you wont be disappointed...i got all my gear from the boys at telemarkdown, great service, great prices...cant wait for the snow to be falling...spent all summer getting the quads in shape

 

[teleo]

Like some others here, I alpined for years and tried tele on a demo day which is a great and relatively inexpensive way to try it. Unlike when I tried snowboarding, I was hooked on tele right away, got a setup the next weekend, did a bit of both for a couple years and have not touched my alpine gear for 7-8 years. At first it was something new and challenging, now it gives me more options on how to make turns, a way to get away from the resorts and it’s more comfortable and flexible hanging out teaching my 4yr old how to ski.

As for the knee thing, I actually think it is less stress on the knees and back as I naturally absorb more so it is less jarring. I found that teleing really dialed me in on my balance and angles so for ice, just like with alpines, you want a stiffer ski, but then everything is OK. (well, ice still stinks, but…)

It is definitely more work, I don’t keep up with my expert alpine buddies for very long, if at all, and I fall once in a while. But the turns are sweet, I have more options on how to make them, I can climb off resort, and they’re more comfy. Give it a try.

 

[rocojerry]

I ski, board and tele. Right now I'm by far most looking forward to being on my tele skis.

Always heard the turns feel real nice. Went out and bought a pair and did okay pretty quickly. Apparently my turns look okay, but they didn't have that nice feeling I heard so much about. Eventually as I got better I did indeed get to experiance some of those sweet tele turns. I know they started feeling better as I started swiching leg psoitions sooner. Unfortunatly I'm a lousy instrutor, so can't give much other technique advice. Anyway, good stuff!!! Give it a try, you probbaly won't regret!!!

I mostly board and tele, about 50/50 last year-- I picked up a new snowboard this summer, and surprisingly I think I'm looking forward to Tele'ng as much as riding the new board! I did pick up some climbing skins, so I'm looking to earn some turns for some freshies.... Although I'm a better backcountry/tree snowboarder, so I need to still get better on the ski's before I can rip both... There hasn't been a 6"+ day where I've opted for Tele's over the board though, yet.

I'd say I like the challenge of learning something new the most... I'd say its harder physically than skiing and snowboarding combined...
Also great when you are with a group thats a bit slower.... or the conditions are just mediocre, or the terrain is old hat...

Bought all the gear used, but look out for the demo/free days -- or rent, I did that a few years first....