Lurkskiing

[Petetheswede]

Anybody out there who regularly or in occasion use a lurk instead of two poles? With hoks its obvious but in other contexts? I broke a pole yesterday so today I went skiing with my Nansens and a lurk. Super short tour and nothing special but its a nice feeling and i think with training it could aid propulsion at least a little bit.

[jalp]

Anybody out there who regularly or in occasion use a lurk instead of two poles? With hoks its obvious but in other contexts? I broke a pole yesterday so today I went skiing with my Nansens and a lurk. Super short tour and nothing special but its a nice feeling and i think with training it could aid propulsion at least a little bit.

Hi Pete,

I have never tried one but I'd like to one of these days. How well did it work when climbing? I've seen a few vids of them being used for downhill turns. Looks like fun.

[Inspiredcapers]

I’ve used a lurk quite a bit with my Hoks and a couple of times on the local ski hill on a pair of Fischer Revolution Radarcs I have. A couple of the ski patrollers had a look at it and thought it was interesting.

I seriously wish I had one last month when I was skiing down a local FSR that was cruddy/icy- the control it gives me would possibly have saved me a twisted ankle.

I’m messing around with the idea of making a lurk that I can break down to strap to my pack or use as poles. Alternatively there’s a company called Mountain Sports that makes a nice looking lurk that you can break down.

Lurks might not be an attractive option for many but I’ve found using one (particularly on groomed/roads/trails) to be a confidence builder.


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[Petetheswede]

Nice! The feeling of control with the lurk on the hoks is amazing. I tried the lurk with 2m skis last year going down a narrower trail and could not really replicate the super quick turning of the hoks (obviously) but i still think it gives more confidence. As for climbing i think the classic double pole is better if you lack traction but the lurk is nice to lean in the uphill side when traversing upwards. My thinking yesterday was that it would be cool if one could master the technique of using the lurk for propulsion also so you dont need poles at all. Probably would be good with a basket like traditional western lurks as opposed to the altai basketless lurk. Im goind to try adding a basket to my lurk!

[1EyedJack]

I had my day Lurkskiing.
Hooked up with some friends for a day of powder in the Marbles. We smoked a bowl as usual, loaded up my gear in their pickup. 10 mile ride to the mtns, another type of bowl. F'! In my haste, left my poles in my trunk Pete had a push broom in his pickup bed. Was my lurk for the day. Was a bit tricky working my way up through knee-deep fluffy powder; I skied drag (western term for herding cattle from behind, eating dust). Coming down the virgin powder steeps was a blast! Was my first and last ride with a lurk. So far...

[lowangle al]

I may be wrong but I don't the lurk has a place in modern skiing with modern gear. It won't work as well for climbing as poles do. My guess is that traditionally when climbing with a lurk people would have full skins on their skis which they probably left on for decents. The old skis with a simple strap for a binding were probably hard to control. The use of the lurk made it possible to check your speed and turn.

A lurk can help get you safely down a difficult hill if your skills aren't up to it but I think it would be a poor tool for climbing. I think their best use would be for historical reenactments.

[Petetheswede]

you might be right Al! Im definately not arguing the superiority of the lurk (except with hoks which i think totally need the lurk to compensate for shortness). Today i missed having to poles on the flats. Very slow. New poles coming though.

However! Being as poor a skier as me you cant really think to much about performance but more about feeling and i think there is a beauty to the lurk and the old school telemark.

[lowangle al]

Whatever works for you or whatever you enjoy is what you should do Pete.

I'm not a ski historian but the video I had seen of Native skiers in the Altai Mts. using traditional gear were doing parallel turns with their lurks. Maybe someone knows the answer to this but I wonder when the use of the lurk fell out of favor. Was it about the same time Sondre Nordheim popularized the T turn or did it have more to do with the idea of using two poles.

[Inspiredcapers]

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[Inspiredcapers]

No idea what they’re saying but the old school look is awesome...has me thinking I should consider bgregoires cool knickers [emoji16]


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