Where can I learn to telemark?

[Blue]

Where do you think I would get the best instruction --
an AMC ski course?
a big ski resort (Loon, Waterville, Cannon)?
a little ski resort?
at the Winter Gathering?
private lesson vs. group lesson?

At first I thought I wanted to learn turns on bc skis, but after skiing (and falling in love with) Cannon last year and seeing tele skiers there, I really think I want to learn first on a bigger, wider trail.

Thanks,
-Blue

 

[alpinista]

Blue:

I learned my turns at Killington several years ago as part of a private lesson. I no longer remember if it was supposed to be a group lesson but turned into a private one because no one else showed up, but I seem to recall it was very reasonably priced. I found the one-on-one for that first lesson to be very helpful because the instructor could see what areas I got easily and the others that I needed work on, and then could tailor the lesson to my own skill level.

Have fun! There's nothing like being on the trails at a ski area and calling out "pinhead" without malice!

 

[TCD]

North American Telemark Organization ("NATO," www.telemarknato.com), is renowned for their tele courses and clinics, which are held throughout the season. NATO also puts on a tele fest at Mad River every year in March.

Definitely learn tele at a lift served ski area! Many runs make for much learning, as opposed to the bc, where you spend much more time climbing up than skiing down.

Have fun! Tele rules!

TCD

 

[Halite]

North American Telemark Organization

http://www.telemarknato.com/

Dick Hall and his instructors are dedicated to the education of telemark skiers. I took their 2-day course at Mad River Glen a couple years ago and experienced great instruction combined with a fun-loving attitude.

If you're the self-instruction type, a couple of books are really helpful:

Free-Heel Skiing: Telemark and Parallel Techniques for All Conditions (Mountaineers Outdoor Expert Series)
by Paul Parker
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/102-6186112-5100958?v=glance&s=books

Allen & Mike's Really Cool Telemark Tips
by Allen O'Bannon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t..._books_1/102-6186112-5100958?v=glance&s=books

 

[David Metsky]

Hey there,

I recommend renting gear and taking lessons at a lift ski area, with instructors that specialize in Tele. MRG is a great place to start, also Sunday River and Sugarbush have excellent instructors. I haven't heard much about the instructors at Loon or WV or Cannon, maybe someone else has experience there.

While the NATO courses are excellent, I'd get some experience under your belt with a private lesson or two before going for NATO. I have found them a little disorganized at times and you really don't get as much skiing as I'd like. I find them better for more advanced skiers, and not as good for beginners, although in general I'd give them a favorable recommendation.

If you are learning tele for lift skiing, rent big gear, big plastic boots, and take lessons. Rent and demo a lot before you buy anything. I might not even buy your first season, except for boots. You ski needs will change a lot as you improve.

If you are interested in backcountry, start with big gear to learn the turn but then switch to the gear you will be using in the backcountry.

The AMC Boston Chapter Ski Committee runs a beginner tele workshop at Wachusetts in Jan. Details I'm an instructor there so I am biased, but it's a good workshop at a good price.

-dave-

 

[David Metsky]

I forgot to mention, visit Teletips for the best collection of tele instruction, inspirational video, helpful skiers, and general wignuts on the net.

-dave-

 

[cooperhill]

I'm interested in learning as well. Dave and others, thanks for the information. I take we would have to rent gear for the Boston Beginner Tele workshop? Any suggestions on places to rent gear?

 

[Mark_151]

I'm signed up for the Tele course at Wachusett. You can't beat the price -- $45 for 8 hours of instruction and a lift ticket!

 

[vegematic]

NATO courses

I'll pipe up with a word of caution about th NATO courses. I took their one-day course and was disappointed. They seem to serve two groups well and leave out everyone else. If you are already a downhill skier and are comfortable on black diamond trails you will go into the advanced group and go down steep stuff since you can always bail out into a parallel turn. The other group is more for cross-country skiers who have not really skied down hill before. You will be taken to the bunny slope and be taught the tele-turn in small, manageable steps.

If you match one of those profiles I think you can get a good lesson. If, like me, you are somewhere in the middle (I knew the basic tele turn, but not a parallel turn and couldn't manage the BD trails) you will be put in the beginner group. If you already know the basic tele-turn you won't get much out of being in the beginner group.

I even took the course a second time a year later thinking I had just gotten a poor instructor but the exact same thing happened. It seems to be their curriculum.

BTW I ski at Sunday River a lot (midweek) so if other tele-beginners want to get together and make some turns on easier trails PM me.
-vegematic

 

[Nadine]

I agreee with Veggie. I did a two day NATO class at MRG two years ago and walked away fairly disappointed. I had put myself in the Non-beginner group because I had the basics down pact and wanted to work on more intermediate skills. We ended up having a beginner in the group, and instead of the instructor having the begininner move intothe other group, she spent lots of time teaching him,and neglecting the rest of us. I was pretty disappointed and felt like I didn't get much for my 200 bucks. I'm a positive person, and tend to look for the good in everything, but I really felt like this was time and money poorly spent.

I'm considering some private lessons this winter. I'd try another group lesson if I knew that the groups were divided into skill levels accurately though.

 

[trailbiscuit]

Woohoo! Another convert!!!

Celebration aisde, I would agree with the recommendations here to learn at a lift serviced area. The more reps, you can get the better.

I learned on leather boots and lighter skis, and I would certainly recommend that before you switch to beefy plastic and wider skis. I found that I was able to "feel" the snow better and train my muscles to learn the turn. (So, I guess I'm disagreeing with Dave here. *gasp*) Once I switched to plastic it was a whole different world...better control and faster speeds, but I already had the basics down so I was in good shape. Now I primarily ski in Scarpa T1's which are basically alpine boots with a duckbill. Not a lot of feel, but a ton of let 'er rip! A lot of it will depend on what type of skiing you ultimately plan to do. If you're going to skiing primarily at ski areas, then learning on plastic is fine. I guess, what I'm saying here is that it's harder to go from plastic to leather, than it is from leather to plastic. So, if you have a lot of touring and backcountry in mind, get your skills honed on leather.

One trick that work for me was holding the turn as long as possible on wide, flat trails. It helps you get used to the position. You're not actually turning, but you're getting comfortable.

A lesson is a good idea, but I found I learned the most by skiing with people who were more experienced. Just watching good tele-skiers will teach you a ton. Trying to keep up will teach you even more.

Good luck!

 

[TCD]

I too started on soft leather boots and long, skinny, double camber skis. I've been tele exclusively for almost ten years, and now I use T1's and wider, beefier skis.

I think what you learn on best might depend on how much alpine skiing experience you have. There a lot of factors, like the steepness, speed, and level of control you're used to, as well as habits to learn and unlearn.

It's all good!

TCD

 

[David Metsky]

I started on low, soft, leather boots and no edges, but I've seen people progress extremely rapidly when they start on plastic boots, cable bindings, and skis with lots of sidecut. The learning curve is so much faster when the skis want to turn, it make for a much more enjoyable time on skis.

If the goal here is to ski at ski areas, why bother with soft boots?

Oh yea, get hard shell knee pads. And wear them under your ski pants.

-dave-

 

[darren]

Dave,

For that workshop at Wachusett, could I use my outtabounds & excursions with cable bindings or would I need to rent full on tele gear?

Sounds like it could be a VFTT gathering in the making....

- darren

 

[Mark_151]

Dave,

For that workshop at Wachusett, could I use my outtabounds & excursions with cable bindings or would I need to rent full on tele gear?

Sounds like it could be a VFTT gathering in the making...

- darren

Wow -- same setup I have! I'll be using the Excursions with my lift-served skis though, although I'll probably bring the Outtabounds to try them out (if I can manage the walk to where the truck will be parked on a Saturday at Wachusett).

 

[Jake]

Don't forget the leashes

The Excursions and Outtabounds will work fine to learn tele at a lift served area. If you do use your bc set up at an area, don't forget to put leashes on. Required at ski areas

 

[David Metsky]

I'll probably bring both my SuperStinx/Hardwires/Veloces and my Outtabounds/3-pin cables/Excursions for the workshop, depending on which groups I'm teaching. I'd like to match my gear with the students as closely as possible. We've had quite a range of gear over the years, from full blown lift tele down to half-metal edged Karhu Kodiaks and low leather boots and participants who were experienced alpine skiers to those just getting used to the idea of turning while moving downhill.

Originally this workshop was called Norpine, getting people into turning on their backcountry gear, using a ski area as a convienent place to gets lots of runs. It has turned into a Beginner Tele workshop because the students have been showing up with heavier gear and interested in learning the turn. Some still participate in skinny gear.

Keep in mind, I spent 10 years doing lift tele on Karhu XCD GTs and Supremes with 3-pin bindings and leather boots. The Outtabounds/3-pin cables/Excursions combo is much better in every way. If I had only one set of skis (thank god that's not the case) it would be something like this.

Oh, for the workshop at Wachusetts ski leashes are MANDATORY. Even if you have to tie rope from you binding to your ankle, you must have them.

If you want to sign up, do so fairly early as we need to get instructors lined up.

-dave-

 

[Rick]

Well, I used to call it tele-falling because I really stink at it, but it is high time I took a lesson. Dave, I have a 12-year old pair of XCD SUpremes. Glad to see someone else mentioned them.

Where do I sign up for the Wachusett Telemark Clinic?

Waumbeck, We just moved to Wachusett area (Sterling) at the end of summer, and I am very much looking forward to skiing many evenings on the roads over there.

 

[Mark_151]

Well, I used to call it tele-falling because I really stink at it, but it is high time I took a lesson. Dave, I have a 12-year old pair of XCD SUpremes. Glad to see someone else mentioned them.

Where do I sign up for the Wachusett Telemark Clinic?

Waumbeck, We just moved to Wachusett area (Sterling) at the end of summer, and I am very much looking forward to skiing many evenings on the roads over there.

Wow! Looks like we have at least a couple VFTT'ers local to the mountain. Please see the thread I just started on the subject.

Mark

 

[audrey]

I had excellent lessons at Stowe, Sugarloaf, and Bolton. 2 really bad ones at Wildcat with NATO, as several others have mentioned. Private or a very small class is definitely good for starters.
If you don't want to get real leashes, shoelaces will do fine. This brings up memories of our first lesson, newbies to a downhill area, when Pat and I both fell getting off the lift the first three times.