Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

hey!

so what companies are out there making telemark specific skis? it would be great to have a list that i (we, people) could just go thru and visit their websites to see what they have. maybe avoid listing specific skis and just give manufacturer names?

thanks! there are so many companies out there that i have never heard of! oh, and please hope for some snow on the 3rd coast so i can get out there and quit posting this endless stream of drivel....

No one makes a tele-specific ski anymore (from a downhill perspective), nor should they. The last iteration of "tele" skis were the exact same as their alpine counterparts with a different top-sheet, so it doesn't make sense for ski makers to duplicate their inventory for no reason. All modern tele equipment (not talking xcd here) is capable of driving normal alpine skis, so long as you match up the ski characteristics with your boot/binding/typical snow combo. If you're looking to run pins/leather, then use the appropriate xcd-oriented skis for that.

I second Tom's post regarding downhill skis.

The only manufacturer that I am aware of that is focused on Nordic skis (XC/XCD and downhill/AT/Telemark) is Asnes. All of Asnes' line is designed for backcountry skiing (not that it couldn't be used on-piste). Asnes still makes one ski that is a downhill ski that is clearly focused on downhill-Telemark skiing, the Falketind 68 (this is the replacement of the Storetind- which is a bit more of a hybrid XCD ski like the FT62).

BUT- like Tom points out the rest of even Asnes' downhill skis are not designed exclusively for Telemark boots and bindings- they are backcountry downhill skis ("Alpine touring(AT)"/"Toppturski") and can have Alpine or Telemark bindings mounted on them.

Downhill skis can be mounted with Alpine bindings or Telemark bindings.

Scotty Bob

Woodserson wrote:Scotty Bob

RIGHT! You are correct sir! Forgot about those mind-blowing things for a moment...

of course...

scotty bob...those things always seem to pop up randomly.

ScottyBob - eh, forgot about them. I get their concept, but it only really would come into play on hardpack. I can lay railroad tracks on regular alpine skis with no problem on tele's, so the bobtails have no appeal to me. I'd venture he sells more of his traditional tailed skis these days, but I could be wrong.