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telemarking


iain

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okay so I'm thinking of trying some telemarking to try something new besides at skiing. I want to use it as very light dependable gear, the way tele gear is intended (not as fake, heavy, poor-performing alpine gear, as it seems to be now) grin.gif . I have acquired a friend's old leather asolo extreme pros and am wondering what boards I could reasonably consider driving with these things. I will probably get some voile 3pin cables. I have some tua mito 192's. I weigh in between 180-195 depending on the season. Am I asking too much of the leather boots? Will I fall on my face constantly and get really frustrated? Or will I adopt telemark technique with some ease from my alpine skiing endeavours? Have others made this transition? I'm looking forward to the challenge. Spray on pinheads! wave.gif

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Don't succumb to the hype. I've seen some sick shit pulled on skinny skis and Asolo Snowfields. I learned on Karhu Nansen Mountain 210's with the original Voile plate bindings and 1950's style leather boots that I drilled holes in the toe so they would engage the pins of the binding. Asolo Extremes are bomber. Just practice transitioning from a snowplow and dropping into the turn and back....repeat.

There you be

bigdrink.gif

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Ian,

 

I think it's better to learn on Leathers. Yeah, you will fall on your face...but don't be suprised or get bummed about it, the more you do it the less you will face plant. With leathers you will really learn how to do a tele turn. You won't be able to fake it like you can with plastics, but that is why they are good.

 

Get a soft ski that has a traditional sidecut. That will be best for leathers, big fat turny skiis will be too much. I use old Elan MBX's for those leather days, or when the rocks are out.

 

I didn't have a hard time converting from alpine, other than a few rough days and one broken thumb. Once I got use to the light set up of leathers and pins, I could never go back...it was like skiing in comfy hiking boots rather than foot torture devices. Plus, the groomers take on a whole new light!

 

Spring snow is great to learn on, good luck!

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I spent my first couple seasons skiing on leathers...its all about matching your boots to your skis to make sure you have a good time. I'd stay away from anything with too much sidecut or skis that have a waist wider than 70mm, then you may be asking too much of your leather boots.

My first pair of tele boards were BD Synchro X's that had a 55mm waist and a tip that was something like 70mm.

 

Something you might want to think about is your choice of bindings with leathers....3-pin cable will virtually never release even in falls, and you will take plenty of falls learning to tele on floppy gear. An old tried and true binding that you can find used for dirt cheap is the Riva 2...the way it is designed its pretty easy to eject out of it in a fall and without having a beefy plastic boot to protect your ankle from getting sprained you may want a binding that doesn't hold onto your foot too tightly. Just my 2 cents...

 

 

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this is all a bunch of crap. laugh.gif

 

why throw away years of advances in technology and design?

simple is fine, but back to leather and 3 pin? If you're a strong alpiner, and you actually want to learn to tele-rip, you're wasting your time. Of course, if you just want to have fun and goof around, by all means, go ahead...

 

used t3s or t2s with Rivas, G3s, or another simple cable, on whatever old skis you can find.

 

 

Edited by Cletus
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I've got some old TUA Toute Neiges in a 210 that I might be willing to part with. Other skis that'd work well would be Tua Cirques or Tua Montets. If your looking to actually tour on these 3pins are the way to go for covering distance - cables (unless you loosen them substantially) will take a nice bit of energy with every stride.

 

If you really want to learn to tele, leathers are the only way to go - you'll learn an art, as opposed to the paint by number skiing that plastics require. Extreme Pro's are a great way to start.

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True, I now ski with old T3s and like the power and tourability as well as their dryness. However, I still have my Snofield II leather boots and love them for blue groomers, corn snow and fast tours where I am not carrying a heavy pack. Iain, if you go plastic, go low cut, the best of all worlds. Keep the extremes tho.

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cletus I hear you and I still like to let it rip on my r:ex/freerides but I learned how much fun it is to try something new when I started skiing on plastic mtnring boots and light skis. It felt really cool to be able to cruise around the mountain with these things and feeling the snow under your feet rather than the dead feeling alpine gear brings (which is a good thing in crud). I also do a lot of survival skiing on searches in canyons and stuff where I'm making a lot of kick turns and skiing rolling terrain where AT gear can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Just something new to try. Thanks everyone for the great advice, maybe when I get some cash I'll get some atomic superlights, until then, I can borrow from some friends. thumbs_up.gif

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actually, I think I was trolling a little. I have much respect for those who kill it on leathers or any old school/old style. But I do think you'll find the transition easier than you think, and my guess is that you'll be begging for something more substantial than the leathers and 3-pins sooner than expected.

 

I still think I would push you towards soft, low, plastic boots, and a very neutral cable binder.

 

 

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Iain, tele skiing sucks. Unless you want to learn to develop an alternating rythm between arm flailing and punching the ground for balance, while whining "Wait up, wait up" to your snowboarder buddies who've ony been riding for 4 months, don't waste your time. Tele skiing is a pointless excercise in frustration and pain that turns you into a bitter, cynical snow-snob who never enjoys skiing except when EVERTHING is perfect (which it never is) and when NOONE is looking (which they never are, anyways because they're way ahead of you.)

 

That being said, enjoy. I love it more than anything else in the world. And leather is definitely the way to learn, but not the way to progress past a certain point (unless you are an exceptionally gifted athlete).

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