What is the future of Telemark?

[STG]

Economics, the need for light weight equipment, and the desire for a wilderness experience might help sustain XCD backcountry touring/telemark turns? The high cost to ski at a developed ski area and the pricey equipment might encourage more interest in BC touring with NNN or three-pin bindings and XCD/traditional skis? Alpine touring equipment is really expensive-check out the cost of Dynafit equipment. XCD, traditional telemark/touring gear is so much more affordable. Hauling heavy boots and skis out into the backcountry if you are covering many miles can be really miserable. Going light has so many advantages, if you have the patience to learn how to ski equipment that requires precision, subtle technique and balance. A quiet wilderness experience with views of the mountains and wildlife plus powder snow is an experience that is radically different than standing in lift lines, riding chairlifts or skiing groomed runs.

[Johnny]

Alpine touring might be expensive, the gear is a lot lighter (and better, and more efficient) than any tele gear around. Both AT boots and bindings are half the weight of the best tele equipment. You have to be very stubborn, or even mentally retarded to still telemark in 2016. But telemarkers are noble keepers of a great ancient secret. And with the granted permission from the XCD Knights themselves, today I will reveal this precious secret to you my dear friends: Telemark is more fun.

It's all about the feeling. The essence of telemark. You wanna go fast, do a lot of vertical, take vids on your GoPro and spread your shit around on facecrap and brag about your new Arcteryx jacket on the intercraps, go for Alpine touring.

If you wanna go slower and enjoy the finesse and the bliss of every turn and experience that irresistible feeling of dancing with goddesses in the sky, go for telemark.

As you can understand from the chart below, Telemark is the future for true ski and snow addicts. Telemark is a passion of a lifetime. Something you work on and refine year after year. Alpine touring is the future for lazy people, or people not willing to invest time to learn something, people who wanna do something quick, or people for who skiing is just a funny way to kill some time on the week-ends...

The future is yours...

• Alpine touring:
  Difficulty: Easy.
  Fun factor: Low
  
  Telemark:
  Difficulty: 10 times more difficult than alpine
  Fun factor: 10 times more fun than alpine
  
  XCD:
  Difficulty: 100 times more difficult than alpine
  Fun factor: 100 times more fun than alpine

[MikeK]

A quiet wilderness experience with views of the mountains and wildlife plus powder snow is an experience that is radically different than standing in lift lines, riding chairlifts or skiing groomed runs.

This is my favorite. Being able to do that with your wife, or kids, or best friend, or by yourself is my favorite part about skiing.

[dorthman]

well, look at the new bindings on market. there's clearly some pretty dedicated telefolk out there. I'm not nearly as worried about the future of telemark as I am the future of climate change and sliding on snow

xc, backcountry, AT, are all gaining popularity. snowboarding and resort skiing is on the downturn. that all bodes well for tele

and I already see a fair few tele skiers here in New England,

Id like to see some touring oriented NTN boots, an AT boot with bellows basically. coz, imo - the current selection of tele boots is a little on the beefy, heavier, klunkier side. I think a boot like that could get some AT converts, xc weenies onto tele gear

would also be cool to see more young folks on tele gear. a lot of the people in the tele community are well, kind of...old..which is fine. but it's kind of imperative that there is interest from subsequent generations or the interest very well may taper off

[dnt_upton]

good points dorthman.

The next 20 years of telemark will likely be like the last 20 years. Some innovation, some head scratching, some breaking, lots of bitching, and lots of smiling when it's whiteout.

There are telemark tech bindings that are as light as the majority of AT bindings, save those crazy light skimo gadgets. Meidjo and Moonlight both have very light rigs, though I can't say I've fondled and weighed either one.

[MikeK]

would also be cool to see more young folks on tele gear. a lot of the people in the tele community are well, kind of...old..which is fine. but it's kind of imperative that there is interest from subsequent generations or the interest very well may taper off

This is my observation. On the internet and in reality, there are a lot of Tele-geezers. I agree, it's fine... but again it points to the observation that the overwhelming majority skiing Tele at resorts are those who came up with the old stuff.

One could say, in order to see the same progression, people of my generation (30's) and younger (teens/20's) should be skiing XC/XCD. That doesn't seem to be the case in my general observation. Skating and Alpine are far more prominent with younger people, and the people I run into skiing XCD are in almost all instances, older than myself. I ran into a gentleman last year at a place I frequent who was on NNN-BC and Eons who ripped the best Tele turns I've seen outside CIMA videos - I'd say he was in his 50s, his GF said he was obsessed with XCD skiing. I wanted to tell him about this forum, but the convo never went that way.

Problem is this, I believe. Non-spandex XC and XCD isn't that exciting and isn't sexy. It isn't well advertised at all. That's fine, it shouldn't be any of those things. But in that sense, it won't attract as many younger skiers. Maybe some will look for a change of pace in their latter years? Same could be said for Tele... start Alpine or board, maybe later in life slow down and try Tele?

[fisheater]

In my neck of the woods SE Michigan us Telegeezers are going strong. There are definitely more of us than there were in the nineties. On the hilly trail areas that I trail ski there is interest in my equipment, especially when I we get some decent snow and I can make some SS's going off trail and going downhill. When I take my son to the local lift served, I get frequent questions about my gear, so there is interest from the youth.
I think skiing is gaining in popularity with young people, as opposed to a few years back when younger folks went primarily to snowboards. When those young skiers reach a certain skill level, a small percentage will decide to telemark. Telemarking isn't for everyone, well maybe except for Skandinavia. I like it quiet in my out of the way places. It looks like it will stay quiet fo a while.

[dorthman]

as far as getting xc skiers on tele/xcd gear goes

I would love to see more effort out into that, I think it would go over very well with younger skiers - especially the kind who gravitate towards the speed ,sensation, technique of skate skiing. get em on some xcd gear, doing jumps, dodgin trees, learning the turn... I think there's something there...but xcd needs a 21st century make over to appeal those younger skiers

also, seeing more tele terrain-park skiers would go a loooong way to make the sport more appealing to the adrenaline junkies(maybe) I'm really surprised it's not a bigger "thing". grinds and landings look so much more elegant and smooth vs fixed heel park skiing

[connyro]

...seeing more tele terrain-park skiers would go a loooong way to make the sport more appealing

Is tele really a "sport"? IMO, it's just a way of turning skis, while the actual "sport" is skiing. Alpine skiers don't say they are going to go out and "parallel ski" or "fixed-heel ski", they just say they are going skiing. Tele skiers seem to want to mention the distinction that they are going "tele skiing" and not just going "skiing". (Reminds me of the joke- Q: How can you tell if someone's a telemarker? A: Don't worry, they'll tell you.) When I ski, I K+G, skate, parallel, and tele turn during the same outing. It's just skiing. Nothing special or exceptional, just skiing.

[MikeK]

Unfortunately the inferiority complex of Tele skiers got to them and they had to make it clear.

It is really odd though. I mean when I talk to "regular" people and tell them I'm going skiing, they ASSUME I'm going dh skiing. Even people I've told many times still don't get it. Whatever.

When you say skiing, they think this:



Then when I say XC skiing, they think this:



And I sometimes try to explain... but I usually just don't care. Then sometimes I pull out the T word. Because somewhere, somehow, someway, they've seen a Telemarker, and kind of know what that means.

Still think this is the future of the Telemark turn:

[video][/video]