Biff's Corner
Are you thinking about learning to telemark? If you are just getting into the sport you may find all the various gear and terminology confusing. There are a number of places to turn for help. If you are lucky enough to have a local tele shop they will be able to give you a lot of good advice. On line telemark forums are also a great way to get info (www.telemarkeast.com and www.telemarktips.com) . But I will try and give you here a few good tips that might help.
Let's start with lessons. If you are totally new to downhill skiing...take a lesson right off. Why risk getting hurt? If you are an experienced downhill skier there is no reason you can't rent some gear and give it a try. Parallel skiing is easy on today's telemark gear and after the first few 'shaky feeling' runs you should be able to parallel pretty decently. After you feel comfortable go ahead and try some telemarks, but in the end I think you will agree that some lessons are in order. Depending on where you are located you will find that many of New England's ski areas have at least one instructor that can teach telemark. New England Telemark gives lessons all around New England in addition to the free clinics at our festivals. Check out our lesson page for more details. Telemark workshops are also available from a great telemark organization called NATO based in Vermont and from the AMC.
Next is gear. Should you buy gear right away? I would hold off until you have taken some lessons on rented gear and had a chance to demo some gear first hand. Some telemark shops have demo gear available and you can demo tons of gear for free at our festivals.If you can't demo first or are just too new at telemark to tell the difference in gear you will probably get differing opinions on what kind of equipment is best for you. I'm just going to give you my opinion and you can go from there.
For me there is nothing like being able to keep the ball of your rear boot down squarely on the ski. With many of the stiffer boots out there today this is tough for an experienced tele skier to do, much less a beginner. Beginners almost always have a hard time weighting the rear ski in a telemark turn and having a boot with a soft flexing bellows is going to help. And don't think that expert skiers go automatically to big stiff flexing boots. Many of NET's instructors are on Crispi CX-P boots which have a very soft flex and I am on a Garmont Geneses which is even softer. So here would be my recommendation for your first boot. The Crispi CX-P or CX-A, Garmont Gara (if you can find them), Garmont Geneses (a four buckle version of the Gara) and the Scarpa T2 or T3. Go to a ski shop and try them on and flex them for your self. Fit is of course very important as well. In general the Garmonts seem to fit wider feet and the Scarpa more narrow. If you can, check out one of NET's tele festivals where you can demo these boots for yourself on the slope. Garmont no longer makes the Gara so check our sponsor and friend telemarkdown.com as they have a good number still in stock. Remember, if you are getting a boot with a thermal liner (and you should) it should feel small in the shop. Your toes should just touch the end. When you buckle up and lean into the boot your foot will move back and feel just right.
If you are an experienced downhill skier you probably know just about all you need to know about skis to pick out the right telemark ski for you. Other than being a little softer flexing, today's telemark skis are no different from today's alpine skis. In a nutshell, or at least I'll try to put all this in a nutshell, here is what you need to know about telemark skis. First off, where do you think you will be skiing most? What kind of conditions will you be on most? If you are an eastern skier and you think you, at least for now, will be mostly on piste (on groomed trails) a stiffer more narrow ski will suffice. If you expect to be getting into more powder or going off piste (off groomed trails) you should consider a wider, softer ski. As a beginner I would stay away from the super fat skis for now. All the telemark ski companies have skis for you so I won't bother going into the various names and models. Take a trip to a good telemark store and check out the skis and talk to the store salesperson. Some New England shops we recommend are Ragged Mountain in North Conway and Mahoosuc Mt. Sports in Locke Mills, Maine. In Vermont check out Firsttrax and up near Sugarloaf Maine check out Aardvark Outfitters. On the coast of Maine check out Bath Cycle and Ski in Woolwich and EMS in Portland. If you can come to one of our telemark festivals there will be free demo skis from all the tele companies and you can find out first hand what ski feels best for you.
Bindings are forever changing and there are quite a few you can try. One thing you may hear as you discuss bindings is the term 'active binding'. Basically an active binding keeps more of the ball of the boot on the ski. The best tele skiers can go either way so whether you like an active binding or not is a real preference thing. I like very active bindings and use the 22 Designs Hammerhead. A nice thing about that binding is that it has an adjustable flex point so you can make it more or less active. Other active bindings on the market are the Black Diamond O1, Bomber Bishop and Cobra R8. A less active but very popular binding is the G3 Targa. Other good bindings to look for are the Voile Hardwire, Voile Switchback, the Black Diamond O2 and 03 and Karhus 7tm and 7tm power (more active). The 7tm is also releasable. (Rottefella and Voile also make release kits).
A word about the new NTN telemark system. Many of you have no doubt heard about the new system that eliminates the duckbill on the boot and connects to the binding using a connector under the boot. This is a whole new system not compatible with the boots and bindings we all have been using. We have a few available for demo and welcome you to try it out and see for yourself. As to where the new NTN system will lay in the future of telemark is still up in the air and we will just have to see.
Style. You have probably noticed that some tele skiers stay high and some stay low. What's the "right" way? That will depend on who you talk to. In our ski school the majority are "high stance" skiers, but we have some excellent skiers that have a low stance as well. Our friend Dave Pecunies over at Sunday River is a low rider and won the 2006 tele Bump contest at the Maine Telemark Festival. Cory Snow, one of our finest instructors sometimes seems to barely bend a knee he stands so tall. As long as you are controlling your skis and having fun that's all that really counts. One thing I would recommend is trying it both ways. As you get good if you are a low rider try experimenting with standing taller. If you stand tall try playing around with getting lower. Versatility is a good thing. Personal opinion... well I like high. I feel it gives you more room for compression and better angulation, you don't have to work quite so hard.
Well that's about it. There are some good books out there on telemark but the one most tele skiers will recommend is Paul Parker's book 'Free Heel Skiing' published by Chelsea Green. For mags check out Backcountry and Off Piste for equipment reviews and related articles (check out our sponsor page for links).
Remember, telemark skiing is more than just skiing, it's great exercise, a ton of fun and more than anything, a friendly sport. If you can I hope you can check out one of our telemark festivals and you will find out for yourself.
Happy Heel Raising!
Biff
Got questions about telemark? Feel free to e-mail Biff (biff (at) netelemark.com) with any and all tele questions. We also have a great talk forum for eastern telemark skiers at www.telemarkeast.com. Post your question there and you will have more answers than you will know how to handle...
Biff Higgison is a PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) Level 3 telemark instructor and has been a tele skier since 1981. Biff has also been a ski school director and festival organizer for the last 16 years. He is co-director and founder of New England Telemark. He can be contacted for private lessons at Biff (at) netelemark.com
Tips
Most instructors cold probably write books of tips and learning progressions (and there are already a number of good ones out there). But here is a quick 'tip of the month'
•Beginner/intermediates.
I stress back foot/inside ski steering from a very early stage. It is key to successful tele skiing. To improve your skiing and move to the next level try making your turns with only the inside ski (your back, bent foot). Go to an easy slope and facing across the hill get into a tele stance (let's say going from left to right so your right foot is back.) Imagine a flashlight is on the tip of your right foot. Now start across the hill and as you sink down turn the flashlight (your right foot) up the hill. A turn (hopefully) will follow. Don't even think of your down hill ski. It will take care of itself. After practicing both ways try it across the fall line. Heading across the hill from left to right, put the flashlight on your left foot. Your left foot is ahead, your right foot back. As you begin your transition your left foot will start back. As it does steer it into the turn, or if you would like to continue with the flashlight imagery, turn the flashlight into the turn. Again, don't even think about your new downhill ski (right ski). It will take care of itself. Work on easy terrain, work both directions until it starts to happen easily.
• Intermediates.
Many intermediates tend to overuse their poles, gripping them too hard and planting as if their lives depended on it. If that is you the time has come...dump the poles. Not for ever but at least for a morning or afternoon. Ski with your hands comfortably out in front. Explore large and small radius turns. Have fun with it! Many say that telemark skiing is almost like dancing...without poles it is even more so. When I worked as the tele director at Mt. Abram I used to tell all of my instructors to take the first runs of the day without poles. It makes you more aware of your feet, sets your balance and prepares you nicely for the day ahead.
• Advanced/masters.
Trying to shorten up your short swing? It's the end of a great pow day and the best stuff is sitting on the edge and you want to ski the line? You have to keep those feet moving. As soon as you lock up, holding a tele stance you will zip out into the middle and the guy behind you that was all pissed off that you took his line will smile and jump in taking YOUR SNOW! So how to do it? Well those feet have to keep moving AND keep steering. Here is something to try/focus on. First...read my tip to the beginner/intermediates above. Backfoot steering is WAY important in short swing. Then,,,concentrate on the point where your foot falls back and then begins forward again. Focus on that moment of change...from falling back to coming forward. Don't let it stay there. Instantly start it forward and steering you into the next turn. As it comes back it's the little toe side steering you into the turn, as it goes forward it's the big toe side. When it works, both your skis will be steering and carving as your feet are in constant motion, not unlike peddling a bike.
• Boot tip.
Telemark boots are expensive and there is nothing worse than, at the end of a great day of skiing, looking down at your bellows and seeing a nicely cut slice all the way through to the liner. It happens, especially if you ski with a narrow stance. The damage is done mostly during the transition, as you are going from one turn to the next. One solution would be to of course ski with a wider stance but some of us are tall, skinny and with narrow hips and the boots just want to bang together. Another solution is to put some kind of guard on your bellows to protect them from edge slice. Bob Dow, an NET member, fantastic tele skier and a professional boat builder, turned me on to a product that does the trick. It's a marine adhesive called 5200. Not only will it seal small holes it will not come off, flexes along with the bellows and can be used as a preventative guard. It's found at most hardware and marine stores and I recommend it. Get the black one and put it directly on the bellows where your edges tend to hit.
