[stef]

Well, this skier is a typical case of a very good alpine skier starting to tele. In the steep sections in the vid he is going back to alpine with kind of a fake-a-mark. I and probably most others also did that, it's just natural. No problems with upper body, pole plant, all perfect. WEIGH THAT UPHILL SKI and sink down in a proper tele position. It takes a while to get comfortable with this, especially when it gets steeper!

[Bob Chaliff]

Agree with Stef, more commitment to the tele stance would be beneficial. Skier 2 has strong edging skills, now he just needs to use them to make real telemark turns.

[TejasTELE]

First off, awesome first day on tele. Just a quick thought, but I would get on some more mellow terrain. The steeps are no place to get that form down because coming from an alpine background skier 2 is reverting to that front leg to hold things down. Get on the flats and try to feel that back leg.

Secondly I think upperbody posture could use a touchup. Get those arms where you can see them. Do the bear hug or whatever you have to do to keep both arms downhill. Letting your inside arm trail so much is going to wash out that inside/back ski every time especially as you are just learning to get weight on it.

Good luck...I cant tell you how good it's lookin for the first day.
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[seki]

Yep, looks to be a strong alpine covert. Are you addicted yet, skier 2?

One big difference between alpine and tele (besides having to weight the rear ski) is that your hips naturally stay somewhat open to the fall line in a parallel turn, but because your hips close (rotate with the turn) it takes more effort to keep your upper body facing down the hill while doing the tele dance. More 'twist' from the waist up is required in tele.

Of course, work on getting more weight on the uphill ski. Looking great for the first day in some choppy conditions... nice looking snow, but definately not a smooth groomer. Nicely done for such limited tele prowess!

[stef]

[Valdez Telehead]

Impressive for the first day, especially on that beat up snowpack. Now all he needs in some untracked, and he will never alpine again. He obviously has a good ski sense. He does that little alpine hop for the first few turns, a hop that will serve him well in the teleing the steeps. He should work and perfect the telehop.
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[icculus]

Hands, hands, hands!

If he were to keep those hands up and punching down the fall-line, he'd probably have a better time initiating his turns. It looks like by dropping his hands it is causing him to overturn and twist out of each turn.

I agree that after only a half day on teles he is doing great, considering the terrain.
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[dana]

I'll agree with others that there is a lot of fake-a-markin' goin' on here, with a way too- overemphasized lead ski. This is probably leading to the overturning an lack of counter-rotation of the upper body leading to sloppy twisting tranisitions (notice how often the inside hand gets dragged around behind!) A tele 2-step hop turn would be a helpful exercise, with the emphasis on the "2": Nail the edge on that rear ski on landing, eventhough the lead ski landed first.

He also seems to be leaning into the turn a bit on left turns (more so than right), could get better balance by a hint more angulation from the hip (in both directions.)

Gimme 3 runs with this guy and he'll be skiin' it like a pro. I'd start him off with a single hop-teles to a stop, then threebies to a stop, eventually leading to just a hint of up unweighting for initiation with a lot of 2-footed carve to the finish. He seems strong enough /skilled enough to pull it off, but doesn't trust the rear ski enough yet.

[chucky gross]

weight and have confidence in the rear leg. ski less steep terrain.
otherwise, this skier is gonna be rippin in no time!
always cool to have new tele'r in Mammoth!
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[Doug G]

Hands - you have to lead with your hands a bit. Hard to explain....

It's tough in those moguls and chop. It takes a while to "set up" the turn. Fast smooth transitions are an important goal.

[herridge]

Looks pretty good for a first day out - esp on a steep run.

Can't emphasize enough - from experience - get thee to the bunny hill. Often with an experienced skier they are reluctant to do this. Get the weighting of the rear ski nailed on easier terrain, and you will be ripping in no time flat.

D

[Frazier]

hate to beat a dead horse but it's one of the most important things...hands. Uphill hand it dropping to your hip. Drive the car, hug the bear, don't drop the beers...whatever you want to call it, you should initiate your next turn by driving your uphill hand into the turn.

Also, upper body should be more aggressively into the fall line. Comes from hand position also. As mentioned earlier, this is more difficult in tele stance than alpine but is possible and will change everything.

I like that Skier 2 is making the lead change early (before going around the corner in the turns), one thing I found hard to figure out when converting from alpine.

Impressive terrain for Day 1.

[Camo King]

[spazmonkey]

I know it is humbling doing the easy terrain, speaking from experience, but you really need to be on a bunny slope to work on the technique. I really focused on perfecting my technique, probably will be working on it forever, and it has reallty paid off. I know it is humbling because I was a very advanced skier and snowboarder before I started teleing. Humbling experience, but well worth it.
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[Mcstiff]

I can relate to "S2" going for steep terrain, I did the same my first day (sat after thanksgiving @ breck) and this past sat at steamboat. I tried the bunny hill at steamboat but found it was not long enough to do much, knowing some tele drills would have helped I suppose I also took the "green" way down from the gondola and found most of it to narrow to do much of a turn.

I guess I will have to find some drills to do this Thursday @ Abasin

PS my snow sliding background is 20+yrs nordic (off and on, have not been for a while) 20yrs alpine and 10+ boarding.
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