Newbie Question

Hi Everyone,

OK, I'm pretty new to tele-skiing and have been doing it on "skinnys" (215cm
steel-edged touring x-country skiis) for the last few years but have decided
to take the plunge and get some proper tele skis. The problem is what to get
and where. Boots, from what I hear are the most important part of the kit,
so what type of boot would be best for someone who skiis mostly on the
slopes but also intends to get into the back country sometime. Bindings are
next on the list - so releasable or not. I'm kind of leaning toward the
releasable since I wish to keep my knees and shins permanently attached to
my body. As far as skiis are concerned: is there a good ski that can make
the transition from the slopes into the back country or does that mean
investing in another set of skiis and bindings? Lastly, I live in Southern
Ontario, so I'm wondering where does one go to get all this stuff (or is
M.E.C. the only option)?

Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers,

Nick

Nick Cox wrote:
Boots, from what I hear are the most important part of the kit,
so what type of boot would be best for someone who skiis mostly on the
slopes but also intends to get into the back country sometime.

Get a boot that fits. That's the most important thing. Then there's
the weight/performance tradeoff which, like fit, is a personal thing.

Bindings are next on the list - so releasable or not. I'm kind of
leaning toward the releasable since I wish to keep my knees and
shins permanently attached to my body.

I've never found it to be a problem. 23 years, probably 1000 days, and
no injuries and never skied a releasable. YMMV.

As far as skiis are concerned: is there a good ski that can make
the transition from the slopes into the back country or does that mean
investing in another set of skiis and bindings?

There's trade-offs. Get a ski that does what's most important. For me,
light and stiff, little sidecut, because I rarely go to the resort and
like steeps more than powder. If your priorities are different, your
skis should be. If your budget is bigger than mine, several skis may be
the answer.

Lastly, I live in Southern
Ontario, so I'm wondering where does one go to get all this stuff (or is
M.E.C. the only option)?

Can't help much there if you want brick and mortar. Otherwise, the
internet is your friend. There's some places that have pretty good
deals. I found this today:

http://www.backcountrystore.com/stor...roduct_BCS0118

ifffffff.. it fits your needs and you're paying
retail. Telemark-pyrennes is another good source, although I haven't
checked prices since the dollar went south..

Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

You'll get plenty of both, worth about what you paid for them.

DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with any of the retailers mentioned.

-klaus

Here are a few of good sources to begin collecting beta on your questions
and to understand the trade-off involved with different kinds of tele
equipment.

http://www.backcountrymagazine.com/i...revi ews.html
Good review of boots and skiis for backcountry turns and tours, but not lift
skiing

http://www.telemarktips.com/ Great tele page with a forum on gear reviews

http://www.couloirmag.com/gear/gear_index.htm Couloir Mag - a tele and AT
rag with some online gear reviews

Good luck it's a jungle out there...

Brent

"Nick Cox" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
Hi Everyone,

OK, I'm pretty new to tele-skiing and have been doing it on "skinnys"
(215cm
steel-edged touring x-country skiis) for the last few years but have
decided
to take the plunge and get some proper tele skis. The problem is what to
get
and where. Boots, from what I hear are the most important part of the kit,
so what type of boot would be best for someone who skiis mostly on the
slopes but also intends to get into the back country sometime. Bindings
are
next on the list - so releasable or not. I'm kind of leaning toward the
releasable since I wish to keep my knees and shins permanently attached to
my body. As far as skiis are concerned: is there a good ski that can make
the transition from the slopes into the back country or does that mean
investing in another set of skiis and bindings? Lastly, I live in Southern
Ontario, so I'm wondering where does one go to get all this stuff (or is
M.E.C. the only option)?

Any ideas or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers,

Nick

"Nick Cox" wrote Lastly, I live in Southern
Ontario, so I'm wondering where does one go to get all this stuff (or is
M.E.C. the only option)?

If you can get to Stowe, Vermont, you will find several shops that carry,
and rent demo, tele gear. You will also find both piste and off-piste
opportunities to do your own on-snow tests.

Tommy T.

[ Nick Cox ]

Boots, from what I hear are the most important part of the kit, so
what type of boot would be best for someone who skiis mostly on the
slopes but also intends to get into the back country sometime.

Depends on what kind of backcountry. For me, backcountry is either
groomed XC tracks (lots of them in Norway, both in the woods and the
mountains) and light gear, or hiking for turns in the mountains. It's
been a while since I've used my leather boots; as my main objective in
the mountains lately have been hiking for turns (that is the turns,
not the hiking), I use my Scarpa T1s. Your priorities might be
different, and warrant compromising on downhill control to get easier
hiking.

As other people have said, try on different boots. AFAIK there's three
brands: Scarpa, Crispi and Garmont, each with similar lines of three
or four plastic boots. They use different lasts and hence are wide and
narrow in different places.

Bindings are next on the list - so releasable or not. I'm kind of
leaning toward the releasable since I wish to keep my knees and
shins permanently attached to my body.

I haven't used releasables since I skied fixed-heel some 10-15 years
ago, and I've never hurt my legs skiing. OTOH, I've only skied T1 for
a year; beefier gear of course makes for more power to hurt yourself.

As far as skiis are concerned: is there a good ski that can make the
transition from the slopes into the back country or does that mean
investing in another set of skiis and bindings?

Again, depends on what you mean by backcountry. My current skis are
Salomon Teneighty, which I think is very nice all-round (downhill) ski
for both slope skiing and having fun in the powder. Aft tip is
actually very nice in narrow places. They're not the lightest skis,
though.


Martin
--
"An ideal world is left as an exercise to the reader."
-Paul Graham, On Lisp

Nick Cox wrote:

OK, I'm pretty new to tele-skiing and have been doing it on "skinnys" (215cm
steel-edged touring x-country skiis) for the last few years but have decided
to take the plunge and get some proper tele skis. The problem is what to get

First off, define "proper tele ski"... There are purpose built tele
skis mainly fit for piste skiing, because they weigh a lot. There are
others designed for touring. Telemarking down a piste is still
telemarking, and there's no need to get a superlight ski that chatters
to hell and back on ice if you won't be going uphill or flats with it.

If you are thinking of a lot of piste work then note that a nominally
Alpine ski should work fine. I use Salomon X Free 8s on the piste:
wouldn't tour in them as they weigh a tonne, but they're fine downhill
and didn't cost much at all.

Boots, from what I hear are the most important part of the kit,
so what type of boot would be best for someone who skiis mostly on the
slopes but also intends to get into the back country sometime.

As noted, there are 3 brands in the plastic business, and for cranking
lots of turns plastic is the way ahead. The lowest models in each range
(Scarpa T4, Crispi CX-T and Garmont Excursion) are primarily aimed at
touring, the highest (T1 Race, Squadra (??) and CX-U (??)) are primarily
aimed at the steepest and/or fastest descents, and the models in between
compromise appropriately. You *can* use the lightest models on piste (I
learned to tele worth a damn on original T3s, about the same as current
T4) but you'll not be able to take real advantage of fatter skis as
you'll get less edging power. As usual with these things, you choose,
you lose! As Tommy suggests, if you can rent first that's a Good Idea.

Bindings are
next on the list - so releasable or not. I'm kind of leaning toward the
releasable since I wish to keep my knees and shins permanently attached to
my body.

In Europe very few people seem to use releases much. In practice the
free heel will prevent most of the fubars to your legs, but note that
"most" is *not* the same as "all". Release bindings are increasingly
desirable with speed and steepness of projected descent and inversely
desirable with experience (you'll fall over less as you get better, and
at this point the extra weight is a lose and so is the possibility of
mis-release, coming out when it shouldn't as you hit a divot a speed
which you would be able to control if your ski hadn't just come off...).
I used to be pretty paranoid, I've just done a first full week without
them and didn't have any problems. Most people don't have problems.
Again, I'll stress that is *not* a guarantee!

As far as skiis are concerned: is there a good ski that can make
the transition from the slopes into the back country

There are plenty. A friend uses X Mountain Tours, I've just got some
Tua Heliums, both are light and ski nicely on piste and off. Lighter
skis tend to suffer more on ice so nothing does it *all*, but you can do
a lot on some skis.

Ontario, so I'm wondering where does one go to get all this stuff (or is
M.E.C. the only option)?

MEC do Scarpa and Garmont boots, which is 2 out of the 3 makes. They
have a fair selection of bindings IIRC (was in the Vancouver branch back
in Nov. for canoe paddles) and skis too. You can do a lot worse than
start with MEC!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/