Why telemark...
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 1:16 am
Yep, as the quotes on this sites headlines may suggest, telemark is a dying thing. But then I started in the early 80s, and telemarking was dead then. I mean you really had to love it back then because the gear sucked so bad: 210 75mm skinny skis. 3 pin bindings. Lace-up boots. And yet, here we are.
I got into telemarking not because I thought is was particularly cool, no, I got into it because I went to a high school where we could ski every day, and my ankles were swollen up and in so much pain from skiing Lange XL boots (Lange Bang) that in order to keep skiing I borrowed my buddy's lace up Asolo Summits and Phoenix 3 medal skis. And then after a few pointers (he raced tele), I was hooked. Why? It was just stupid fun. I haven't been on alpines since save for a few times, and when that mishap occurred I found the boots just as over-restrictive and uncomfortable as I remembered they were when I made the transition.
Do tele markers give telemark a black eye? Yep. There are a lot that do, and that goes way back. Is there a better way to back country? I have no idea; I don't backcountry. I slack country. And... I eat beef rather than granola. So maybe I don't get the thing I'm supposed to get, but I sure love my tele. Again, when done well it is just damn fun.
So... Atomic, quit making your tele skis. I've owned a pair and they weren't all that. Frankly I'm more interested in mounting my free-heel up on your alpine race skis anyway. Hell, we have come so far with the tech we don't need specialty skis anymore.
Regardless of where the industry is going I'll still be making the impossible look pretty and pretty rad. When I started I might be the only tyelemarker on the mountain on any given day. And I was fine with that then. And I'm fine with that now. At least I'm not a jibber.
I got into telemarking not because I thought is was particularly cool, no, I got into it because I went to a high school where we could ski every day, and my ankles were swollen up and in so much pain from skiing Lange XL boots (Lange Bang) that in order to keep skiing I borrowed my buddy's lace up Asolo Summits and Phoenix 3 medal skis. And then after a few pointers (he raced tele), I was hooked. Why? It was just stupid fun. I haven't been on alpines since save for a few times, and when that mishap occurred I found the boots just as over-restrictive and uncomfortable as I remembered they were when I made the transition.
Do tele markers give telemark a black eye? Yep. There are a lot that do, and that goes way back. Is there a better way to back country? I have no idea; I don't backcountry. I slack country. And... I eat beef rather than granola. So maybe I don't get the thing I'm supposed to get, but I sure love my tele. Again, when done well it is just damn fun.
So... Atomic, quit making your tele skis. I've owned a pair and they weren't all that. Frankly I'm more interested in mounting my free-heel up on your alpine race skis anyway. Hell, we have come so far with the tech we don't need specialty skis anymore.
Regardless of where the industry is going I'll still be making the impossible look pretty and pretty rad. When I started I might be the only tyelemarker on the mountain on any given day. And I was fine with that then. And I'm fine with that now. At least I'm not a jibber.