Could this be in part what happened with Tele skiing? It saw great advances in boots and skis, but more to serve the already adept tele skiers or advanced alpine and nordic skiers. There wasn't really the focus on making the "sport"/technique more accessible to novices.
When I think now about a boot like the Excursion(comfy, warm, dry, flexible, powerful) matched with a ski like the Altai Kom(stable,short & manoeuvrable, floaty, turny, easy climbing), it seems much closer to a perfect combination for initiating a much wider segment of the population into the elemental form of skiing we all love: ski up, ski down, almost anywhere you have available. Sub $1000.
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Here's my lightweight 12 year old daughter catching her first ever tele turn with zero instruction from me. Its the first ski this season on a measly 6" of snow. We traipsed all around the woods and fields and she had fun just goofing around, but actually completing viable telemark turns on the Koms.
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The future?
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