FTO Telemarkers?

jimk

jimk

Active member
Any of you guys telemarkers? I'm not, but sometimes I ski with a real good one here in Utah and he's pushing 70. I think he lurks on FTO. Here's a few photos of him from 6 Apr 2024 at Solitude, UT.

6 apr dan profile soli.jpg
6 apr dan deep.jpg
dan fluff 6 apr soli.jpg
dan front 6 apr soli.jpg
 
I haven’t got the proper hang of plain old alpine skiing yet. I’ll have to leave telemarking to my second life.
I do admire how skilled they are though.
 
jimk said:
Any of you guys telemarkers?
Click to expand...

Yes. I learned to telemark when I lived back East and was generally bored to tears with ski conditions most days - Groomers and maybe some moguls. (Glades are not often skiable in New England all that often outside Northern Vermont).

So, my goal was to learn how to telemark through moguls. I have a very alpine skiing, resort-oriented setup to handle icy bumps. Backcountry - not so much.

In the US, telemark skiing was at one point more popular than AT skiing in the 1990s since touring gear was not quite as advanced then.

Also, Crested Butte, Telluride, etc had a huge telemark culture. I think there was even a Telemark magazine at one point.

A lot of this had disappeared as AT Touring gear assumed dominance. Also, it's easier than telemarking. Less effort and balance are required going downhill.

I am more often on downhill equipment because it's easier and more dependable on terrain such as couloirs, trees, and very exposed steeps. Telemarking is now something to do on off days or skiing with mixed abilities. Also, I am not going to pack a second setup for ski trips - too much gear. If I still lived on the East Coast, I might spend most of my time on tele skis.

Some articles hypothesize that the "Golden Age" of telemarking in the United States—and possibly worldwide—is over.
 
Flyover was a telemarker, and a superb one, as he could hang with Mustang's alpine pace on teles.

Adam dabbled in telemarking junior/senior years of high school (2002-2003).

Why is Harvey abandoning telemarking? The solar eclipse? :icon-lol:
 
Not on the boards here, but I know several tele skiers IRL. Most of them racer dads.

I can't even imagine doing deep knee bends every turn at approaching 70yrs old. He has to be wiped out by the end of the day.
 
I learned Tele about 14 years ago and would practice my tele turns while skiing behind my children leaning to ski. However, I started having knee pain issues. I wasnt sure if it was related to Tele, however the tele turns were not helping. Therefore, I gave it up.
 
EMSC said:
Not on the boards here, but I know several tele skiers IRL. Most of them racer dads.

I can't even imagine doing deep knee bends every turn at approaching 70yrs old. He has to be wiped out by the end of the day.
Click to expand...
He's super fit and laps mogul runs with his teles when he ain't hanging out with fixed-heelers.
 
Yes, I skied telemark exclusively for 20 seasons, including my first two tours at Mustang. The 2015-16 was my last season as a pinhead. Significant orthopedic injuries in the fall of 2016 forced me to take that 2016–17 season off and switch back to Alpine the following season. I really miss the turn sometimes. IMO, loving the turn is the only reason these days to continue to telemark, as AT gear is now lighter and more reliable than tele gear, the reverse of what was true when I first started freeheeling in the mid 90s.
 
I telemark at Baldy and Mammoth most of my daze, tho I'm way better on a snowboard. I remember before I ever slid on snow, watching Franz Klammer and immediately knowing a wanted to be an alpine skier. Telemark on the other hand could never be done justice on video, you just gotta learn it then you know...
 
There used to be Telemark sections of some more BC-focused ski shops, selling boots, bindings, and skis. I do not see these sections anymore. The Alpineer on Colorado Ave, Telluride, and Alpineer Crested Butte had a lot of tele gear.

AT equipment has taken over that 'shelf space.'

Also, Freestyle skiing (besides moguls and aerials) has now opened up to the general skier population in the 2000s:
  • Big air
  • Ski cross
  • Halfpipe
  • Slopestyle
More competition to the sport of Telemark.


I never got into Snowboarding since I did not need a third winter gear setup.
 
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