Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Does any one have a spare red bumper for NNN-BC? every where online appears to be sold out.

This website (where I got my red flexors a couple years ago) says there's one pair left in stock: https://www.akers-ski.com/product/32NF. ... EWKMMtOo3z

Just make sure to select the hard red flexor from the drop down menu because the link will probably take you to the regular flexor as a default.

Took my S-Bound 98s with NNN-BC and Alpina Alaska boots to the resort yesterday. Granted I only did green runs but I am so impressed with the turnability of these skis. I imagine it would be even better with 3-pin with cables or Xplore. Blue runs might be pushing it with NNN-BC but I was able to do alpine parallel turns with ease. It was a powder day and I decided to go up to work on my telemark turns. Sometimes you just need a lift so you can practice descending with telemark turns over and over again. I can only climb so much and my goal was repetition with tele turns to get better.

NMXCSki wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:47 pm

Took my S-Bound 98s with NNN-BC and Alpina Alaska boots to the resort yesterday. Granted I only did green runs but I am so impressed with the turnability of these skis. I imagine it would be even better with 3-pin with cables or Xplore. Blue runs might be pushing it with NNN-BC but I was able to do alpine parallel turns with ease. It was a powder day and I decided to go up to work on my telemark turns. Sometimes you just need a lift so you can practice descending with telemark turns over and over again. I can only climb so much and my goal was repetition with tele turns to get better.

nice! i just got my red bumpers in the mail, and am so curious to see what this brings to the table. ive been doing pre lift uphill access at my local resorts with the s-bounds, now that i have full confidence about getting down. talk about a light touring set up! i do get a few weird looks from ski patrol though as they whiz by me on plastic and metal.

NMXCSki wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:47 pm

Sometimes you just need a lift so you can practice descending with telemark turns over and over again. I can only climb so much and my goal was repetition with tele turns to get better.

You may already know this, but I thought I might mention it having done the same (i.e., resorted to practice tele). It is easy to develop bad habits on groomers that don't translate well into soft backcountry snow. For example, it is easy to over-weight the front ski w/o face planting; it is easy to scrub speed by digging an edge into the hardpack. So, I think it is good to get off the groomers as much as possible -- assuming that's the desired goal. I'll let others correct me if I am wrong about this. Good luck and have fun.

stilltryin wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 11, 2025 3:49 pm

NMXCSki wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:47 pm

Sometimes you just need a lift so you can practice descending with telemark turns over and over again. I can only climb so much and my goal was repetition with tele turns to get better.

You may already know this, but I thought I might mention it having done the same (i.e., resorted to practice tele). It is easy to develop bad habits on groomers that don't translate well into soft backcountry snow. For example, it is easy to over-weight the front ski w/o face planting; it is easy to scrub speed by digging an edge into the hardpack. So, I think it is good to get off the groomers as much as possible -- assuming that's the desired goal. I'll let others correct me if I am wrong about this. Good luck and have fun.

that is also true with alpine/parallel skiing, that's why on-piste and off-piste skiing are just different IMO.
to make really good t-turns on hard pack i still need to weight the uphill ski quite a bit, otherwise it just wiggles around under my foot like a noodle.

when it comes to t-turns, i find the resistance of back country powder actually makes it a lot easier, esp. in XC(D) skis. but you gotta find it, then climb for it.

there is an area in heavenly resort, the galaxy woods, which are very low angled dense trees with lots of powder stash. it's a great place to practice more traditional "back country" turns.

also, since we've had a weak winter, on most days the conditions in the back country are "sierra cement" or slushy corn if lucky. so the on-piste stuff actually helps quite a bit, for those conditions.

plus, it's fuuuuuuuuuuuun

NMXCSki wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:47 pm

Took my S-Bound 98s with NNN-BC and Alpina Alaska boots to the resort yesterday. Granted I only did green runs but I am so impressed with the turnability of these skis. I imagine it would be even better with 3-pin with cables or Xplore. Blue runs might be pushing it with NNN-BC but I was able to do alpine parallel turns with ease. It was a powder day and I decided to go up to work on my telemark turns. Sometimes you just need a lift so you can practice descending with telemark turns over and over again. I can only climb so much and my goal was repetition with tele turns to get better.
IMG_1326 (1).JPG

I did this as the season wound down last year and improved my tele 400%. It's opened up a ton of the back country that I wouldn't have been comfortable with before. I have a friend who skies his Flaketind with Xplore and Alpina Alaska and does pretty good on blues if they aren't too bumpy. I've been meaning to try it myself.

Did you use any kind of retention device like a leash? Most resorts want you to have one but I've never been checked.

I finally messed with the red bumper yesterday, it was delightful! i was able to do entire blue runs using t-turns. but man does it kill the kick and glide, traverses/catwalks were slooooow.

my ski buddy fashioned a leash for his nnn-bc set up, personally i am riding without a leash. my reasoning is, if snowboarders don't need one, then why do i?? it's not like nnn-bc is going to release on me, so it's just up to me to not let my skis run away when i'm taking them on and off.

no one ever any where at any resort (at least in these parts) would ever bother you about a leash or ski breaks.

"no one ever any where at any resort (at least in these parts) would ever bother you about a leash or ski breaks."

That's unfortunate. I have at times been on tele gear without a leash at the resort, and I can understand being more casual about it with light duty xcd gear, but really don't advocate that whatsoever with alpine or resort tele gear. I think there are a lot of people who just don't know about the injuries and deaths that can, and have, been the result of runaway skis. I used to work in a ski shop and there were guys ( usually college age bros) that would bitch about refusing to work on skis with no brakes, or non-functional ones. Definitely a liability issue in the industry.

I got these, screwed in with maybe 10 minutes of work:
https://www.rei.com/product/203136/rott ... e-bc-leash