Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Introduction

To those who are interested in XCD on NNN/SNS systems,

In this thread, I'd like to write miscellaneous snippets on "how to XCD on NNN/SNS systems" on an irregular base.

Any questions and comments are welcomed.

Note: To avoid wordiness, I'll use a simple term "XCD" to express the styles or systems of "XCD on NNN/SNS" here and distinguish the term from XCD on 3-pin by calling the latter "3-pin XCD" specifically.

Snippet 01: Preface

First of all, take a look at the following video:

[video][/video]

This is an example showing how the XCD looks like.

If you're more interested in XCD and get the urge to ski like the guys on the scene, you're a type of person who could share enjoyment with us after having learned the basics of XCD. So please go on to read following snippets. On the other hand, if you were turned off or stirred scary emotions by the video, we'd like to recommend you to return where you belong.

Snippet 02: What's XCD?

The term XCD is short for "Cross Country Ski Downhill" and originally used by televangelists such as Dickie Hall back in the 70s in the US. They took out ultra-light gear used for cross-country skiing to rumble the hills then ventured to go downhill the slopes that had been once considered a territory of alpine skiers by employing a Nordic skiing technique called "telemark." That is the root of modern telemark ski, and we'd like to call it "classic telemark" here.

The classic telemark seems to have had a hippie-like philosophy: a sense of freedom or a close contact to the nature. However, we cannot see such philosophy in the modern telemark of today anymore. Many of current telemarkers are relying on beefy gear with longing for performances similar to those of alpine ski.

But there are always wackos going against the times.
Some of modern telemarkers picked up the rigs for cross-country skis and started to challenge skiing on various slopes and snow conditions again. History repeats itself.

The XCD is not almighty. In fact there are a lot of limitations of snow conditions or terrains along with the difficulties of learning. It's not for everyone. However, if you once get a knack of it, you'll get a superb sense of freedom like flying. We hope many telemarkers will find something peculiar in XCD and join in the loop of us.

XCD is fun!

When you harken by to the Golden Days, you are not suggesting that we must use (or even that these qualities are best in an XCD ski) a double-cambered or a stiff-flexing ski are you ? Those ideas were pretty well abandoned ( excepting camber on very good snow) by the time S. Barnett wrote Cross County Downhill..
Also I notice that your technique in the video is really almost a striding down the hill in some sense , as opposed to and arcing down the hill ?

CIMA wrote:Snippet 02
The XCD is not almighty. In fact there are a lot of limitations of snow conditions or terrains along with the difficulties of learning. It's not for everyone. However, if you once get a knack of it, you'll get a superb sense of freedom like flying. We hope many telemarkers will find something peculiar in XCD and join in the loop of us.

XCD is fun!

I 100% support the above. Less equipment, less stability is more fun and adventure. XCD rules!

BTW do you know that Australians were used to XCD some time ago. Do you know this manual ?
http://ski.itrundle.com/techniques/xcd1.html

I find it very interesting

Ron,

As fo XCD gear, I'm going to comment in the next post.
BTW, are you going to try XCD again?

CIMA wrote:If you're more interested in XCD and get the urge to ski like the guys on the scene, you're a type of person who could share enjoyment with us after having learned the basics of XCD. So please go on to read following snippets. On the other hand, if you were turned off or stirred scary emotions by the video, we'd like to recommend you to return where you belong.

TeleMarcin,

Thanks for such informative link!
That'll be sure to save a lot of energy of mine to spare time for writing some routines.

Snippet 03: Gear (part 1 of 2)

Choosing a XCD gear is not difficult today. You'll hit a lot of information about skis, boots and bindings using search engines like Google.

However, if you're new to Nordic skiing, you need to know at least the following two key points:

First, there are two types of bindings: NNN and SNS. According to the types, the types of boots change also. The both types are not interchangeable.

Second, even among the products of the same binding type, there are basically two variations. One is for normal (or racing) cross country skiing, and another is for backcountry skiing. Again two variations are not interchangeable.

So if you're not confident about your choice of bindings and boots, ask the shops before buying. It would be wise to buy a set of skis, bindings and boots at the same place.

You won't overshoot a target if you choose a gear from the following major brands:

• Alpina
• Fischer
• Madshus
• Rossignol
• Rottefella
• Salomon

Go to their sites and look for their products by watching at the keywords such as "Backcountry (BC)," "XCD," "S-bound," etc. Then you'll find the lists of appropriate products for XCD.

In the following post, I'd like to comment how to select right one among many product options.

Deleted

Snippet 04: Gear (part 2 of 2)

There is a wide range of products designed for XCD.
How do you pick up right one, then? That is a difficult question, and the answer depends on one's taste. However, as a rule of thumb, there are some directions derived from the characteristics of the gear.
Here are the summaries:

Skis

Length

In the case of cross country ski (XC), it has been usually said to choose skis longer than your body length by a range of 5.9 to 11.8 inches (15 to 30 cm).

If you walk on mild hills and traverse their slopes more often than you descend with making turns, then you can follow the guide above. However, if descending the slopes is your main concern, consider choosing shorter ones. In my case, I like the ones a little shorter than my body length.

The longer the skis become, the more directional (hard to turn) they get. Also in backcountry the shorter ones increase mobility. The longer ones get more flotation on powder, but you can gain it by increasing width also.

Width

The wider the skis become, the more flotation you get on powder.
So the advantage of using wider skis is limited for walking and descending on powder. So if your main concern is skiing corn snow in spring or walking, choose narrow (54 to 62 mm at the waist) ones. Even on powder, the skis whose waists have wider than 68 mm may overkill.

We're not going to delve into intricacy as for other characteristics such as sidecut, camber and fishscales because such things are not major issues as a whole.

Boots

Because there aren't many options for the boots, choosing right ones is not difficult. Unless your budget is very limited, choose the highest or second highest grade on the maker's list.

Bindings

As with the boots, there are few options.
There are automatic and manual bindings. Because of the risk of icing, the manual ones is more reliable.

Poles

Light extendable poles would be useful.

As for XCD gear, because of relatively low availability in stock at stores, getting too picky about the difference of the gear would get you nowhere. Following the crowd may be one of the best tactics.