Perhaps its just coincidence that Sondre Norheim, the Norwegian who brought the telemark turn to the world's attention over 130 years ago, died and is buried in the USA but we have the Americans to thank for rediscovering him and for re-inventing the telemark turn in the 1980's. Not only has modern technology been applied to telemark by the big manufacturers but also more importantly, fanatical telemarkers beavering away in their garages have come up with new inventive ways of solving old problems. The result over the last twenty years, has been technological leapfrog between skis, boot and bindings. As each element in turn got better it demanded ever-greater improvements from the other two elements and of course from more skilful, adventurous, demanding and increasingly discerning telemarkers. The latest gear now puts the fabulous telemark turn within the reach of every skier. (Photo:Mark Simpson)

Skis

Just a few seasons ago it was much easier to spot telemark skis. Your tele skis would have had a different picture on the top and would probably even mention "telemark" somewhere but those days have all but disappeared. Not a single top sheet this season has any mention of "telemark". What's more, if you search on any of the major ski manufacturer's web sites for the word "telemark" you'll stuggle to turn anything up. It's not that the ski manufacturers have deserted telemark. They still want telemarkers to buy their skis but the current financial climate and the relative smallness of the telemark market appears to be causing ecconomies to be made. The dedicated tele ski from many manufacturerers is on temporary hold.

With or without the word "telemark" on the top sheet, most alpine skiers with a set of mid fat carving skis in their bag will have great difficulty in distinguishing their alpine skis from a modern dedicated telemark ski. Telemark skis were nearly always based on a successful alpine ski but any pretence by the major manufacturers at making a dedicated Telemark ski has almost evaporated. The manufacturers used to say that their telemark versions were made with more rounded flex patterns to take account of the fact that telemark skis are weighted mostly from a single point (the ball of the foot). The alpine ski flex tends to be flatter and stronger in the middle to take the greater forces imposed from nailed-down fore and aft alpine boots. You'll probably find that skis suitable for telemarking will now come under the "all mountain" or "freeride" ski categories. Sometimes the only visual clue from the brochures is the lack of an alpine binding in the picture. Dimensionally you won't see much difference between an alpine ski and a dedicated tele ski. You can find telemarkers skis with tips in excess of 130mm. As telemark skis go fatter so they get shorter. New technology and new materials are allowing manufacturers to build wider skis that still carve and narrower skis that still float. I ride skis that are thirty centimetres shorter than those I skied just five years ago. Skiers of average weight will now probably be riding skis of 170 - 180 cm long. Today's 185cm ski is more stable and has a better ability to carve than a 215cm ski of twenty years ago

The greatest potential breakthrough to emerge in telemark skis comes not from a big manufacturer but from an independent maker Scotty Bob. He claims the first true revolution in tele ski design. He could be right. Take a look at his design theory for his BobTails.

As you can see there's a big chunk missing from one side of of the tail but note that it's only on the outside edge. During a tele turn the pressure and flex points are at different places on each ski. The whole foot pressurises the front/outside ski but only the ball of the foot pressures the rear/inside ski. That's a fore and aft difference of about twelve centimetres and this difference alternates from ski to ski with every turn. You can couple that with the fact that in every turn the the ski on the inside of the turn cuts a smaller radius than the outside ski. Bob's accommodates that difference by reducing the length of the outside edge of each ski by about 16% and this also helps to even up the different radii each ski has to physically carve to keep them parallel. "By making things unequal I've made things equal" he claims. Greater steering and the ability to put more pressure on the back ski are reported as being the startling benefits.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The Bob Tails have been available for several seasons and the general reaction is that these skis may not be the new sliced bread. Most people trying them for the first time are not enthusiastic. Adjustments in technique are said to be a requirement but those who are prepared to persist, rave about the results. The original Bob Tails are reputed to have had a stiff double camber, far stiffer than most telemarkers have come to expect and this could be one of the reasons why they need some getting used to. But these are not off the peg skis. These are hand made skis where you can design your own top sheet and even choose the dimensions.

Scotty Bob is not entirely out on a limb because asymmetric skis are not exactly new. I've found one reference for asymmetrics back in 1987. Other manufacturers clearly accept the concept of asymmetrification because a new but small crop of asymmetric skis appeared in the 2006/7 catalogues. There are no big chunks out of the tail but these less radical asymmetrics have more side cut on the outside edges than on the inside edges helping to equalise the different radii that the inside and outside skis cut. Making skis asymmetric is of course only one in a basket full of ingredients that go to make up a good ski so it's important to get the right mix.

Not surprisingly the size of the market dictates that most of the resources of the major ski manufacturers go into alpine ski development but innovations in that sector of the market filter down to telemark skiing. For many years ski manufacturers were obsessed with reducing vibration. I can remember when the answer was to be found in large lumps of red plastic in the ski tips. Now the answer is to be found in elastomeric dampers, intellifibers and absorption bars. Mechanical energy can now be turned into electrical energy and visa versa all in an attempt to reduce vibration. We can be cynical about the so-called breakthrough's put forward every year by the manufacturers about ski vibration but there are undoubtedly incremental improvements made annually in various aspects of ski development.

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Boots

It was the introduction of the first all plastic telemark boot, the Terminator, that started this leap frog technology. Today only the most entrenched purist can be found on the piste with leather clad feet. The best use for leather telemark boots is in the garden where they make ideal geranium pots. The worn stitch holes round the soles produce just the right degree of drainage. Plastic boots from the major manufacturers can now be had in all heights and grades of stiffness to suit every need from touring to telemark racing and everything in between.

Selection of ski boots is a fairly serious (and still quite an expensive) investment. It's now made even more complicated by the introduction of the New Telemark Norm system which needs a special boot to match the new system (See NTN below). If you want out and out telemark boots you'll be looking at high cut, multi-buckle boots. In fact, only the tell-tale bellows over the ball of the foot where the boot bends, will distinguish tele boots from their close alpine cousins. Nearly all ski boots are sized in what are called Mondo sizes. It's a Japanese system the starting point of which is the length of your foot. A twenty-eight centimetre long foot is a Mondo 28 etc.

Your general build, weight and strength will be a significant factor in boot selection because the softness or stiffness of how the boot bends at the bellows will affect your skiing. Heavier skiers will more easily be able to bend the the boot at the bellows whereas lighter skiers will have more difficulty in overcoming the resistence. Most makers have a range of soft and stiff boots and they'll tell you which are the softest and stiffest within their range. Boot volumes also vary from one make to another so that wide feet may gravitate towards one manufacturer and narrow feet to a different manufacturer. Fit and comfort are of course a major consideration because no one has a good time with painful feet. Badly fitting boots won't transfer all your subtle movements to the ski edges. There's no substitute for going to a good boot fitter who will not only size your feet but will also be able to set you up with the correct footbeds which these days are almost essential. Note too that most makers produce special women's fittings.

To make it easier for walking, nearly all tele boot makers have a little tab about half way up the boot heel. This is the walking mode tab which releases the forward lean of the boot to enable you to adopt a more normal upright walking posture for getting to and from the snow.

In terms of comfort more and more telemark boot manufacturers are introducing thermoformable liners as standard. Some liners are heated and they expand to the precise volume and fit of your foot. You won't get much snugger than that.

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Bindings

It's perhaps in the telemark binding where the greatest innovation and development can now be found in modern telemark equipment.

The very first binding a thousand years ago was a birch root version of the cable binding and several modern telemark bindings still use the same principle. Based on the simpler touring cable binding described earlier, modern telemark cable bindings have evolved so that cable tension is now applied by compression springs in small tubes and the cables have been replaced by hard wires for greater rigidity and stability. With the best "cable" bindings you'll have a range of interchangeable springs in different stiffness' to suit different snow conditions and skier's preferences.

Other new innovative cable binding makers', route cables under the foot rather than round the sides of the boot. These bindings produce a feel all of their own and may attract those telemarkers preferring a more active binding system.

Active - Neutral Bindings - You'll come across references to "active" and "neutral" bindings from the manufacturers and from those in shops selling tele gear. It's a topic that's certainly risen up the agenda over the last few years. Quite simply a totally "neutral" binding will have no resistance as your heel comes up on your rear ski. Attach a pair of skis and lift your leg up. The tail of your ski will dangle in the snow. At the other extreme is a very "active" binding. Now lift up your leg. This time the tail of the ski will come up with the boot despite that free heel. Only a small gap will have opened up between your boot heel and the heel plate of the ski. This "active" binding will have so much forward resistance that nearly all the foot bending will be done at the boot bellows. Now, it's the bit between those two extremes that provides endless possibilities for the binding manufacturers not only to decide on the degree of resistance but also to introduce smooth and progressive resistance as the boot heel lifts. Some bindings already offer the possibility of dialling in different settings to suit skiers of different weights and to cope with different snow types. Until recently the only difference that a telemarker could make to the resistance was to crank up the cable so tight that it often resulted in the binding screws being pulled out on his first turn. Thankfully those days are rapidly disappearing.

A growing innovation from binding makers is the multiple choice pivot point. By moving the pivot point backwards or forwards under the toe, you can change the "active"/"neutral" balance. This allows maximum flexibility when it comes not only to personal choice but it also allows you to change the balance for different snow conditions. For example, you may want to switch to a less active and more neutral setting in powder snow otherwise you may find that the tips of skis dive below the surface of the snow.

Rocker Launch - A complicating factor that one shouldn't ignore when selecting your binding is the kind of boot to which you're going to match it because some boots are stiffer than others. This will have an impact on your binding's active/neutral qualities. In a mismatch situation you may end up with what's called "Rocker Launch". With the introduction of the NTN (see below) this problem may disappear because the latest NTN comptible boots have flat soles whereas the older type have a rounded sole like walking boots. If you do much skiing in the UK you may well want boots with the older type of rounded sole because you'll probably be doing a lot of walking before you reach the snow. However, much telemarking is done on piste and walking in tele boots is not an issue. So, until the time when we all have new NTN boots "Rocker Launch" is something to be aware of. It's when the boot toe is fastened down so that the convex shape of the sole, rocks the boot forward and results in the heel being lifted off the ski.

You can easily end up skiing on tiptoes, which is a very unpleasant and an extremely tiring experience. It's a condition more likely to affect lighter skiers. If this is the case look out for those bindings have an built-in wedge in the toe plate to compensate for rocker launch and to get those heels back down on the skis. (See photo right)

One school of thought is that the binding should be neutral and it's the skier's job to do the weighting and pressuring. Others believe that they need all the help that they can get from a more active binding. Ultimately it's personal preference and experience will tell you what works for you.

Plate Bindings - One of the real exciting developments in telemark bindings is in plate bindings. One of the main jobs of a binding is to transmit your body movements through to the ski edges and a plate binding has the potential to do this more effectively. Plate bindings usually consist of two rigid plates under the foot, the front one holding the toe piece and the other plate hinged under the ball of the foot and allowed to lift. A standard heel clip attachment fastens the free part of the plate to the boot. The major advantage of plates over cables is their potential for far superior torsional rigidity. In other words the way in which far more of your turning power can be transmitted to the ski edges. This is especially noticeable with the rear ski and gives you a better feeling for carving turns. The true value of any plate binding is in the quality of the hinge bearings. Any slop produced by wear in the hinge will significantly reduce its effectiveness. This factor has been a significant incentive to several manufacturers to demonstrate state of the art engineering with beautiful bright shinny metal bindings. Others have gone for light plastic.

Free Pivot/Climbing Mode - In addition to being able to move the pivot point to fine tune the active/neutral balance, those that earn their turns by skinning and climbing are also receiving recognition. For a couple of years now nearly all the manufacturers are working on or have already marketed bindings that offer a frictionless pivot option. For years those with Alpine Touring bindings have had the benefit of being able to release the heel and rely on a pivot just in front of the toe. This pivot point offers zero flex resistance when climbing so that the stride can be longer and the ski tips will ride over the deeper snows. Most importantly, you expend far less energy on the climb, arriving at the top feeling fresher. An active telemark binding may induce a couple of kg. resistance with each stride. During the course of a climb this adds up to a significant amount of wasted energy. The feature also allows you to whip those skis round in tight areas, as do the Alpine Tourers, by using the "snap" turn instead of having to rely on the "kick" turn. The telemark/free pivot option is switchable; some operated by means of the ski pole or a lever. A word of caution; don't expect that all the manufacturers have solved the problem of these levers and catches icing up!

Release - As more and more control is sought by telemark skiers, with heavier bindings, plastic boots, heavier and wider skis, many skiers have begun to think seriously about the value of their legs. For years alpine skiers have had the benefit of DIN release bindings on all their skis as standard. Not so with telemark. There are currently three release systems on the market for telemark skiers. One comes integrated in its own binding whilst the other two are retrofit systems. One of the things that one has to balance with retrofit systems is the additional weight being added to your set up. Not only do you have the weight of the binding but also the additional weight of the release system which could nearly double the overall weight of the stuff between your boot and ski. It all depends on how you balance the value your legs against the risks involved.

Fixings - The wood screw as a means of fixing alpine bindings to alpine skis is becoming redundant. One of the perennial problems of binding alpine boots to skis is the "flat" produced in the middle of the ski flex pattern as a result of the toe and heel being rigidly clamped onto a rigid binding. This problem has now been largely mitigated with a range of integrated alpine binding systems that not only allow alpine bindings to be rigidly attached but also allow them to "float". This means that the long rigid alpine boot doesn't interfere with the ability of the ski to follow a natural, even and round flex pattern. Telemark boots and bindings have never had this problem. The heel's been floating over the ski for the last couple of thousand years. However what we'll see in future tele skis is the way in which the ski manufacturers work with the binding manufacturers to standardise and improve the way in which the two connect. Already on the market are a number of tele skis with threaded inserts to accept a range of tele bindings. Expect to see transverse pins and other alpine integrated ways of connecting binding to ski in the not too distant future so that even the most energetic tele skiers will no longer be able to rip out the wood screws on a big turn. There won't be any wood screws.

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The Future

What is blindingly obvious is that with about twenty completely different bindings on the worldwide market, telemark needs a standard boot/binding system. Over the lasty few years some of the major boot and binding manufacturers have collaborated on a new unified system which is called the New Telemark Norm or NTN for short. It's claimed that this new system has narrowed the gap between telemark and Alpine Touring/Ski Mountaineering. Paul Parker, the telemark guru, has been involved in the project and says that the NTN system has got to produce better downhill control and also has to be able to tour well. This new NTN system has the potential to be much more versatile than Ski Mountaineering gear.

As you can see from the photo, the most striking feature is that the boot is attached to the binding only by the boot sole. It doesn't come any more "free heel" than this! This means that you'll need new dedicated NTN boots to clip yourself in.

The New Telemark Norm - NTN - Here's what it says on the tin! :

• Symmetrical boot/binding (no left and right binding).
• A new attachment point under the boot yielding better stability and more precise transfer of power.
• Easy entry and exit
• Adjustable binding postion in three positions (+ or - 15mm)
• Choice for four different spring tensions from extra soft to rigid
• No duckbill sole.
• Free pivot touring function (like Alpine Touring bindings)
• Ski brake
• Release function (sideways, pivoting from the toe)
• The NTN boot is adapted for crampons.
• The NTN boot will fit into traditional Alpine Touring bindings
• Two separate models, one for large feet and the other for small feet.

Some that have tried the New Telemark Norm bindings say that they can overpower narrower skis and that they are best at home on the newer wider boards. By wide we're talking 100mm wide skis at the waist.

"Free at last, free at last....."

All this new gear means that more and more skiers are discovering the liberation of freeing the heels and realising the restrictions of having them locked down. The current pace of development may mean that one-day alpine skiing gear will be redundant. That day hasn't yet dawned so a note of caution - if telemarking was easy, they'd call it snowboarding.

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