[TR] Tele

[tvashtarkatena]

on fire

[archenemy]

But they'll make it to safety, cuz they're rapid.

[tvashtarkatena]

while being chased by rapid wolverines with a preference for human genitals

Yeah, small ones.

 

no, really big wolverines

[tvashtarkatena]

rapid, rabid ones

[tvashtarkatena]

who hate being chased by army ants, so they take it out on the first thing they trip over

[tvashtarkatena]

did I mention the road grader?

[archenemy]

I couldn't hear you, I already hung up.

[tvashtarkatena]

nothing gets the point across like a road grader

[cindy666]

Therz a band here called rapid wolverine.....They play down aBob's Country Bunker every satruday;;;;;;;;;;;

[archenemy]

And Bud Lite is only a buck a pitcher

[archenemy]

Copenhagen bandits are on the house.

[archenemy]

and mullets are everywhere

[Weekend_Climberz]

Plus a first edition copy of Steve Barnett's "Downhill Nordic" looking more tattered than my Muir VW repair manual.

 

BTW, it's "Cross-Country Downhill" and I had the pleasure of meeting Steve while on a overnight tour up to Keith's Hut last year with MattP. Never heard anyone raise there voice so quickly when told that snowmobiles weren't that big of a problem in the backcountry

 

[minx]

thanks for derailing this thread WC...we had some damn fine drift going on. sheesh!

[tvashtarkatena]

"Hi.

 

 

It's me.

 

 

Can we talk?

 

 

Cuz I'm right outside your door...

 

 

 

...behind the wheel of a road grader."

[Dechristo]

...while pulling a manure spreader

[RuMR]

.... LMFAO

 

Does this mean laughing my fat ass off? coil sniffer

[tvashtarkatena]

I forget to mention that the wolverines are carrying ebola

[archenemy]

And purses. Like those old-lady bags that can double as a weapon.

[Weekend_Climberz]

thanks for derailing this thread WC...we had some damn fine drift going on. sheesh!

 

Shit, I'm becoming CBS now

[Tony_Bentley]

There must be an easier way down the mountain...

 

Pretty much any other method of snowsport is easier. Try snowboarding for instance.

[tvashtarkatena]

each purse contains 40 rolls of nickles and an exlodeable bottle of Noxema.

Edited March 21, 2007 by tvashtarkatena

[archenemy]

I already board. And Alpine.

 

I love the challenge of something new. And the bruises. And getting new gear. And the aches and pains--but not so much.

[quicker_than_ewe]

If you had four legs, and they were hairy, you wouldn't have bruises to show. baa

[E-rock]

I've been tele skiing for ~6yrs now. At first it sucked and I was always bruised. I kept at it, though, sure that once I got the hang it'd be awesome. When I got better but it still wasn't awesome I bought more gear, convinced that was my problem. That helped a bit, but I still get tired a lot faster than I did on skis or a snowboard and I still crash lots more whenever the snow is suboptimal (which thankfully never happens in the NW). Since AT boots and dynafit bindings weigh about the same as modern tele gear but have the advantage of RELEASING, have ready-made ski crampons, and take much less energy and skill to use, I wonder why anyone would learn to tele? It definitely feels cooler to do nice turns, but telemarking just seems contrived to me these days - like climbing a route w/ one hand behind your back... Comments?

 

Let me preface this by saying I have skied on telemark gear for years, and I once felt an overdeveloped sense of superiority because of it.

 

These arguments are made so often now it's a wonder that telemark still retains any "coolness" at all, and that's the problem with the whole deal. Just take a stroll on over to telemarktwits dot calm, and see how many PC sensitive 90's men have fooled themselves into believing they do something "counter culture" and hip.

 

The fact of the matter is, that the average backcountry skier isn't even a GOOD skier. Furthermore, the average SKIER isn't good. The better skiers that you see in the backcountry spent a lot of miles on alpine gear at a ski resort when they were kids in an effort to become technicians of the turn. Lately, a lot of new converts to backcountry skiing have entered the sport drawn by the allure of untracked powder turns and the ability to travel easily through the mountains in winter, their most beautiful season. I think it's great, and the better these people get at skiing over the years, the more they'll enjoy it. However, many new backcountry converts are not very good at the actual TURN, which is fine, skiing in the end, and even more so than climbing, is all about FUN. But it doesn't matter so much, performance-wise, what gear you're on, when you don't have enough miles under your feet to even know how to center your balance on skis as though it were second nature.

 

Arguing that one mode of downhill sliding vs. another is better for the average backcountry skier (safety issues aside) is like arguing that you always use a particular rock shoe (the mythos for instance) because you love the feel, when you're not even comfortable leading 5.6.

 

Skiing is about fun, so let's not fool ourselves, telmark is NOT cool, and AT's performance advantages are most felt by a minority of skiers.