[SCUTSKI]

My first suggestion would be to keep your upper body facing more into the fall line--teleing on steeper slopes helped me develop this. And there's the ubiquitous "get more weight on your rear ski." Practice "reversamarking," leading with the opposite leg, to work on the weighting. That helped me quite a bit, although I still need to work at it. Good luck!
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[koolaideprived]

^^^ What he said about the fall line, and the other thing I noticed is the front leg looks a little straight. Bend that a bit and it will be easier to weight the back ski.
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Koolaid: Riding in a film canister on the uphill river.

[vtadrian]

I have to second the suggestion regardng fall line. As a matter of fact it may sound crazy but I think the best thing you can do is go to a very steep hill and do as many jump turns as possible straight down the fall line. This will force the upper body to be in the proper position and also enforce the need to have the hands out front and quick transition turns in the telemark position. It also forces more equal weighting on the front and rear ski. No it does not teach carving - but that is easy once you have the balance down and the proper upper body technique. I am not a ski instructor, but this worked very well for me and has helped me quickly get friends skiing tele. It really only works well for those who already have an alpine backround and are comfortable on steep terrain. But in those cases it seems to work very well.

[cirenella]

i enjoyed the smile @ the end of the videoo, you're clearly stoked about your skiing. that's 1st & foremost. nice job.

suggestions:
read & watch the lessons in ttips website, they're excellent
slow down and FEEL the turns
repeat
feel it come together
keep the stoke

[Andinista]

Very normal first day telemarking for an alpine skier, if you edit the video and erase the rear leg, you will see skier A alpine skiing. If you do the same with a tele skier, you will see the front leg more advanced and will realize why he is using the rear foot (otherwise he would fall back) and why he doesn´t have so many troubles to avoid the face plant, that almost happened here.
The upper body looks good to me, you can keep the same style as with alpine there.
Good luck

[teledaddy207]

Lower your stance and find that sweet spot centered between front and back leg.

Practice by trying to carve on your back foot exclusively, seems extreme but will show you how far to the rear you can go, that will eliminate the false face plants

Heel push on front, little toe in rear.

I almost hate these folks who get to skip long straight skis and leather boots. Tele's on nordic gear forces correct technique.

Happy Trails!!!!!!!!!!

[Grant]

Alpine crossover = fakeamark. This is not a put down just an observation, and I know as I did it too!

I think that the main issue is that the turns are coming from the downhill ski only. More weight is necessary on the rear ski.

Here are my tips:
-Try to ski with your shoulders right above your hips and move those hips forward.
-When turning, drop your hips over your rear heel as this should put more pressure on the rear ski.
-Carve your turns with the big toe of your downhill ski and the little toe of your uphill ski.
-Counter rotate your body by keeping your upper body facing downhill (pretend your nipples are lights pointing to the bottom of the slope ) and your hands out in front where you can see them.

Good luck and keep having fun, skier A
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I don't trust to nothing, but I know it comes out right.

[Tele Till You're Smelly]

Yes, it's all about the uphill/inside ski (he's a good alpine skier and doesn't need a lesson on the fall line). Skier A- look at how the foot bends at the bellows on an accomplished teleskier, and then look at yours- you are up on tippytoes, which means you have no pressure on the ski- you need to get the balls of your feet on the ski. Active bindings would help alot, although they still require getting alot more pressure on that ski.
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reluctant enthusiast, part-time crusader, half-hearted fanatic

[yamariva_2000]

Pretty good for a first time try. You'll be ripping it up pretty shortly. Like everyone said, focus on that back foot on the outside edge. Your upper body position is fine.

[TeleMang]

Skier A is clearly not eating enough granola...


Seriously though, i would echo the above-- avoid the fake-a-mark and you are there. I found myself doing the same thing when i first started. What really helped me was going on a nice mellow run and just putting my back knee down really low (almost touching the ski low). Get that down there, avoid a "sitting stance" and you will soon start to feel the power. Have fun!
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Monkeys aren't donkeys! Quit messing with my head!

[chucky gross]

great first day!
sell all non-telegear.
commit to it 100%
don't be a puss!
you will have it in 12 more days
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don't believe the hype!

[Valdez Telehead]

Sorry Eric O!!!

Good thing is he understands the need for speed. Lot of beginners just move to slow to make thing happen and get frustrated and poodle away.

Bad things...no helmet and looks a bit out of it pole wise....or he needs..................s-h-o-r-t-e-r POLES!!!,not alpine lengths. That should tighten up the stance and pull the trailing ski a bit more forward.

[Carbo]

[blob]

One way you can improve the upper body down the fall line is to punch your fist immediately after the pole plant. This forces you to turn your uphill shoulder opposite of the direction your skis are turning and keep your shoulders (lateral vector) perpendicular to the fall line vector. It may seems silly at first, but it will develop a habit, and it's easier to think about than other strategies that also work.

Lookin good tho!

[blob]

Oh, I almost forgot...get some sweet gaiters and an anorak and if you really want some soul, green wool pants!

About the rear ski issue, the way I got myself to weight it was to think about initiating the turn with what will be the uphill ski during the turn. This is the opposite of alpine, where the turn is initiated with what becomes the downhill (but you already know that). Others have suggested exaggerating your weight on the back ski, which will feel really wierd, but it works. If you think about using the downhill ski only for balance, and really driving the outside edge of the uphill ski into the snow, you can accomplish this.

Keep at it man!