The reason for the tele turn?

[fgd135]

Yada yada yada...Hannes Schneider; Leni Riefenstahl(!); even old dead Peter Estin, Phil Mahre, Lindsay Vaughn, Schiffren, et al, different disciplines of skiing, all skiing, relevant, but immaterial to the discussion here. Perhaps there's a "Parallel Talk" discussion board somewhere on the interwebs?

[Spiny Norman]

Very relevant to the OP.

Not a discussion of why the tele turn is so fun.

[greatgt]

Feel.....feeling.....fantastic feeling....TM

[joeatomictoad]

..."gracefulness on skis should be the end-all of the sport". Telemark turns are that grace.

When I see high quality tele turns coming downhill, can really enjoy the grace and beauty of it all. But creating that grace and beauty is like a never ending quest. Most of the time I hear in my head, "Balance was off," or "Weight too far forward/aft, or "Too much pivot."

But every once in a while, I link some turns that are exactly what I was aiming for. Finish the stage, stop for a moment, and reflect. I don't care how I looked because I know how it felt. Maybe happens once per run, maybe happens once per day. But that feeling of temporary perfection, no matter how infrequent, is worth every µL of lactic acid in my thighs.

[Spiny Norman]

My point exactly.

Grace, beauty, fun , Yes.

practicality, not so much.

[greatgt]

Best reason for singing the praises of Tele on a non powdered surface was at Tuckerman's Ravine....210 or 215 e 99's...Couple or three decades back......shorts...Tee shirts....Big sun.....warm.....Lunch Rocks not crowded but enough people.....Gotta say that was some of the fastest.....long .....rooster tailing.....ARCS ....On another site they have a fit when i say it but......A boarder group had been putting on a show....They were in uniform....long pants shirts and glasses....They looked sharp!.....So it became a game of wicked arcing and a lot of fun.....After a while I was talking to the only female boarder of the group....She looked me in the eyes and whipped up her shirt.....Honest to GAWD that was one of the best reasons for the TELE tune EVER!!!!!!....TM

[joeatomictoad]

practicality, not so much.

Training heels "off" are extremely practical for my use case, such as:

• overall weight reduction... I travel with my gear a lot

• bathroom break in the woods... I drink a lot of water at elevation

• getting to a lift that may be uphill from my current position... I ski lift serviced trails a lot

• stopped on the side of a trail facing wrong direction, and need to kickturn myself around facing to the correct side... These days I am too lazy to do a stationary hop turn

• Etc., etc.

[Woodserson]

My point exactly.

Grace, beauty, fun , Yes.

practicality, not so much.

Not so much in the vein that you are talking about but:

Practicality: I can't fixed-heel ski anymore, my poor back won't take it. In alpine all that bending at the waist, with locked heel and limited bending at the knees and virtually no bending at the ankles/toes means most deceleration forces are felt at the lower back as the upper body is pitched forward. My back is ruined... but in telemark I get all sorts of bending flexy points-- toes ankles knees-- and I can ski pain free. Absolutely wonderful

Telemark is way easier on my body than alpine ever was. I'll never go back.

[John_XCD]

My sense of the "why" from a functional perspective-- telemark turn uses both skis to create an effective wider and longer monoski. There can even be a bit of effective sidecut by having the two skis slightly off parallel.

Skiing soft snow on long, narrow, straight cut, double cambered skis with low cut soft boots telemark is the only way I've found to at least get some open arcs.