24 December 2010

Missing telemarking

Half of the Northern hemisphere is in the grip a real cold snap and snow is creating havoc from London to Paris to metropolis of North America.
On the other hand the early winter is bringing the coveted white Christmas to so many snow loving skiers.
Ski resorts are having mother nature provide the magical white blanket for the exceptional powder experience early in the season.

Mammoth Lakes, CA.   File Image provided by MEI SoCal_Edgard Peralta
























There was a time when I lived in US and A that skiing was a real passion of mine.
Longtime downhiller skier I grew bored with just ripping the slopes at reckless speed; I wanted to try something different: I converted to telemarking.
More difficult and more tiring then downhill I found telemarking initially way more challenging. To telemark I had to relearn how to ski: the weight distribution occurs on the exact opposite ski than alpine style. Once perfected I never returned to conventional skis.


A few rusty free-heel turns in the Australian AlpsMEI archives_Tess Dodd

It looks like there is a correlation between telemarking and Greenland paddles: both have ancient roots.
So why transition to tools that are harder to use?
Because just like Greenland paddling, to me telemarking is way more graceful than alpine skiing.
The focus is not on speed but on the fluid motion of the turns and graceful dance-like feeling when perfected; telemarking suits more my style.

1 comment:

  1. For a second there I thought you wrote telemarketing! looks pretty cool wish I could still snowboard and ski myself.

    It's a cold snowy day here in Canada, our east coast is getting pounded by 140km/hr winds and flooded out by rain.

    I'm just being one with the weather in my yak!

    I have those pic's you wanted just send me a email at point65kayakguy at gmail dot com
    Merry christmas from ontario to queensland

    ReplyDelete

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