Time to transition to Teleskiing?

So I just had an Oh shit moment. I am not by any means a park rat, but I love hitting jumps. If you watch me ski, you will find that even on the smoothest of groomers, I manage to find a bump to pop off of, and then attempt to land in a GS turn. I kind of feel like my style may be prohibitive to tele skiing. Ideally, I would like to have both setups. Not to mention I just dropped a bunch on a new set of custom fit Alpine boots this fall.

I just want to mix things up a bit.

Has anyone ever sent it off a 50' kicker on tele skis? Now I want to try this.

Ethan Snow wrote

Has anyone ever sent it off a 50' kicker on tele skis? Now I want to try this.

There's a dude on here who has lauched triple digits on real skis

campgottagopee wrote

There's a dude on here who has lauched triple digits on real skis

I'm not sure what real skis are, but you mean like 250 meters?

Ethan Snow wrote

I kind of feel like my style may be prohibitive to tele skiing.

If these kids can figure out how to do this shit on XC skis, NNN bindings and leather boots, then I'm pretty sure you can figure out how to jump with modern Tele gear.

PS the first part of that video is long, but the action starts around 2:53

This kind of thing?

https://nyskiblog.com/andrew-newell-cross-country-skiing-in-the-park/

Anything that can be done on fixed heel skis can be done with free heels, only with more style

Except go fast

we have a kid down here at blue that rips park tele

Did you say something, camper?

Whatever dude

Lets put it this way. If FWD cars were better performing that RWD cars on the race track NASCAR would be racing them. You dig?

There's a reason the worlds speed record on skis has a real binding

carry on

I don't think anyone that has ever actually skied would argue there is any performance advantage of free heels over fixed heels, but you can do quite a bit on them.  There's also one factor that isn't that easy to quantify, and that's fun.

It's actually more like a rear engine Porsche compared to a mid-engine Ferrari.  The Ferrari has the engine in the right place and may be faster around the track, but there's something about driving a Porsche with that engine hanging off your ass end that makes it a hell of a lot of fun.

Some great stuff here. My gut feeling is still somewhere along the lines of Camp here. I like to go fast. Still probably gonna give this thing a good college try just to say I have done it.  May very well keep both setups.


BTW, there was a tele ski sighting in my very own basement today among the collection of 50 or so pairs of skis we possess.  These have been around for a few years, but maybe I can throw these bindings on a better set of skis, pick up some boots somewhere, and send it.

Ethan Snow wrote

the collection of 50 or so pairs of skis we possess.

I believe I am speaking for everyone here when I say pics please

Ethan Snow wrote

Some great stuff here. My gut feeling is still somewhere along the lines of Camp here. I like to go fast.

Sounds to me like you have cold feet.

You'll never know unless you try.  I don't think camp can say the same, so I'm not sure why he's hating.


Those bindings are Voile 3 pin Cables.  They aren't all that active and they're better for BC touring kind of stuff.  I have a pair of those on skis on use on piste and they work OK, but nothing like the more modern Tele stuff.  

You'd be better off selling those and buying something more resort focused if that is what you are going to do.

Ethan's got decades in front of him. He doesn't need to try tele now.

I'd like to hear from MC, level 3 alpine and tele, why he never seems to ski alpine anymore. It's been years since I've seen him on fixed heels.

Harvey wrote

Ethan's got decades in front of him. He doesn't need to try tele now.

I'd like to hear from MC, level 3 alpine and tele, why he never seems to ski alpine anymore. It's been years since I've seen him on fixed heels.

Ethan has the same unknown amount of time we all have.  And nothing is easier to learn when you get older.


MC has said in other threads why he doesn't Alpine anymore.  Take a look, you'll find it.  It's pretty obvious, and the answer is here in this thread.

Talk to me about knees.   Starting to give me issues on long hikes coming downhill.   Tele seems like it would beat on the knees.  

By comparison skiing alpine groomers I consider almost no knee impact.  Bumped up or fresh snow and heavy wet stuff yea that takes a toll.  Same theory on tele impact?   More or less than alpine on same conditions?

Hoser wrote

Talk to me about knees.   Starting to give me issues on long hikes coming downhill.   Tele seems like it would beat on the knees.  

By comparison skiing alpine groomers I consider almost no knee impact.  Bumped up or fresh snow and heavy wet stuff yea that takes a toll.  Same theory on tele impact?   More or less than alpine on same conditions?

Not surprisingly, there's no consensus.  One might think it's worse, but again, you have the option to stay up or get low.  Some people say they ski less aggressively, so their knees feel better.  Some say they ski more aggressively, and their knees feel better.  Some people say their knees hurt no matter what.

Oddly enough I know far more Alpine to Tele converts who have knee injuries or bad knees than the other way around.  Some people claim it's easier on your joints because the boots have more degrees of freedom and are softer.

People say all sorts of shit...

It's certainly more tiring.  But it's only more tiring when you actually Telemark turn, which is not a necessity.

I'm also trying to think of one single person I know that's actually tried Tele that disliked it.  It's definitely harder and you have to rethink some things, but the modern gear is so close to Alpine gear it's not that different.  Put on some leather boots and real freeheel (no cable) bindings and point 'em down a hill.  Then you'll know challenging skiing and perfecting technique and balance.