tele skiing

[AlpineK]

Thanks for the chances to make fun of you Comrad.

If you would have thought ahead and left some scotch on the Nisqually F. and I would have drunk it and laughed at you while you downclimbed.

K

[Beck]

Correction, dbcolin. The telemark turn was developed by Sondre Nordheim of Norway who invented (or popularized an ancient technique) the Telemark turn, the first modern ski turn. He might have been a ski yumper, I guess, but no one was skiing down hills and making it a sport before ol' Nordheim, and they didn't have their heels fixed.

[Walter_Burt]

Freeheeling predates the fixed heel by at least a millenium. The Norwegians were definitely freeheeling on monster boards when they spirited their baby king away from the invading hordes some 1,000 years or more ago. The Birkebeiner XC ski race commemorates that incident.

Folks freeheeled almost exclusively up till the early 20th century. My father still has a pair of wood 225s dating from the late 1930s with cable bindings that he can clip down for the downhill.

[AlpineK]

quote:

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Originally posted by Beck:

Correction, dbcolin. The telemark turn was developed by Sondre Nordheim of Norway who invented (or popularized an ancient technique) the Telemark turn, the first modern ski turn. He might have been a ski yumper, I guess, but no one was skiing down hills and making it a sport before ol' Nordheim, and they didn't have their heels fixed.

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Yeah skiing pussy ass slopes. All of you religious nordic zelots; I've got something for you to suck on. "pure skiing" my fuckin ass

[Buzz]

Beck ain't you one of those long haired homo/hippys? I guess it figures you would like skiing sissy style.

[David_Parker]

Isn't it kinda funny how the alpine skiers rip on the tele skiers like they are wussies, but they couldn't actually make a tele turn to save their life. All I can think is most of them must be jealous they can't tele ski very well. On the other hand, the tele skiers don't seem to be interested in ripping on alpine skiiers. Maybe we just let our skiing speak for itself. It must be the alpine skiers who think they are "extreme" skiers who are most vocal against the tele skiers. Tele skiers don't really care what you think. Most of us have done both and have our reasons why we choose tele gear. We don't really have to defend ourselves.

AlpineK, you really confuse me. You seem like a pretty decent guy but this subject seems to make you so ANGRY! Why? Who gives a rip how you glide over snow. Just enjoy your way and I'll enjoy mine. Maybe we'll even ski together some day.

[ 11-30-2001: Message edited by: David Parker ]

[dbconlin]

Telemarking is actually less "pure" - the telemark turn was first developed by ski jumpers, who don free heels, as a way to stop after their jumps. Fixed heels have been around longer.

Telemarking is, however, more pleasureful, blissful, etc. You sink lower to the snow, get more face shots, and access more powder with less hassle.

From a breakage point of view--good luck fixing one of those plastic-y space age looking DH bindings. My (tele) bindings are METAL (steel actually) and are held together with BOLTS. Easy.

[AlpineK]

DP,

In fact tele skiers (at least a couple above) are ripping on alpine skiers by all their religious crap about how much more pure and aestetically pleasing their style of skiing is. Is tele more, "blissful," yeah whatever give me a fucking break.

I think most tele skiers are disgusted with the large ski resorts and the industry that surrounds them, but they translate this dislike into a holy war against a style of turn and gear. On the other hand tele gear has gone from something retro and unique to being so close to alpine gear that I expect within the next couple it will be alpine gear.

As to your comment about alpine skiers not being able to do a tele turn to save their life, well Dave I can tele turn, but I don't want to.

I think it's sad that there has been such an emphasis on tele sking being the means to access the backcountry that good alpine skiers who want to backcountry ski don't because they think they have to learn to tele.

Oh and by the way W Burt your dads skis were AT skis.

[AlpineK]

Hey Dave anytime you want to ski let me know.

[dbconlin]

quote:

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Originally posted by Walter Burt:[QB]Freeheeling predates the fixed heel by at least a millenium. The Norwegians were definitely freeheeling on monster boards when they spirited their baby king away from the invading hordes some 1,000 years or more ago. The Birkebeiner XC ski race commemorates that incident.[QB]

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I agree that freeheeling predates fixed heeling, but what i meant was that for use as a downhill recreational sport, fixed heel was first. Of course, Scandinavians have been using freeheel X-COUNTRY setups as transportation for, well, longer than I can remember. Also, the intent of my message was that the TELEMARK TURN was a relatively recent invention, not that free heel ski setups were.

[AllYouCanEat]

quote:

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AlpineK: Yeah skiing pussy ass slopes. All of you religious nordic zelots; I've got something for you to suck on. "pure skiing" my fuckin ass

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Telemark skiing is pure and aethetically pleasing. The downhill turn uses brute force and conquers a slope. Telemark skiers harmonize with nature. We don't conquer. As for pussy ass slopes. Follow me, bitch.

[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: AllYouCanEat ]

[JayB]

Word to Alpine K!

Skiing with a bushel of hay strapped to your back word certainly be more difficult than descending the same line without the extra load, and one could certainly come up with some stylistic justifications for doing so, e.g. "If you've never known the bliss of descending a steep couloir with a bushel of hay atop your shoulders..." but doing so would hardly be an argument for the intrinsic superiority of the technique/equipment versus the alternatives.

Seriously though, if tele skiing is what you dig, more power to you. In fact, the bad-ass tele-rippers that I see descending the steep-bump laden chutes under the Pali-chair at A-Basin are probably the most talented skiers on the mountain, given the instrinstic difficulty of the tele-turn vis-a-vis the alpine turn, especially in the bumps.

The reason I've stuck with an alpine set-up for as long as I have is that it sets the fewest constraints upon my performance on the hill (when descending). The same would go for an AT-set up in the backcountry. I can descend steeper lines faster than I could ever dream of doing with free heels. Seems like if we're talking about speed on descents alpine/AT wins that contest hands down. However, if you are into tele, that's probably not what skiing is about for you. After two successive ligament tears in the past two years, that might not be what I dig most about skiing for two much longer. Just thought I'd have some fun and chime in....

[AlpineK]

quote:

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Originally posted by AllYouCanEat:

Telemark skiing is pure and aethetically pleasing. The downhill turn uses brute force and conquers a slope. Telemark skiers harmonize with nature. We don't conquer. As for pussy ass slopes. Follow me, bitch.

if you dare

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This is just the attitude I'm talking about. If you are parallel turning correctly your turn should be effortless. Talk about religious zeal don't feed me that crap about, "harmonizing with nature." I mean what the fuck is that suppose to mean. I've tele turned and I sure as hell wasn't harmonizing more or less than when I was parallel turning.

If you like to tele thats fine, but don't inflict your religious bullshit on everyone.

[rat]

allyoucaneat,you sure blow your horn alot. are you a contortionist? i've been here and i've been there,so whaaat, so whaaat,so what so what you boring little cunt,so what?

kfeck,why would you want more ski-area wankers to invade the backcountry?come on feck, open the dooooor goddamnittttt.

[AlpineK]

Rat you bring up a good point. To anyone interested Backcountry skiing sucks!

I ski a lot with telemarkers, but they don't lay any harmonizing bullshit on me.

[Dr.E]

Wow,

Where's the love?

I sure hope the snow consolidates quickly. Then we could spend our time more enjoyably! All this vitriolic name-calling is harming my sensibilities. This thread sure isn't going to convince anyone that one style is better than another. You guys should consider the fact that we may be friends if we were to meet face-to-face in the backcountry. The posts are so abusive, they may preclude that option if a meeting ever occurs. Chill bro's.

[Buzz]

quote:

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Originally posted by AllYouCanEat:

Telemark skiing is pure and aethetically pleasing. The downhill turn uses brute force and conquers a slope. Telemark skiers harmonize with nature. We don't conquer. As for pussy ass slopes. Follow me, bitch.

[ 12-01-2001: Message edited by: AllYouCanEat ]

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I bet you would harmonize real pretty like once me and the boys tie you up out in the woods and introduce you to Mr. broom handle.

[Dr.E]

Good on ya Buzz. That's the kind of love I was referring to.

[rat]

Actually to be totally honest I worship tele skiers. I wish I could tele myself but unfortunately I am a total wanker.

The tele skiers and their graceful turns are the epitome of beauty in motion.

I could never hope to attain such a level of spiritual perfection myself because I am too busy being a loser and a wannabe.

[AlpineK]

I was at Baker on Sunday with a couple friends. I was busy conquering the slopes, but suddenly I stoped to admire my two buddies on tele gear. With a sudden flash of divine inspiration I was finally able to see the true harmony with which they skied. I feel I must humbely ask AYCE for forgiveness for my bad attitude and poor choice of gear.

My friend Comradeja was one of the tele skiers. It is truely inspirational to see a person living in harmony with his skis, the environment, and god.

[rat]

rat,

you lie. either that, or i'm an undiagnosed schyzophrenic. or both.

[Beck]

I'm going to second AlpineK on this one. Backcountry skiing SUCKS. It's a skin,skin,skin,slog,slog,slog, up the damn hill. You stop and get cold. You need to test the snow by digging a huge pit and stare at it for a half an hour, at which time you get a lot colder. The snow is always extremely variable and usually a breakable crust.

Then, a whiteout occurs.

In the interest in keeping the BC pristine, I recommend everyone stick to the lifts, you get a lot more vert with a lot less work.

[Self_propelled]

You got it Beck!

BC skiing sucks! There are no lodges with Sushi bars and what if I have to go the bathroom. Come on out to the lift served areas everyone, give your money away to those faceless saints at Boyne or Intrawest. They'll show you the love, they'll have all the rumpleminze and hot chocolate you want just waiting for you in their cosy warm neo-alpen lodges! Wouldn't you rather pay a days wage to have the comfort of knowing that there are boot warmers just a few turns away? Heck, you'll save money! No need for a probe or beacon when your ripping the edge deep coudoroy on Big Bad Bill's blue square run.

Leave that BC stuff to those poor folks who just don't know the meaning of a sniffle station!

[Yungaburra]

Can anyone tell me a good place to start looking for used tele gear? Store, web site, gear swap?

thanks

[Figger_Eight]

Try Backpacker's Supply if you live in Tacoma. Otherwise chase down the hippie freeheeler vegans, slap them upside the head with a raw steak and steal their gear.