mellsbells Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 A group of friends and I went to Crystal Mt. and did back country last week, it was at least one foot of fresh powder. I face planted about every ten feet. My ski's are quite short but when I tried to lean back to keep the tips up, I would start going too fast, then I would lean forward a little to slow it down and my ski's would go down and I would face plant(which actually felt pretty good in leiu of no rocks). This would be a piece of cake on alpine gear! But I have no balance with my heals unlocked. I never got to make any turns really because I was too busy swimming...Any thoughts, or suggestions for a terrible tele-turner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Experiment with your front-to-back balance while traverssing. Head accross the slope, with one ski in front of the other perhaps a foot or so, and drop slightly as if you were going to make a turn. Move your body forward and backward over your skis till you find the balance point, trying to keep your hips forward and your upper torso more or less vertical, rather than throwing your ass out behind and leaning forward to compensate. Shuffle your skis back and forth a couple of times as if linking turns, then initiate a turn after you have just imprinted the feel of keeping in balance over your skis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Also, as distasteful as it may be, you really should get the basics worked out on groomed terrain. No-one would try to teach a first-timer how to ski alpine in a foot of fresh snow, so why do so many attempt to learn teles that way? There's a lot more going on in powder, and you need to be adjusting to the changes constantly. That's hard to do when you don't even know yet how to stay balanced, much less how to turn. I stuck to groomers for quite a while until I got the technique figured out before venturing into powder and starting to learn all over again. After 9 years, I'm getting pretty good, but I still find powder to be a lot more demanding and challenging. It may make for the best skiing, but it's not necessarily the best learning environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken4ord Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Ditto, start on groomers, work it out, then hit da freshies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellsbells Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Thank you MattP. Very helpful information. I can turn on groomers, but I seem to do a lot of swinging around for lack of balance. I used to race on alpine ski's and feel 100% on them, but this tele skiing is a whole new ballgame for balance. I appreciate the tips! Happy skiing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisT Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 Mel: pick up a copy of Allen&Mike's Really Cool Telemark Tips. I have found this book to be extremely helpful. There was one copy left at Powell's on Hawthorne last time I looked. Also, if you want to practice with another newbie (on lifts) I'm available during the week now. We can do face plants together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Indeed, backcountry snow is quite a different thing from groomed runs - and generally more challenging. In addition to powder, you'll have to master muck, slush, breakable crust, avalanche debris, stump jumping, and all kinds of horrors that one never encounters "on piste." When I was learning to telemark I spent a lot of time skiing the chopped up unpacked snow off the edges of the groomed runs. That stuff is quite challenging, and you can learn a lot about fore-aft balance and hone your weight control for initiating turns there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 well, seems i'm not the only one having trouble making tele turns in 10" (or more or less) of pow! i just started making tele turns about 3 weeks ago. single diamond groomers are no problem for me, but i have a fairly difficult time when it comes to powder and deeper crud and big bumps - ugh. in the pow i tend to keep my weight pretty far back on my rear leg and that seems to help a lot. that and not being afraid to go a little faster than i might really like. trying step or jump turns also helps me feel more comfortable sometimes. i actually find myself doing what mattp said he used to do. i seek out "safe" patches of ungroomed snow where i can attempt to rip turns without getting totally overwhelmed. it seems to be paying off ... however slowly. and allen and mike's book is great! keep on nord'ing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billygoat Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 My breakthrough to deeper pow on tele (which really isn't much different than fixed heel) is shorter radius turns which increases speed down the fall line. This is where weighting and unweighting and shifting one's center of gravity back a bit can create a bouncing rythmn which will slow you down a bit and help with each turn. Mostly, I go along with the ride and have a blast wiping out when it gets too fast or I get too tired. Â Big turns across the fall line in deep pow, unless you are traveling at mach speed, are to hard to initiate and wear me out, leading to more wipe-outs. My stance has to be tight or the skis wander. I have to get the bounce to break free of the snow to initiate my turns. My crud strategy is real low, tight and fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 When I was learning to telemark I spent a lot of time skiing the chopped up unpacked snow off the edges of the groomed runs. That stuff is quite challenging, and you can learn a lot about fore-aft balance and hone your weight control for initiating turns there. Me, too. Chopped up crud helped me quite a bit, once I had the confidence to get low and aggressive with it. Can't be passive or tentative in that stuff, though, 'cause it'll eat you alive, or at least that's what the doctor told me while he was casting my leg . I still love ripping through crud - way more fun than groomers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mtguide Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Refer to my post on the thread "Muffy owns skis" from about 2 or 3 weeks ago--should give you all the beta you'll need to get up and running.Lessons can be a big help,especially for someone like you who's an experienced downhiller--most good alpine skiers can progress very quickly,much more so than people learning to tele who've never skied before or who have only XC backgrounds.You could find yourself doing beautiful tele turns by the end of this season with a few good lessons and lots of practice. Mattp is exactly correct,too. Â Anyway,there is a vast fund of knowledge out there--no need to reinvent the wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellsbells Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Thanx Mtguide! I will check out your post. I cannot wait until tuesday night at SkiBowl for Tele-tuesday! I will hope fully be rippin' it up with all the great pointers! Thank you again! Oh ya, Tuesday night is Ladies night at Skibowl for all you PDX folk. $7 lift tickets for the ladies! See you there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraysovereign Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 You may already know this, but one other very simple thing that can make a big difference is to make sure you're using shorter poles than you would for alpine, because your stance effectively makes you shorter when tele'ing. I take about 6" off my poles for tele compared to my alpine poles. If your poles are too long it puts your hands up around shoulder height, screwing up your balance big time, and just making everything kinda awkward and ungainly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 murray, i like crud, too! my guide at silverton thought i was crazy when we had to ski some crud and i came down exclaiming that was the best snow we'd had all day! i think i'm going to try shorter poles tomorrow. i've had other people tell me that, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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