Telemark Technique

[Manney]

Price out an NTN rig, which is what these gear whores insist is needed to traverse a toboggan hill. Add up the cost of 8 skis and 15 boots in a serial shopper’s basket. Check out the price of a few pairs of cf all mountain powder skis for the groomers.

What does it add up to? Well, it’s four figures. But none of all that lightness will matter a bit to the chairlift going up, or the average skier going down on the groomers. Looks awesome on forums tho. Betcha they shred. LOL.

Booths are not crewed to sell anything light… or heavy. The discriminator for cool is cost. Cash isn’t king. Plastic is.

[Sidney Dunkin]

"It’s easy to be a Tele Hero on Hero Snow with xcd. Much more difficult/impossible in crap conditions. Burly gear is the great equalizer.
I suspect that’s why a lot of us have gone to a lightweight BC set-up like said Objectives, plastic boots and bindings with heel/DB engagement for xcD."

I have no interest in "equalizing" anything, i.e. making it simpler for unskilled people to appear as if they have skill.

If guy says it's so easy I would certainly like to see him run some easy groomers half as good as telehiro does.

It's only easy after you've learned how to do it. Regardless of what gear you're on, heavy or light, you still need to know how to do it.

[Lhartley]

If you were already an advanced alpine skier and threw together your regular skis with an active binding and fully supportive boots would really take that long?

[Sidney Dunkin]

Knowing how to alpine ski should give you a big head start. If you're riding the lift you can get in a lot of practice and figure out in a year what could take ten in the BC.

[fisheater]

Knowing how to alpine ski should give you a big head start. If you're riding the lift you can get in a lot of practice and figure out in a year what could take ten in the BC.

I agree with the caveat, that it is also quite possible with heavier gear to ski solely off the front foot and ski effectively. There is something to spending some time on moderate terrain with leather boots.
Other than that caveat, I agree with the statement I quoted. It also should be noted that one doesn’t become an advanced competent alpine skier overnight.

[Lhartley]

I guess my point was that telemark skiing specifically isn't that difficult, but sliding down slopes on waxed boards is pretty difficult in itself. Maybe just maximizing your time on skis whatever the format will advance your progress as long as youre out doing it

[Manney]

And it’s a very good point you make @Lhartley.

This is the whole point of the tour. Build fitness on the flats, increase strength on the climb, master control on the descent… thereby becoming a fit, strong, and controlled skier.

Psychologically, working for your turns makes them count for more. You’re more focused so try to extract the most from every turn. This is the opposite of doing a bunch of turns because the chair gives them to you for free. These describe extreme differences in mental focus but there is truth that physical investment = mental commitment = progression.

Even at lower levels of focus, the fitness and strength generated by the tour and climb will help you as a skier. Why? Because technique is a multiplier of fitness and strength. All the technique in the world won’t turn a bowl of jello into a powerful skier.

This is the reason why competitive DH skiers spend as much time as they do biking, lifting weights, running, plyometrics etc. (pro XC skiers do a huge amount of these things in the off season). It builds muscle density and mass, which increases joint stability and fatigue thresholds. This is very important in reducing the risk of injury, which studies have shown happen at greater frequency late in the day (or training session) on ski hills because that’s usually the point where the activity has exceeded the fatigue threshold of the unconditioned recreational skier.

A recreational backcountry skier might be able to skip long touring if they also put in the hours at the gym. But backcountry touring provides all that automatically, so it seems like a very good way to develop functional capacity.

[Sidney Dunkin]

I agree with some of your points above but learning to tele ski doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the tour.

You can learn to xc ski in an afternoon, it doesn’t need to be a part of learning to Nordic downhill ski.

[Sidney Dunkin]

Knowing how to alpine ski should give you a big head start. If you're riding the lift you can get in a lot of practice and figure out in a year what could take ten in the BC.

I agree with the caveat, that it is also quite possible with heavier gear to ski solely off the front foot and ski effectively. There is something to spending some time on moderate terrain with leather boots.
Other than that caveat, I agree with the statement I quoted. It also should be noted that one doesn’t become an advanced competent alpine skier overnight.

That’s probably true, I didn’t learn on heavy gear. I wouldn’t want to learn on gear at either end of the weight spectrum. Too heavy and you fight the stiffness, too light and you fight lack of stability.

[greatgt]

Being ancient am having a hard time figuring out where you all are skiing. Alpine and BC are different sides of the planet. If you can get to a "closed" ski area some learning can take place for those new to the sport. You can run skis at high speed and that is good for progress. However, ski areas and BC don't compute. Totally different and done well on totally different equipment. Wide short stubby non cambered skis work just fine on lift served slopes but in the bush forget it. Eastern Hardwood skiing is way out there. Course you have to cruise out there and then cruise back after getting the goods. My opinion one great turn in the bush is equivalent to a day at a ski area. TM