And They Say Telemark is dead...

Seems like they do care that we tele. This would be cool:

Teleskiing proposed by FIS as Olympic Sport

2nd Article

OK, I'll bite: I don't think that the spirit of telemark includes bashing gates wearing Spandex while someone checks how far your heel is off the ski. My opinion, yours may differ, flame away.

This said despite the fact that I have organized telemark races (way back in the day) and frozen my ass off working as as timer in other tele races. For me, tele is about adopting an expressive and versatile way to ski and learning an effective way to turn on any free heel binding, from NTN to SNS to NNN-BC and even the Pinso plastic three-pin.

I would be more in favour of this if the event was similar to some of the fun races of old, with an uphill section, a little bit of touring and a final downhill run with an obstacle or two (we called it the Uphill Downhill). Equipment could be restricted to lighter gear like NNN BC and skinny metal edged skis. This style of race would be a blend of Nordic and Alpine disciplines, favouring the "total skier" and highlighting fitness, technique, waxing and gear selection. It would also showcase the versatility of the equipment and maybe create more interest in the recreational aspect of telemark.

It will be interesting to watch boot and binding manufacturers keep up with the demands of Olympic-level competition.

Cue the "old man yells at cloud" meme. 1, 2, 3...

I'm all for this if it leads to great, durable, reliable, step-in releasable tele bindings.

I'm not into the tele racing and don't have too much interest in watching it. For me, tele is about soft snow, trees and bumps.  If conditions are "racing" I'll parallel turn or stay home.  I would be more interested in watch a tele bump contest.

Been thinking about this a lot lately. Sort of a glass half full approach to my life for the next five years.  Z gave me a hard time about my choice of ski saying that my Whiterooms were too wide, too short, too much rocker.   If I was a EC local, and my goal was 100 days a year, I'd either need another ski or have to move beyond a quiver of one to handle ice.

As it is this year I only had one really firm day, a Sunday at Gore. I skied two or three runs and headed for home.

Sick Bird Rider wrote

I would be more in favour of this if the event was similar to some of the fun races of old, with an uphill section, a little bit of touring and a final downhill run with an obstacle or two (we called it the Uphill Downhill). Equipment could be restricted to lighter gear like NNN BC and skinny metal edged skis. This style of race would be a blend of Nordic and Alpine disciplines, favouring the "total skier" and highlighting fitness, technique, waxing and gear selection. It would also showcase the versatility of the equipment and maybe create more interest in the recreational aspect of telemark.

To be fair, it does look like the races will be run like a lot of the races have been run lately: with a jump that must be landed in Tele stance, a "wrap" (loop sort of thing) and a skating section. From the article:

FIS telemark racing is different from alpine ski racing in that telemark courses include jumps, slalom gates, skate-skiing sections through a loop as well as an uphill portion. The range of challenges is made possible by free-heel equipment.

Agree with the thoughts on racing not jibing with the core values of Telemark, but I feel like we're on the wrong side of public opinion there. Everything has to be a competition now. It used to be enough to hike the Appalachian Trail, now people are trying to set records for speed hiking it. Ski Touring, which used to be a way to get away from the crowds and enjoy nature, begat Randonee Racing. Hell, there are Yoga competitions now.

Whatever. I'd watch the hell out of Olympic Tele Racing. Have you guys seen recent races? They're on YouTube. Pretty exciting stuff.

World's most recognized tele skier.....Vinkow Bogotaj.  The jump is a must!

"Everything has to be a competition now. It used to be enough to hike the Appalachian Trail, now people are trying to set records for speed hiking it. Ski Touring, which used to be a way to get away from the crowds and enjoy nature, begat Randonee Racing. Hell, there are Yoga competitions now."

I think this sucks. Everything has become so egocentric and disconnected from just finding a state of being where you are right then and enjoying the outdoors.  

Harvey wrote

I'm not into the tele racing and don't have too much interest in watching it. For me, tele is about soft snow, trees and bumps.  If conditions are "racing" I'll parallel turn or stay home.  I would be more interested in watch a tele bump contest.

I'm not into racing in general, but watching the Classic style tele racing was far more interesting because it includes a jump, going around a 360-curve, and the final uphill stretch.  In the parallel variation, both racers using the same 360 banked curve.

Pretty clear there are some dedicated volunteers who love the sport.  I had no idea there that the USTSA exists, as in US Telemark Skiing Association.  Like a few other sports, it's a much more popular sport in Europe.  Think table tennis or soccer aka football.  (A table tennis pro can make a living in Europe.)

http://www.ustsa.org/2017/08/16/5521/

https://www.valleyreporter.com/stories/sport/12378-sugarbush-hosts-telemark-world-cup-races

Highlights from Colorado in Feb 2012
https://youtu.be/DQLzaKVVgFs

Never mind . . .

I posted this, on this topic, in a tele group on Facebook:

"Not really interested in watching it but if it leads to further development in stepin and releasable bindings I'm totally down with it."

And a guy who does a tele race at West Mountain every year replied, sortof asking NYSB to cover the event. I guess I folded like a cheap suit, saying I would do it.

raisingarizona wrote

"Everything has to be a competition now. It used to be enough to hike the Appalachian Trail, now people are trying to set records for speed hiking it. Ski Touring, which used to be a way to get away from the crowds and enjoy nature, begat Randonee Racing. Hell, there are Yoga competitions now."

I think this sucks. Everything has become so egocentric and disconnected from just finding a state of being where you are right then and enjoying the outdoors.

The Adirondack high peaks are being destroyed by record seekers, how can hike them in the shortest time, who can bush whack them, who can hike every one in every season, the place has become a zoo. Seems like every epic hike is now a contest. However, ski touring in the Adirondacks is still pretty solitary.

Harvey wrote

I posted this, on this topic, in a tele group on Facebook:

"Not really interested in watching it but if it leads to further development in stepin and releasable bindings I'm totally down with it."

And a guy who does a tele race at West Mountain every year replied, sortof asking NYSB to cover the event. I guess I folded like a cheap suit, saying I would do it.

Every year?  When?

OK maybe I got that wrong or made that up. I googled it and it looked like they had one last year, and he seemed to be referencing next year. Maybe those two years are every year.

EDIT: Looks like it never happened:

http://www.ustsa.org/event/west-mountain-2-sprint-classic-races/

Kind of interesting to see that smaller mountains hosted the Telemark races in the northeast in 2018.

Suicide Six - late January 2018
https://www.thevermontstandard.com/2018/01/world-class-ski-races-coming-to-suicide-6/

Crotched - early March 2018
https://www.crotchedmtn.com/event/new-event-14/

I know a guy who is very active in the Tele race scene and knows all the players & all the ins and outs of northeast Tele Racing.

Not sure he would write an article for you, though. You'd have to edit it like crazy anyway.