What is telemark?
Winter sports offer more and more alternatives for anyone who wants to practise activities where snow is the main setting. To explain what telemark skiing consists of, the simplest thing is to provide a few definitions:
- Telemark is the sport that my grandfather and his contemporaries practised. And their grandfathers, its creators, were the ones who invented skiing; though we're really referring to the grandfathers of Norwegians.
- It's free-heel skiing, meaning without heel binding. It allows movement of the instep and heel, lifting it from the ski while keeping the toe fixed.
- Telemark is also the latest of skiing techniques, the one with the most potential to evolve and the one that's currently riding the wave.
- "It's a speed sport," declared the telemark world champion in 1994 during an interview with Eurosport.
- It's the best instrument for perfecting skiing technique in general, including alpine skiing. It's extremely useful for practising centring (balance), rhythm, decision-making, elasticity and sensitivity - all very important in developing high-level technique.
Another definition or advantage we can mention is that telemark means freedom. Why? Here are three very clear reasons:
- The free heel allows you to adopt a wide variety of positions on your skis, particularly on the anteroposterior axis.
- It gives great freedom of movement in the mountains for ascending, descending, crossing flat areas or moving from one valley to another. On ski touring excursions where the snow runs out, it makes changing snowfields easier since the same boot you ski in is a proper mountain boot, with soles designed for moving over rocks or snow-free slopes.
- Freedom as a philosophy, as nearly everyone who takes up this sport turns out to be free-spirited and uncomplicated people, eager to learn new things and perfect ancient techniques. We're like one big family. It's rare for two telemark skiers to meet and not greet each other - in fact, they might start chatting and even continue their day together. Modern telemark is very popular in Norway, where they have that spirit that all skiers should have. Perhaps they're the true heirs of what skiing originally was.
Telemark disciplines
- Telemark Backcountry. Hikers who want to start skiing on gentle slopes and don't fancy the hustle and bustle of ski lifts.
- Telemark Dynamism-Improvement. Good competitive skiers and instructors who find in telemark the ultimate skiing experience.
- Telemark School. Intermediate skiers who start practising telemark and learn much more than they imagined about skiing in general.
- Telemark Introduction. Future alpine skiers who try telemark in their first few days. It's particularly good for them to learn how to find their balance.
- High mountain telemark. Serious mountaineers and casual climbers who've always done ski touring and switch to telemark because it's much more comfortable and adaptable to mountain needs.
- Competitive telemark. This combines the highest level of technique with maximum equipment performance and physical ability.
