Telemarking

[skiguy]

Re: Skinning.

I here it's really good out west... Maybe I'll go someday.. Never been out of New England... But I'd have to quit my new job to get out there... And raise a bunch of cash... Maybe move out of my mom's "car hole"...

I guess I'll just never know the real thrills of Co..

Sorry that you think that way. What is it about money that makes it a limitation to your sense of adventure? Of course if you have family obligations which keep you at home, I can understand it somewhat. However, there's plenty of work out west, so you certainly can't convince me that holding some job down would be a good excuse in this case. It isn't the snow so much either. Travel broadens one's mind. One gains a great deal of respect if one has travelled. Whatever, Happy New Year to all.

 

[dmc]

Re: Skinning.

I here it's really good out west... Maybe I'll go someday.. Never been out of New England... But I'd have to quit my new job to get out there... And raise a bunch of cash... Maybe move out of my mom's "car hole"...

I guess I'll just never know the real thrills of Co..

Sorry that you think that way. What is it about money that makes it a limitation to your sense of adventure? Of course if you have family obligations which keep you at home, I can understand it somewhat. However, there's plenty of work out west, so you certainly can't convince me that holding some job down would be a good excuse in this case. It isn't the snow so much either. Travel broadens one's mind. One gains a great deal of respect if one has travelled. Whatever, Happy New Year to all.

I'm too afraid of skiing out west - I hear it's super scarey. Steep with avalanches and stuff.. Maybe someday I'll be good enough to go there.. But for now I have to stay here where I know I'm safe.

I guess I'm just an East Coast loser compared to you...

 

[ALLSKIING]

dmc you are the boiler plate king :lol: :wink:

 

[ga2ski]

I have to admit, tele skiing is better out west. Some of my best skiing (alpine or tele) was on a backcountry trip to the 10th mountain hut in Leadville, CO. That being said I got bored with alpine skiing so I switched to tele which opened a whole new world for me. I can get to some of the goods easier, whether at the resort or backcountry. Also I can alpine or drop a knee when on my telemark gear.

As i have said before if you want learn tele rent some equipment and play around. If you want some good lessons attend one of the New England Telemark Festivals (www.netelemark.com). They are alot of fun. Two sets of lessons (morning and afternoon), plus free demos, costume contests, ski competitions, and apres-party with prizes and beer. All this for the price of the day ticket for the resort.

 

[skidmarks]

Me and my friends skin here in the East for the training aspect. Plenty of nice places to ski.
We even go to our now defunct local ski area Mt Tom and earn our turns. The Thunder Bolt at Mt Greylock is great at least a few times a season.
If you take care of your skins they will last a long time especially now that they come so wide.

Tele skiing in the east is fun especially in the spring mush. Check out New England Telemark TeleDaze and give it a try.

 

[dmc]

dmc you are the boiler plate king :lol: :wink:

I guess thats my lot in life... Oh well...

Someday I'll make it off this mountain...

 

[awf170]

Re: Skinning.

You guys slay me. All it takes is three days of aggressive driving and you can be in Colorado. I find it rather odd that so many are dedicated to staying in the East during what amounts to another mediocre year of skiing. Of course you can skin in the woods here, but you don't know the real thrill of it until you open your horizons. Hazards like hard crust disappear. Its all about access, too. I moved out of the mountains and that ruined my access. Besides ignoring that, Tele skiing demands a dedication that regular alpine doesn't. You won't enjoy it unless you are doing it often. When it comes to lift service skiing, alpine (if you have the skill) remains easier, faster and more fun IMHO. If you think that isn't true, then I doubt if you know anything about skiing in general. What's true for me isn't going to be true for every skier nor obviously was it true for you. I suspect that all these guys who are so dedicated to Tele in the East are people who went out and spent a fortune on specialized equipment. They have to get their money's worth out of it, but they could be having more fun with Alpine equipment if they owned it.

beswift/atskier will you ever go away :lol:

 

[NYDrew]

Ski location has nothing to do with quality. East and west are almost two totally different sports.

If you need a good location for a good day of skiing, then you are definately not a true skiier. It's about you and what you can get out of the mountain. It has nothing to do with where some fat rich dude put up a ski lift.

I work at a mountain that has 700ft verticle. I love every moment.

The Shwartz is in you Lonestar, it's in you!

 

[Powdr]

SkiGuy = ATSKier, SwiftSkier, etc.

He has made a total fool of himself on TTips & Epic. I see he is working hard to do the same here.

Powdr

 

[Marc]

SkiGuy = ATSKier, SwiftSkier, etc.

He has made a total fool of himself on TTips & Epic. I see he is working hard to do the same here.

Powdr

Damnit, that's my job around here. No one will ever be better at making a fool of oneself than me. I've had years of practice and experience.

 

[skibum]

I did a week long tele clinic last year. It was pretty easy to pick up, everybody in the class was linking turns within an hour. The instructor claimed that snowboarders pick it up the fastest which made sense as it felt like a toeside turn, then a switch toe. We did backcountry the first couple of days then moved to the lifts. Skinning for powder was fun but lift served tele seemed pointless to me. My legs ached like crazy by the final day, every turn became painful.
On the east/west thing; there is backcountry everywhere, just get out there. Tele IS huge in CO ski towns, to the point of almost being a fad. Around there you are just not a cool crunchy mountain guy/girl without teleing. Thats fine and all but many had the tele-nazi attitudes that they were the savior of all things glisse, the pure soul of winter sports and all others were pretenders. bleehhh

 

[marcski]

SkiGuy = ATSKier, SwiftSkier, etc.

He has made a total fool of himself on TTips & Epic. I see he is working hard to do the same here.

Powdr

He's done it on Snowjournal as well...

 

[skibum1321]

He's done it here before too...


I'm planning on going to Tele Thursday at Bolton sometime this winter. $40 for gear, lift and lessons. It begins at 6 every Thursday.

 

[thetrailboss]

He's done it here before too...

Ding dong the witch is dead....

He's gone.

Back to the subject at hand.

 

[SAB]

Is tele easy to learn? - no way!
Is it worth it? - definately!

First of all to correct a previous statement - Whiteface does have tele instructors. In fact, they have one of the best. I am having a mental block right now, but I think his name is Ed Hall. Having said that, instruction at Whiteface might not come cheap because I don't believe they have any 'beginner's specials' like some other ski areas.

As for having your friends teach you - this could work, but I'd still rely on a lesson to get started. There are alot of tele skiers out there (at least compared to a few years ago), and alot of good ones too, but a good skier doesn't necessarily mean a good instructor. I remember being amazed when an experienced instructor friend spent 15 minutes with an intermediate skier and helped her advance more than my coaching had all winter. A good instructor can be priceless.

Having said that, Mad River is one of the best places around. They having been teaching tele aggressively for longer than anyone else. The NATO clinics are also great. However, the seminars at the NATO tele fest in March are often big. They are good to advance your skills, but to start out I think a smaller class size would be better.

Good luck with it.

SAB

 

[camp]

Well, if the original poster is still tuning in to this thread....,
I can say that I practically did learn by sitting at a computer and reading ttips. As well as Alan & Mikes, and Paul Parkers books. I'd pick up many drills to go try, and then I'd head to a bunny slope and just do monomarks or pole-less skiing for a couple hours.

The NATO Joy of Telemarking DVD is another excellent tool. Can't say enough good about that DVD. Excellent learning drills there. I'm now (proudly, even though I'm an east coast dork acoording to some....) skiing fall-line on diamond trails at my puny resorts. Two seasons ago, I was on greens.

I was (still am??) a snowboarder for 15+ years. Maybe that did help. I certainly did know what a good carve was supposed to feel like.

Tele - all about the back foot
snowboarding - all about the front foot