This video is a short clip of what it feels like for me to Telemark ski.
For those of you (if any are out there) who don't know what Telemark skiing is, maybe I can explain. It is very similar to regular skiing (called Alpine skiing), but your heels are not attached to any binding. As you can tell from the video, the turns involve dropping your uphill knee. This technique creates or imitates the turn of one ski instead of two. This allows for sharper turns. A benefit to Telemark skiing is the capability to slap on skins (sticky cloth with directional surface with friction like teeth, similar to sailboat cleats) to the bottom of the skis making skiers able to climb up the faces of mountains without sliding backwards, very much like cross-country skis. This capability opens up multitudes of backcountry terrain. The only negative to Telemark skiing of course is that you are constantly doing a squat every turn. I personally enjoy THE BURN and sensation of hot turns.
For those of you (if any are out there) who don't know what Telemark skiing is, maybe I can explain. It is very similar to regular skiing (called Alpine skiing), but your heels are not attached to any binding. As you can tell from the video, the turns involve dropping your uphill knee. This technique creates or imitates the turn of one ski instead of two. This allows for sharper turns. A benefit to Telemark skiing is the capability to slap on skins (sticky cloth with directional surface with friction like teeth, similar to sailboat cleats) to the bottom of the skis making skiers able to climb up the faces of mountains without sliding backwards, very much like cross-country skis. This capability opens up multitudes of backcountry terrain. The only negative to Telemark skiing of course is that you are constantly doing a squat every turn. I personally enjoy THE BURN and sensation of hot turns.
