Telemark Lessons

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CIMA
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Ski style: NNN-BC
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by CIMA » Wed Mar 25, 2015 3:50 am

montrealer wrote: I also look forward to trying it out with NNN-BC boots + Eons. I already experienced the difference in going from the rental gear (stiff O2s) to the ones that came with the skis I bought, which are G3 Targas. Quite a bit less tension and it took a few runs to adjust. I'm sure this will be even more of a difference with NNN-BC.
Yes, please do! :-)
If you learn to "adjust" yourself to your ski (not to "control" your ski), you'll be able to enjoy turns on NNN-BC setup.
The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same.

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Rodbelan
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by Rodbelan » Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:04 am

Who was your monitor at La Réserve?

Next time, you can take course on skinny gear with Triplevé. One of the instructor seems dedicated: Antoine Deslauriers...

Take care.

Rod
É y fa ty fret? On é ty ben dun ti cotton waté?
célèbre et ancien chant celtique



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montrealer
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Ski style: XC, XCBC, XCD, Telemark
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by montrealer » Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:08 pm

Rodbelan wrote:Who was your monitor at La Réserve?

Next time, you can take course on skinny gear with Triplevé. One of the instructor seems dedicated: Antoine Deslauriers...

Take care.

Rod
Instructor was a guy named Gérald. One really helpful tip he gave that made things click for me was making an analogy between the kick portion of a classic XC stride - where after gliding you push down to flatten the camber, and doing something similar (but not pushing as hard) with the leg that is about to become the trailing leg in the next turn. This helped a lot with getting into the rhythm.

The other thing that I had trouble with at first was keeping my body facing downhill. The "twist" seems to happen higher up on the body compared to alpine.

Thanks for the info re: Triplevé. I checked the website and it looks cool.



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Rodbelan
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by Rodbelan » Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:37 am

Gérald Charette is a monitor with a very good reputation; I met him at the Mont Edouard Tele-festival. One of the few CANSI level 3... Another good one from the same school: Gaétan Lord...
É y fa ty fret? On é ty ben dun ti cotton waté?
célèbre et ancien chant celtique



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montrealer
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Ski style: XC, XCBC, XCD, Telemark
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by montrealer » Thu Mar 26, 2015 3:10 pm

Yep, he was very helpful. Even though it was a short lesson, he gave me a whole bunch of tips, some of which he said "would make sense later, once you have more experience". Now I just want to get some more practice...



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lilcliffy
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by lilcliffy » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:26 pm

montrealer wrote: Instructor was a guy named Gérald. One really helpful tip he gave that made things click for me was making an analogy between the kick portion of a classic XC stride - where after gliding you push down to flatten the camber, and doing something similar (but not pushing as hard) with the leg that is about to become the trailing leg in the next turn. This helped a lot with getting into the rhythm.
Awesome stuff!
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.



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Le coyote de Sutton
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by Le coyote de Sutton » Sun Apr 19, 2015 11:20 pm

Mont-Sutton offers different level of tele lessons. From initiation to advance tele lessons. Instructor from level II to level III for all needs!...
They also have moguls clinics, off-piste and tree skiing...
Check it out for next year!



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montrealer
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Ski style: XC, XCBC, XCD, Telemark
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by montrealer » Sat Jan 16, 2016 11:53 pm

Some updates...

Over the holidays I took my Eons + Madshus Vidda boots (see pic below) and practiced turns for a few hours on Mont-Royal, the "mountain" at the centre of the city. I basically read the "Telemark Turn" section of XCD a few times and followed his instructions. It was a very gentle slope and there were a couple of inches of fresh snow on a hard base, so I mostly did the "crooked diagonal stride" exercise, focussing on the rhythm.

Unfortunately I could only fit about 4 turns on the slope I was using, followed by about a minute walk back up. Still, it was better than sitting at home.

So today I decided to use the same setup on a bigger hill, Mont Saint-Sauveur. About 1000 feet vertical I think, with a whole bunch of detachable quads to make getting up very fast. I even mounted some hardware (part of a picture frame set, see pic) to attach some leashes in case the lift operators didn't like me using XC skis at a resort* (see below)
hardware.JPG
The first run was tough. I was trying to remember all the tips I'd read from XCD and Allen and Mike's Tips but could barely manage anything. It was my first time with this rig on groomed, packed powder and was going way faster than I was used to. And this was on a relatively flat green run. I seriously considered switching to the plastic boots + heavier skis I'd brought just in case.

For the second run, I decided to just concentrate on doing a sort of diagonal stride and going in and out of the telemark stance in a straight line across traverses. I also decided I would force myself to just keep skiing with this setup all day if I had to...

I did a few more runs and just focused on the rhythm of rising and falling across traverses. Occasionally I would engage the edges and turn uphill to a stop. I still wasn't feeling things well enough to try some real turns.

I went in for a break and tightened the laces on my boots as much as I could. This actually helped. I have these and a pair of Fischer BCX6 and I prefer these.
vidda2.JPG
It finally clicked when I remembered "Big toe, little toe" and really focused on the feeling of where my feet were putting pressure on the edges. I'd previously used my heavier tele setup 3 times and was able to turn with it, but these boots did not behave the same way. But feeling exactly where I had to apply pressure to engage the edges was the key. Finally I remembered to twist my body to face down the fall line and boom! I could make turns. It was shaky, but I was getting there.

I also realized that it was actually easier to do some turns on blue runs rather than the green one I'd been using, since it had been just too flat. I did a few more runs, being careful not to push it speedwise. Whenever I hit a hard patch I *really* noticed how light my setup was. The skis would chatter and I had to throw in some parallel turns to check my speed.

The snow was getting harder and icier and it was getting dark, so I decided to go inside and have a bite and switch to the heavy setup for some night skiing.

Switching to the plastic boots was interesting. Needless to say it was easier, and better suited to the hard snow. But it was missing something...

Overall, it was a fun experiment, and I would definitely do it again if the snow is soft enough. But I also understand why people who ski at resorts all the time would opt for a heavier setup.



*After about three runs, as I got off the chairlift I got approached by a couple of patrol guys who'd been alerted by the lift operator at the bottom. He asked "Are those cross-country skis?" I showed him the metal edges and he said it was fine. The second guy seemed kind of amused and asked if I liked them. "They're a bit too light, better for going in the woods" was my answer



MikeK

Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by MikeK » Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:50 pm

I share your sentiments...

And when I was at Mont Royal this summer I was thinking I wanted to go ski some XCD there!



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Cannatonic
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Re: Telemark Lessons

Post by Cannatonic » Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:33 pm

Parc du Mt. Royal is awesome! I did some XC there on a trip last year, I may be going again in Feb. When snow is deep there are steep lines coming down through the woods too, I saw some snowboarders and AT'ers hitting it. It's fun to be up there with all the other city people XC-skiing.

I know everyone says to use a ski area to practice your tele turns, I tried but I didn't like it either. It's often icy or rutted on the trails. I was also forced into defensive parallel skid-turns much of the time. I found it better to yo-yo the local 100-foot vertical sledding hills. Your legs are getting stronger with every climb. That's probably going improve your skiing faster than sitting on the lift, right?
"All wisdom is to be gained through suffering"
-Will Lange (quoting Inuit chieftan)



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