Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

great old movies!! almost everything we think we've done has been done even better by our elders! At Jackson Hole in the 90's there were epic stories of the place in the 60's and 70's when there were few tourists, mostly just locals skiing the tram every run with ropes and rules in short supply.

For example people said Pepi Steigler used to love to drop into Laramie Bowl on powder days not by the marked traverse but by launching 70-foot drops off the cliffs above the bowl, an area now totally roped off and closed. This was long before "TGR" and advertising hype even existed. In the early 90's absolutely people were ski mountaineering radical stuff in flimsy tele cable bindings. The gear of choice was usually some alpine slalom skis with cables bindings and Alico double leather boots.

it's interesting to look back now. My ski friends made fun of me snowboarding on deep powder days. they had no idea! I was the only one on the mountain with good flotation. Now all skis are basically made like my snowboard was back then so people aren't sucking wind on powder days. Telemark and AT hasn't fundamentally changed, the gear just favors the downhill now instead of the uphill/touring part.

Cannatonic wrote:Telemark and AT hasn't fundamentally changed, the gear just favors the downhill now instead of the uphill/touring part.

I very much remember when I switched from lace-up, low-top Asolo Extremes, which were the boot of choice for resort tele in the early 80's, to the new fangled leather double boot, plastic cuffed Merril SuperComps. I had dreamed for such a boot. But my first day out on them I couldn't ski them worth a crap; they were too stiff. They eventually broke in and I loved them dearly, but it is funny: only in certain circumstances would I say I skied them better. They recovered better; they handled variable chop better; they were better for going bigger, but did they necessarily turn better on groomed slope, tight or otherwise? Not really. It was a huge plus to no longer have to wear gators. I hated gators.

Here is a good video on the dying art of carving. Notice how tight and open his turns are. His skis don't get close side by side until his speed picks up.

What a great thread this is! My wife is on the other couch assuming we are watching Dancing With the Stars on TV for some "us" time and I'm watching every vid in the thread I really liked Dickie Hall's vid - I get vertigo on everything there but Lobster Claw these days - on the gear they were on that's some badsass skiing (I found that place terrifying on alpine gear). Keep these coming!!

What a great thread this is! My wife is on the other couch assuming we are watching Dancing With the Stars on TV for some "us" time and I'm watching every vid in the thread I really liked Dickie Hall's vid - I get vertigo on everything there but Lobster Claw these days - on the gear they were on that's some badsass skiing (I found that place terrifying on alpine gear). Keep these coming!!

lowangle al wrote:
Here is a good video on the dying art of carving. Notice how tight and open his turns are. His skis don't get close side by side until his speed picks up.

This is my first season on real tele gear (plastic) and lift-served but I found the above video to be inspiring and incidentally my friend decided to get some vids yesterday. I loved carving so much in my earlier skiing life, it's nice to start to get back into it after so many years. Conditions were spectacular spring corn. Mentorship appreciated:

That looked like a lot of fun and it looked like you had the right skis. Carving groomers can be a blast and it's something I look forward to when I move back East.

It sounds like you are having fun! If you are asking for some comments, I would say that most of your kneeling happen before the fall line. If you take your time, say active till the end of the turn, you will be more stable, specially if the terrain gets bumpy... You go down on your knees, take your edge set, bring your body forward, counter rotated, slowly, progressively, till the end of the turn... My 1 cent.

Rodbelan wrote:It sounds like you are having fun! If you are asking for some comments, I would say that most of your kneeling happen before the fall line. If you take your time, say active till the end of the turn, you will be more stable, specially if the terrain gets bumpy... You go down on your knees, take your edge set, bring your body forward, counter rotated, slowly, progressively, till the end of the turn... My 1 cent.

YES! I am certainly always looking for advice so I can CRUSH IT!

So get down as soon as possible-- before I cross the fall line on the new turn-- and carry it as long as possible, is that what you're effectively getting at? Is this a good example (I fast forwarded to the good part):

[quote="Woodserson"] I am certainly always looking for advice


You might look better if you tucked your shirt in. You are making us look bad, next thing they'll be calling us dirtbags. Funny thing is I pictured you to be more of the Harvard type.