randonee or tele?

Brian Scoggins wrote: Third, tele skiing sucks on hard pack. Whereas alpine skiers need to be better to ski well in powder, powder is basically the only situation where tele skiing is easier than alpine skiing.

I agree with this. Although, it doesn't get any better than tele skiing through powder.

I've boarded, skied, and tele'd over the years. Learning to tele ski is exponentially harder than the other two.

sqwirll wrote: I agree with this. Although, it doesn't get any better than tele skiing through powder.

That's why I followed it up with the caveat that maybe the fact that you can tele better in powder isn't a bad thing.

Brian Scoggins wrote: The hippy, free-love, soul-skier thing has infected an otherwise innocuous hobby.

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion....MAAAN

Telemark skiing is a really fun way to turn down the hill but AT, especially with a dynafit system is way more efficient for moving around the backcountry and better for climbing because one can climb way better in AT boots. If you do not know how to do either they are probably equally difficult to learn. Tele is not as hard as people are making it sound. Because you are mostly at resort I would personally recommend tele because the turn is way fun and you can moonwalk on them, how cool is that!

I like tele cause it has style, flair, and the funny looks i get from some people when I happen to go to breck to ski. I learned how to tele on an old long skinny set of skis. When i made the switch to to shaped skis it freaked me out! Where I had to really work to turn the old skis I dropped for a turn on my fairly new ones and damn near did a 360! They were so easy to turn. I consider myself an intermediate skier as I haven't really skiied much over the last 5 years. If you're used to alpine skiing I'd go with the AT setup. Learning to tele hurts! If you do go with the tele and plan on skiing mostly in bounds get releasable bindings. It hurts falling and not being able to release in cable bindings! (I am looking at making the switch to AT gear when I can afford it.)

An advantage to tele: When you drop into a turn in deep powder, it becomes much deeper.

An advantage to AT skis: It is really hard to fall. I have gone about 7 times and haven't fallen yet.

Pretty awesome video LOL

http://youtu.be/24rrGbedXpY

I've skiied my whole life, since I was 2. I just learned to tele last year, because I'd always wondered what those old farts were so proud of.. The 3 years before that I rode an AT setup, the year before that was downhill bindings with alpine trekkers for touring. Before that I would bootpack with a board everywhere I went in the backcountry, snowshoes if I had them. I've done it all when it comes to snow riding - and I can honestly say that I have had the most fun on my tele setup, hands(knees?) down. I learned last year on a pair of fatty icelantic shamans with hammerheads - this year i got a pair of O1's that I'm putting onto my light mountaineering skis in place of the old Naxos. Yep I'm not ashamed to say that I have become one of those proud old farts.., from now on it's all tele all the time for this hipster ;)

Thanks Nick, perfect video for this thread!

Morgan Patterson wrote:Telemark might not 'stress' the knee laterally as much as Alpine but your knees will do WAY more work over the course of the day leading to increases in platellar tendonitus (sp?) as well as wearing out your the cartilage in your knees faster. So while the ACL/MCL issues might be less you are FAR more prone to wearing out your knees with tele.

I'd have to disagree here. The "work" itself is not going to cause problems. In fact, the extra work helps keep those stabilizing muscles stronger. And, as someone else pointed out, it gives you license to drink more beer at the end of the day.

What generally damages cartilage is repetitive impact which is basically non-existent in tele skiing. I've had three knee surgeries due to cartilage damage over the years -- including a micro-fracture procedure -- and none of it was due to tele skiing. My knees never hurt after a hard day on the hills. The quads on the other hand...

Iceclimbing in teleboots takes some of the fun out of ice climbing and adds scariness. AT boots function better, perhaps, with crampons?