to all you freeheelers

[rossi]

well tomorrow is gunna be my first attempt at tele skiing. just wondering if someone could give me the does and donts. haha. as far as set up goes, skis are k2 backups. size 175. you will know its be becuase they will look massive compared to my 5'4'' self (and becuase ill be falling all over the place). haha. bindings are rottefella cobras. and boots are crispi XP's (atleast thats what they say on them). so just the does and donts or any pointers really. thankss

[Harvey44]

Rossi... not sure what your level is but if you are an 8 (out of 10) alpine level, you should be able to be a 5 on Tboards pretty quickly.

The most important things are the same. Face the fall line. Quiet upper body. Be aggressive. It's a little different with free heels and I'm not totally sure how to explain it.

As stupid as it sounds, go with the same progression. I'd start with a few wedge turns. Stem Chrisities are next and probably actually easier on tele gear. Then parallel.

Don't feel obligated to do tele turns all the way down. Parallel turns are better for hardpack/ice. Tturns are better on soft or deep snow.

When you are doing Pturns, you have to use to be in the back seat a bit to keep your heels fixed. It's the one thing that doesn't really translate.

You can tell good telemarkers from beginners easily. Beginners have no weight on their back foot. That 90/10 weight split is called "poodling."

Shoot for a 50/50 split. Not sure if this is proper, but i had my break through when I started thinking of my BACK foot as the driver. Keep weight on it. Stay centered over both skis, hips knees and ankles.

Tip of the cap to you for trying. My sense is that you are a really good skier. One thing about telemarking... you'll never get bored at a mountain like Gore. It's a great hill for tele. That's why you see so many teleskiers at Gore. For a teleskier, Gore really has it all. Except maybe snow, this year.

Take a video or some pics. Would love to see.

http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/vi...skiing-270386/

God I wish I could be up this weekend.

[rossi]

some good pointers. will definatly use. im gunna start just lapping sunway....well i heard sagamore was amazing so i might just start there with my normal alpine skis then go to teles. haha. as far as ability goes normally id say im good. how good well thats for others to determine, i dont like rating myself. haha. but yea my boss (i work at alpine sports shop) just got these for himself and asked if i could give it a try. should be entertaining. ill try and get some pics or vids, depends on who is up skiing. ha, i dont have a decent camera, pic of vid. fuji and i will prolly be taking turns between freeheeling and fixed throughout the day. will definatly give a report on how it goes.

[Jeff]

The most important thing of all is what Harv said about keeping your weight 50-50 between your forward and trailing ski. In fact, if you make a point of trying to OVER pressure the back foot, that'll give you the right result. Really stomp down on that back foot.

As you are pressuring your skis 50-50, try to also pressure the edges with your big toe (forward ski) and little toe (trailing ski).

If you just concentrate on those two things, (50-50 and big toe-little toe), you'll be ripping in no time.

It's really hard to keep a lot of tips in your head. That's why I say concentrate on just the above two things. Like Harv said, a lot of your alpine will carry over into tele, so you'll do great.

Enjoy, I'll look for you on Sunway. I'm on K2 Work Stinx, bumblebee boots, gray jacket, black pants & helmet. May have a 5-year old in tow during the afternoon.

[rossi]

ill definatly concentrate on the 5050. im sure atleast once i wont be thinking and find myself falling forward but i guess ill figure it out eventually. haha. ive got black jacket green pants so if you see my rolling on the ground please dont spray me. haha

[rossi]

well i must say i did have fun. haha. i lapped sunway maybe 3 times before i got comfotable to go with speed, but i didnt really bring my knees down far. i just kept feeling my inside ski swin and it would scare me a tad. i couldnt get enough pressure on it to keep the edge in. prolly cuz all my weight was on my other foot. haha. but definatly had fun. idk if ill bring them tomorrow but ill sure be out on them again this winter. prolly put it 6runs all together on them.

[Jeff]

It's a matter of tonnage over time. You gotta log a bunch of hours just skiing and playing around on the gear before stuff can really start to come together. Hope you get out on 'em more often, you'll be a convert eventually.

[Harvey44]

Jeff is right. I probably gave you too much input.

Just think about weighting that back foot.

I do this thing where I try to think about not taking the weight off the front foot when I move it back.

When you start to get the hang of back foot weighting, it's hard work because you use MUSCLE to push down on it. It's tiring.

Then, all of a sudden one day, it dawns on you. I don't have to PUSH DOWN on your back foot, you can just shift your weight a teenie little bit.

-Beginner: Poodling, 90/10 weight front-to-back

-Intermediate: 60/40 - and workin hard

-Expert: 50/50 and totally chill.

I have zero alpine experience so Jeff's info on crossing over from alpine is probably more valid. He's also a significantly better skier.

And I've never had a lesson. I'm too bonehead. I get all itchy when there's talking going on and lifts are loading.

[Jeff]

Like harv, I've never taken a lesson either, but I know it probably would have saved me untold hours of trying to figure things out on my own. Tips from other skiers like Harv & me are fine, but actually putting everything into motion on-snow is absolutely the best way to go.
Marko is one of the tele instructors at Gore and he is both a great skier and great instructor. I know that he really focuses on what a student is doing right and doing wrong, and how to fix it & improve.
But don't take my word for it, here he is:

http://www.goremountain.com/multimed...02.jpg&id=1382

and more here at Harvey Road:

http://harvey44.blogspot.com/2010/02...ny-020610.html

The photos in both links above are from yesterday.

[rossi]

i actually didnt think about a lot while i was actually skiing. before or on lifts up id just say 5050 in my head, whether i actually did it or not im not sure. haha. i definatly had fun and will defiantly be out again next weekend on them, this time longer tho. plus i might have to invest in a pair haha