Telemark 101

"What are those skis you're wearing?" is a question frequently asked of us in and around lift lines at our home resort, Timberline, in Canaan Valley, WV. The follow-up question is predictable: "Is it hard?"

I'll admit, I'd never even heard the term telemark before I met my husband five years ago. I'd skied a few times on my own prior to our meeting and I don't recall even seeing a telemark skier (however, that could be because my "beginner's" eyes were glued to the tips of my own skis). I was familiar with the term "Nordic" skiing, but had firmly embedded in my mind pictures of wool clad granola types cruising along flat country trails on skinny wooden skis wearing flimsy boots and funny caps. I didn't even know they let free heelers on alpine resorts.

Telemark actually refers to a specific type of turn executed by skiers on Nordic (free heel) equipment. Increasingly, however, the term telemark is used to refer to downhillers wearing beefy four-buckle hard boots and on skis that look just like alpine skis. The only giveaways are the bindings and those graceful telemark turns (or as my friend Marks calls his beginner version, tumblemark turns.) A telemark turn is evidenced by staggered skis, a deep bend of the downhill knee which results in the downhill ski pushing forward and the "trailing" knee bends pretty much straight down lifting the heel. The unique braided looking tracks gives evidence that there are Nordic types around.

In answer to the second question, "Is it harder?" my answer is a resounding "Yes." Other more gifted, well-balanced athletes may disagree. I am an advanced intermediate alpine skier. This year, my first on Nordic downhill (a/k/a telemark) equipment, I am a humbled beginner with snow packed up in my goggles and crammed into my helmet vents to prove it.

As I experience it, alpine is to telemark as balance beam is to a high wire act in a stiff wind. Or maybe alpine is to telemark as road bikes are to mountain bikes. By no means do I mean to denigrate the skill and complexity of alpine skiing. But in my experience, it's possible to cheat technique sufficiently on alpine skis to get down most anything. Not so on tele's. Cheating on tele's merits a failing, I guess that'd be falling, grade. And I fall. A lot. Telemark turns are about balance, continuous smooth flow, and impeccable body position. Too much weight fore or aft often results in skis tips crossing netting yet another snow sample. Humbling.

So the logical third question would be "So why do it?" I am drawn to the immediate feedback, the nuance, subtlety, and grace of telemark turns. While some telemarkers ski almost exclusively at lift serviced resorts, for me the draw was that learning telemark turns was the price of admission into the backcountry. An unexpected bonus is that my time on tele's is making me a far better alpine skier. Just a few minutes on tele's revealed in stark relief how many lazy habits I'd picked up.

"Free the Heel" stickers abound in Canaan Valley, WV, a noted mecca for tele skiers in the East. When nature shows her winter's finest, White Grass Ski Touring Center is the place to be. At White Grass you can "earn your turns" beginning with 50 km of trails ranging from 3200 ft to 4400 with over 1,200 vertical feet to ski up and over. Fabulous and incredibly scenic groomed trails also provide access to the famed Telemark Glades, the "largest and steepest free skiing system around" on property encompassing what was an old abandoned downhill ski area. There you can "fly down the Yitzhak Ravine, Boutros-Boutros Gully or tree turn the NATO Breakfast Bowl." At White Grass, word play and snow play reside comfortably alongside one another. And the food rocks, too.

The equipment I use at the lift serviced ski resort is heavier and sturdier than what I use in the backcountry. My backcountry skis are Karhu 10th Mountain Division XCD skis mounted with Rottefella Chili Pepper cable bindings. The fishscale bottoms and metal edges assist in the climbing. My downhill tele's are hand-me-down K2 Superstinx with Hammerhead (burlier, stiffer) bindings. Indeed, the downhill setup is so beefy, I can easily revert to parallel turns and camouflage myself as an alpiner. I use Garmont Excursion hard boots to drive both pairs of skis, but am finding that I am somewhat limited in my downhill performance by the lower, flexier boot. (I give them very high marks for cross- and backcountry performance, though.) Anyone planning to routinely Nordic ski at lift serviced resorts should consider investing in the four buckle, stiffer boots.

For me, humility is a small price to pay for skills which grant access into the backcountry and wilderness areas where beauty lives and the winter dolphins play.

More about the dolphins in future posts. See you then!