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This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
Make Friends With Your Back Foot
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The goofy-foot is a reverse telemark. I've also heard this called a kramelet.
It looks somewhat similar to a parallel turn in that at the end of the turn,
the inside (uphill) ski is forward and the outside (downhill) ski is back.
The difference is that the outside (downhill) heel is up in a tele-like position.
"Kramelet" aka Reverse Telemark aka Goofy-Foot (toes first)
is different from "backwards" Telemark skiing (heels first),
the latter shown here.
It also mentions "Royal Christey". Ah, so many ways to look like a noob on the slopes... and keep being a Lifelong Learner! (And for some reason I think I'd feel more comfortable doing this than dropping a tele' knee.)
How to fall off skis... in the privacy of your own home.
Last edited by TallGrass on Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Big Sky Telemark Youtube channel has the best freestyle tele skiing I'ver ever seen, plenty of lurks and backwards tele. here is just one of their vids
This is from about 10 years ago early in my attempts to carve and to ski switch. Looking at it now, all I see is mistakes, but the basic premise, look over the outside shoulder, is an effective technique to start the learning process of skiing switch.
Also, this was on Armada JJ's (116 underfoot) and I will say that wider is helpful for learning switch and a hindrance to learn to carve.
Big Sky Telemark Youtube channel has the best freestyle tele skiing I'ver ever seen, plenty of lurks and backwards tele. here is just one of their vids
Fun video! And one where I'd rather be watching the person do than be doing that while being watched!
@bauerb@Montana St Alum Ever notice how Backwards-Telemark ski position is the same as Alpine going forward?
The ski on the inside of the turn leads.
Now wondering if there's a backward ski style where outside-turn ski leads.
Still have yet to see anything on Reverse-Telemark (going forwards but inside-turn ski leading). I'm thinking if you did the tele-shuffle while traversing a slope (not turning) would be an exercise Dave's NATO teacher would like... maybe.
Goofy tele has noting to do with skiing backwards... In one of Dickie's vid (NATO), you would see him stuck in a stance (for exemple, left ski in the front) and doing all his turns that way. Looks like he is telemarking from the left and paralleling from the right... sort of...
É y fa ty fret? On é ty ben dun ti cotton waté? célèbre et ancien chant celtique
@bauerb @Montana St Alum Ever notice how Backwards-Telemark ski position is the same as Alpine going forward?
The ski on the inside of the turn leads.
Now wondering if there's a backward ski style where outside-turn ski leads.
Still have yet to see anything on Reverse-Telemark (going forwards but inside-turn ski leading). I'm thinking if you did the tele-shuffle while traversing a slope (not turning) would be an exercise Dave's NATO teacher would like... maybe.
I think ski position is the biomechanical result of the heel being free to rise, or held down. The natural result in alpine is that the inside ski has to shift forward (in this case, both in the direction of motion and relative to the front of the body) to concentrate the weight on the inside edge of the outside ski.
Skiing switch on alpine, it does seem that when people look over their shoulders, the ski on that side slides forward (in the direction of motion or in this case toward the back side of the body), whereas in telemark, when I look over my shoulder, the ski on the opposite side slides forward (in the direction of motion and toward the back side of the body). So, looking over my left shoulder, the right heel is lifted and that side is the inside of the turn.
Direction of travel Vs. front/back in relation to your body makes it easy to be confusing when talking about this.
If you are turning right, for example, whether you are skiing forward or skiing switch, on telemark gear, your ski positions will be the same relative to your body. In both cases, the right ski is on the inside of the turn and in both cases, the left ski will be towards the chest side of your body and the right heel will be lifted.
As for reverse telemark, I don't see any utility in it, except maybe as a "one-off" exercise in gaining situational awareness in balance training, like skiing on one ski on alpine. I think the important thing isn't which ski is forward, it's which heel is lifted.
To avoid confusing "reverse" and "backwards" (or inverse, converse, ... any other term) and to be consistent, I'm using the following per Dave's website (link in first post).
Alpine: Skiing forward, toes and face first, with both heels down and or locked in, and INside-turn ski in front of the other (aka "leading").
Telemark: Skiing forward, toes and face first, with the INside-turn ski's heel raised, and OUTside-turn ski in front of the other (aka "leading").
"Kramelet" -aka- Reverse Telemark -aka- Goofy-Foot: Skiing forward, toes and face first, with the OUTside ski's heel raised.
"Backwards Telemark" -aka- "Switch": Skiing backward, rear and heels first.
Royal Christie: Alpine skiing with the INside-turn ski weighted, as opposed to OUTside-turn ski, and the OUTside-turn ski is used to push off similar to ice skating and held off the ground during a turn.
there is no practical reason to ski backwards or Kramalet . why does kramelet remind me of Monty Pithon? Spamalot? or maybe I'm hungry and thinking of Kronuts ? freestyle all you want, but lets not pretend that these 2 techniques have any practical purpose. the only time I intentional skis backwards would be very briefly in a steep, narrow couloir or something and I need to side slip backwards to reposition.
there is no practical reason to ski backwards or Kramalet . why does kramelet remind me of Monty Pithon? Spamalot? or maybe I'm hungry and thinking of Kronuts ? freestyle all you want, but lets not pretend that these 2 techniques have any practical purpose. the only time I intentional skis backwards would be very briefly in a steep, narrow couloir or something and I need to side slip backwards to reposition.
Well, in fairness, kramelet doesn't look like fun. Switch is fun. Neither one is useful as a strategy to ski a slope more efficiently though, any more than spinning airborne 360's is (My specialty appears to be 270's - that's not a good thing.) That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. And these extraneous exercises likely will improve the breadth of your ski skills, as they expand what your motor skill - balance envelope is.
After all, telemark isn't a more practical technique than alpine. Just more fun.
Some of this is enthusiasm for a new sport. That's good, it's also good to have realistic expectations about how much these things will help.
So, is it fun? Do it. If it isn't, don't bother.
there is no practical reason to ski backwards or Kramalet... freestyle all you want, but lets not pretend that these 2 techniques have any practical purpose. the only time I intentional skis backwards would be very briefly in a steep, narrow couloir or something and I need to side slip backwards to reposition.
Switch is fun. Neither one is useful as a strategy to ski a slope more efficiently though ... That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. And these extraneous exercises likely will improve the breadth of your ski skills, as they expand what your motor skill - balance envelope is. ... So, is it fun? Do it. If it isn't, don't bother.
LUCK: when preparation meets opportunity.
Like you say, bauerb, sometimes you find yourself needing to do something unconventional. And like you say, MSA, it can improve skills and balance just like rock climbers taking yoga, street riders dualsport techniques, hockey players figure skating, and turnstyle jumpers parkour.
I'd much rather recover unconventionally than just splat. I was skiing with a friend and caught an edge and got flipped downhill, but rather than splat I just tucked and rolled right back onto my skis and kept going. My friend was like, "That... almost... looked... intentional. ?" To which I assured, nah , just caught an edge, "Hmph, nice recovery! "
Another friend likes to bomb down blues using half the normal number of skis contacting the ground. I've tried it -- my skills would definitely go up a peg to be able to do it like that. And like MSA says, screwin' around can be fun!!!
And there ARE practical uses for a lot of this stuff, albeit niche, such as skiing backwards to talk to someone behind you, or to face someone you're helping to learn to ski. I haven't figured out how to do that on a motorcycle yet though...
LET US NOT FORGET the best reason for knowing how to Royal and Goofy-Foot -- saving you $2.00!!!
almost... looked... intentional. ?" To which I assured, nah 
, just caught an edge, "Hmph, nice recovery! 
"