Why the telemark?

[lowangle al]

Do you mean cable bindings?

[tkarhu]

Sondre Norheim introduced the Telemark turn to Norwegian wider public in 1868, when he participated the very first national skiing competition in Oslo (then called Christiania). Btw. his journey there included some XC, too, because he and two other competitors skied to Oslo from their home village Morgedal in Telemark. The approach was 200 km and took three days. But more important, he introduced both telemark and parallel turns to a wider public then.

@lowangle al Are these cable bindings… made of willow! Made by Sondre Norheim in 1870, says image text in the link above. From Norwegian Ski Museum Morgedal.

[lowangle al]

That’s what I thought they looked like, I must have seen that photo. I imagine that the toe bindings were like slipping your boot into a slider, the original step-in binding.