Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Anyone have suggestions for what is a good ski for tele racing? I have been looking at various GS skis but not sure what radius/size/stiffness is good for tele. thanks

Look into FIS slalom skis, too.
Word is that FIS norm GS ski, esp. for men, are too stiff, and too big radius.
The substitutes are FIS GS for women from the past years, or, better, so-called "cheater-GS" (non-FIS norm).

For me the substitutes would be Volkl Racetiger SL RS WC (FIS SL or non-FIS GS, Speedwall or not, maybe even Jr. GS 171 - WC Race Stock are good), or Atomic Doubledecker 184 (cheater-GS, very evil ski [as of previous iteration])

Depends on what kind of racing...

I find GS skis (21m radius) a bit hard to fully carve on tele unless you go at eye-watering speeds on very steep terrain... But hey, that's what they were made for...!

But I like all my "speed" skis to be super stiff... It's never too stiff if you wanna go fast... SL skis with radius around 12-15 are really fun, but quite slower...

Indeed Volkls built for current FIS regulations are having around 12.2m radius in 165 (according to PhysicsMan's Sidecut Radius Calculator, so in reality they might have a little more - their shovels are wide). Similarly, Atomics are at 12.5 (FIS) to 11.5 (non-FIS, Doubledecker).
Jr. GS seems like a compromise to me
Haven't flexed them, though.

p.s. My Movement Mosquitos 180 were so weird on my 1st day on them - 14m radius took me a while to get used to - man, they are SO turny. The tails were washing out and I had to adjust my technique. But next day, after lunch, I moved NTN Freerides to back detent at -14mm (from ~mfg rec'd). That, plus technique adjustments, made skis much more stable for bigger radius turns and higher speeds. So, maybe one needs to also play with binding position on SL skis?..

I have limited experiences on race skis and race courses. Came to it a bit late.

I have some GS 188 Volkl, and 180 GS Head (race stock). It takes awhile to get used to such skis and it's best not to try them for the first time on race day. Compared to modern all mtn skis, they just arn't that much fun.

Telemark racing is basically about sticking straight fast 90 ft landings, arcing each gate, skating strength, and avoiding style/technique penalties.

A lot of guys on TT had fun successes with very short slalom skis for recreational carving, but if you go to the World Cup today, you'll probably see nothing of the unique self-made rigs of last century - instead NTN on race stock Volkl Race Tigers, or what have you.... You'll also see great athletes, most of which aren't doing dick around on a forum.

BTW - I have some 75 mm 45mm high Rotefella Risers I would like to sell to someone stoked to set up hard pack carving machines using 75 mm gear

Last year I was on Ladies 183 Volkl WC GS R=23m circa 2009 with NTN mounted on Nordica VIST alpine race plate. This was a very good set up for me. This year I am on Men's 187 Volkl WC GS R=27m circa 2009 with NTN mounted on the pink Rottefella riser plate. The Men's ski is a bit stiffer so I am going with Rottefella riser which is not stiff. So far I like this set up as well. One year I raced on Men's 185 Blizzard WC GS R=27 with an alpine racing plate. This set up was a bit too stiff and I had trouble bending the ski and making clean carves.