r/telemark

One of the things I love about the little local ski area where I do most of my runs is that there are multiple tele skiers there most days. The last two Saturdays there've been at least a half dozen other telemarkers on the hill, some of them damn good skiers, and it's fun to watch and compare the different styles.

I'm a low stance skier, have been for decades; even switching to NTN couldn't stop me from dragging my knuckles. I like stiff boots, stiff skis, off piste snow, carving not slarving, and big gs turns down the fall line. When I get low, I feel rock solid and confident going full throttle. I love it when I carry enough energy through the turn that the bottom of the turn almost tosses me in the air and I feel nearly weightless during the lead change, and I love the feeling of smashing back down and digging the edges in at the top of the next turn. When it all comes together, I feel like a beast.

When I try to ski high stance, everything feels tippy and delicate. I see other high stance skiers ski the same lines as me and make it look good, so I know it's just a me thing. I feel a little envious of talented high stance skiers, it looks to me like they're dancing down the hill, and I feel like I'm moshing. They're all Fatboy Slimming where I Tool.

As long as we're having fun, we're doing it right, yeah? But if an old school low skier wanted to work on getting high, would increasing binding spring tension help or hurt (I run Outlaws/Bandits/Meidjos right in the middle)? Should I change my playlist to anything other than heavy metal? How do y'all like to get down?

I was lucky enough to test the new ATK binding on snow today, so here is what I think after skiing it and what further information I got:

- the flex is extremely soft. Not what I am used to after years on stiff bindings, but once I adapted to it after a few turns, I really liked how it skis. The flex engages right from the beginning. Still I could go deep without the feeling that I would bottom out the springs.

- by default it will come with springs in several kinds of stiffness that can be exchanged easily. I was in the soft springs.

- it is not possible to adjust the spring pretension

- flat tour mode is only possible by removing the spring box. However, this is easy to do

- when removing the spring box, the springs get compressed a little bit. Therefore the spring box will always stay flat on the ski when not skiing, e.g. when touring with the heel riser or when transporting the skis

- the binding was designed with scarpa boots in mind. I used it with Scott Voodoo NTN and had zero compatibility issues. Instep worked on the first try (in very soft non-sticking snow, no idea how it would be with snow sticking to the boot)

- Any ATK ski crampon can be used with the binding without any adjustments or additional parts

- Optional stoppers will be available which sit in front of the toe. I could neither demo these nor saw photos, so no idea how they will work.

- An optional alpine heel will be available. This will also give an additional heel riser.

- retail price in Switzerland will be 649CHF.

https://reddit.com/link/1t4a0v4/video/f75qqu9f2azg1/player

https://reddit.com/link/1t4a0v4/video/gkcujkpf2azg1/player

Looking for feedback after 10 days on telemark skis. I know my skis are too close together, trying to work on that (brakes get stuck together sometimes).

Cheers!

I put storage wax on the planks for the off season today. While doing the work, I was thinking of the season. It was a bleak winter in Colorado (I golfed 14 consecutive months in Denver), but a couple of so-so snow days created some smiles on the slopes and a 14 inch day brought some real stoke. Typically, I'm a bit of a stingy, dirtbag tele skier and go cheap on gear, but this year, I pulled the trigger on Bishop BMF's and a Volkl Blaze 86. Couldn't be happier with the purchase. It's hard to understand how the Bishops can be so stable and transfer power like they do and still be butter smooth. The Blaze grooms well, but the early rise and the 129mm shovel lets it plow through tracked up pow , crud and spring slop. Overall, a pretty good season, but man do I hope for more frequent storms next season...and far less wind. Happy summer everyone!

Dear fellow Telefolk!

Was wondering if anyone here is living in the SF Bay Area and has a 22 Designs jig, I could borrow.

Thinking about splurging on a pair of pow skis and would like to not f*** up the mount. Did a pair with the template and no jig before and they came out alright but not perfect.

That would be fantastic!