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 / 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.
New member here from Scotland. I learned to 'ski' in Norway on NATO wooden 'planks' where my flailing about clearly deterred the USSR from invading the country. Time passes, and I thought that one way to ski in Scotland when the few available ski areas are shut by 80 mph+ winds (happens too often - no wonder Norway gets better snow, all ours gets alone over there) would be to take up BC skiing - which sort of fits in with what I first learned.
So, I have found a scarred pair of Atomic Telemark OT skis with Riva cable bindings, but I don't know anything about them . There is virtually nothing available on the Internet (apart from suggesting they were akin to old style Alpine slalom ski which seems a bit odd). So, I wondered if the community memory could dredge anything up about them. How would they do for Scottish BC skiing/touring (more like East coast USA/Canada, I guess)?
Ahaha! Nice story! There's no bad skis. Of course, those are old straight skis, and they might be a bit heavy for touring. But I've seen worse. If you can get them for cheap, just do it. It will give you an idea of what you want for your next pair. And if it brings you back to telemark, then it's a good thing! Just grab a pair of skinny skins and you should enjoy your backcountry adventures even if people make fun of your gear.
If you can, try to get your hands on a 3pin binding, with or without cables, it's more fun for touring. The Rivas were cool, but they did not have pins on them...
Feel free to ask if you have any other question!
/...\ Peace, Love, Telemark and Tofu /...\ "And if you like to risk your neck, we'll boom down Sutton in old Quebec..."
LoveJohnny wrote:Welcome to your favorite forum Restarter!
Still working it... this one made me chuckle.
Restarter - I hope this becomes your favorite forum. Please be prepared for the hornets... they won't bite hard, I promise. Wish I could provide more feedback to your question - I'm just not very well versed on old Tele gear. Lucky there are a few people around that know something about that. Enjoy and have fun.
Thanks for the welcome. For some reason most people who go touring in Scotland use AT gear. I've always thought that our landscape resembled that of Norway more. Besides, I like the idea of movement and using light gear more and that seems to chime with Nordic.
I had a feeling that these skis were either (a) so unsuccessful or (b) so old that they seem to have disappeared into an information black hole. The other problem is that they are waxless and the snow conditions in Scotland are so variable that waxing would be a nightmare (back in my prehistoric days in Norway you could rely on being able to use Swix Blue or Green all day).
So, I was wondering about Fischer E109 Crowns: reasonably conventional (should get some kick and glide), but should be OK for turns (I'll take all the help I can get). Bindings probably Voile 3 pin with detachable cable - so I can get more help if I need it. That would be my main set up. I then wondered about having an ultralight NNN (not BC) set up for lower level touring. Need to think about the skis for that though.
Finally, just to amuse you about skiing in Scotland, please see attached:
Restarter wrote:
So, I was wondering about Fischer E109 Crowns: reasonably conventional (should get some kick and glide), but should be OK for turns (I'll take all the help I can get). Bindings probably Voile 3 pin with detachable cable - so I can get more help if I need it. That would be my main set up. I then wondered about having an ultralight NNN (not BC) set up for lower level touring. Need to think about the skis for that though.
We've been talking about this quite a bit lately and those skis have come up here and there.
My humble opinion - go for the S Bound 88/98 or the Madshus Epoch. They kick and glide reasonably well and turn well too. E109s in their current trim, from all I can tell, are more of a touring ski.
If I could have one BC Nordic ski it would be the Epoch or the S Bound 98. You can read our informative discussion about it here:
Another vote for the S-Bound 98 as a good waxless xcd ski. For me, it's all backcountry. Set up w/ Voille 3pin cables (cables rarely used), and alternate between older Asolo Snowpines and Crispi T3s depending on terrain. I also have a set of skins for the steeper ground.
I'd call Johnny our resident XCD expert but I'm sure there are others - no one is really asserting their dominance except the Ronster.
Ron - have you ever seen the notion of reviewers of all sorts of skill levels testing skis? Some places do this because what works for the 'expert' doesn't always work for the novice or the intermediate skier.
Also in terms of assessing a skis ability to turn does not mean you have to ski it down 35 degree slopes of shit snow. Some people might be interested in how a ski might perform in the typical terrain they may ski, and that may be 5 to 20 degree slopes of short or long duration. Just because you tour your skis doesn't mean you can't or won't encounter this.
So lets see here. Now not only have you never really contributed any kind of useful or correct information regarding ski gear, you also have proven that you aren't a very good skier and taken a beating for that. Seems to me you are batting 1000 big guy... might be time to take a breather.
^^ Mantras and Backups beat Glittertinds on the down and over a wide range of conditions..
How's that smart guy ?
And T4's will kick the shit out those silly Alaskas..
and 3pc beats the holy shit out of NNN/BC..
WTF ya squawkin' about ?
You and I sided in favour of pins over system gear for 3 months..and for single camber over leaf springs for the same period..WTF? Ya got a 3-digit memory or what ?
I have skied the hell out of XCD and XC..years ya dummy..
Alpina lite Terrains and T4's forever..Spring corn and sugar..Or any winter soft snow..Excursions are a fine boot too, but T4's rule..
Christ, the simplest XCD is to go to the thrift and get any decent old alpine boards and mount them with pins and cables..Learn to wax and carry some skins..ski about any damn thing..be done with the bullshit!
Last edited by Raventele on Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Everyone is helpful, everyone is kind, on the road to Shambala"
. There is virtually nothing available on the Internet (apart from suggesting they were akin to old style Alpine slalom ski which seems a bit odd). So, I wondered if the community memory could dredge anything up about them. How would they do for Scottish BC skiing/touring (more like East coast USA/Canada, I guess)?
