Ahahahaha....I'm going tele skiing in Feb!!

[Montana St Alum]

What bindings are you going with?

[bauerb]

I'm leaning towards the 22 Designs Outlaw X. I've used them before

[bauerb]

I just had the most insane idea: I'm thinking of using my new skis to go uphill, not just downhill !

I'm currently running 30-50 miles per week to prepare for a 50km trail running race. we all know that Tele skiing is a killer workout, but I was thinking about how to get miles of training done in Feb. I think the answer is "ski uphill". it works out pretty well for Kilian Jornet, should work for me.

Is it safe to assume that climbing skins will fit pretty much any ski as long as you get the right length skins? eg. I may be getting the Icelandic 109 in a 182cm length...so I just need to order 182cm skins?

[Montana St Alum]

I just had the most insane idea: I'm thinking of using my new skis to go uphill, not just downhill !

I'm currently running 30-50 miles per week to prepare for a 50km trail running race. we all know that Tele skiing is a killer workout, but I was thinking about how to get miles of training done in Feb. I think the answer is "ski uphill". it works out pretty well for Kilian Jornet, should work for me.

Is it safe to assume that climbing skins will fit pretty much any ski as long as you get the right length skins? eg. I may be getting the Icelandic 109 in a 182cm length...so I just need to order 182cm skins?

Yeah, I assume you're talking about skinning up - skiing down, and repeat.
Width is critical, obviously. The first year or 2 I had the JJ's I used them backcountry. At 116 underfoot, 116mm skins are too narrow (I think I bought 130's or so). They were kind of tough on the uphill, BIG and heavy, but holy cow, they were fun coming down!

They didn't need to be as wide as the widest part of the JJ's because that part of the ski is in the rocker region off the snow. Then just cut them down to size. You would need longer skins as well, depending on the brand, as you cut them to length, as well.

If you're just going pre-early season, or staying on more packed up runs, you could use kicker skins for low angle climbing. They're way cheaper, but they do limit where you can go quite a bit. There are hundreds of You Tube videos on skins, sizing, cutting, etc.
I have Pomoca brand skins for my R10's that I got on sale - you definitely pay for the privilege of skinning up. They come with a great cutting tool!

Icelandic makes skins.
https://www.icelanticskis.com/products/ ... bing-skins

You might even have the guys at Aspinockwoods to set you up with BD skins.
I'm sure there is plenty of corporate knowledge on this board on the subject!

Your picture looks like you use non-adjustable poles. While not essential, adjustable poles with BIG baskets are pretty nice for skinning.

[bauerb]

I'm going to be in Vermont later this week and I remembered that there is a decent gear shop in Burlington called Gear Exchange that sells Tele gear. I'm going to go there to see some of the wider skis in person. its rare to get an opp to go to shop that sells tele gear, so I will take advantage.

[Montana St Alum]

I don't know if this perspective helps or not. This is a 26.5 boot on the 108mm wide M-Free. The ski isn't wider than the boot, so it doesn't seem particularly "water-ski" like.

And from above:

So it's wide, for sure, but not crazy wide.

[bauerb]

yeah, I think I'm convinced at this point that a 109 or so in a 182'ish length is what I should get.

[bauerb]

this has probably been covered in other threads, but if I am looking for a ski that I will only use on lift served trails, why wouldn't I look at buying alpine skis and just mount Tele bindings? seems like in recent years the differences have converged. Tele gear tends to be more expensive because its a niche product...

[Woodserson]

this has probably been covered in other threads, but if I am looking for a ski that I will only use on lift served trails, why wouldn't I look at buying alpine skis and just mount Tele bindings? seems like in recent years the differences have converged. Tele gear tends to be more expensive because its a niche product...

I don't think anyone is making a tele-specific ski anymore, except Bishop and the Fey Bros (and even that it's "kinda")

[Montana St Alum]

Yeah, I haven't used a tele specific ski since the Work Stinx. That has to be 15 years ago. And that includes predominantly lift served and years of less frequent back country.

The Work Stinx pair is now a decoration on my dining room wall, with some of my other skis that are obsolete or just worn out.

However, if you really wanted something that's kind of tele specific, Bishop makes skis and of course there's Voile' I guess. But I don't really see the point.