The Telemark History Ep2: The Evolution of skis and Bindings

This is my Telemark challenge for the season, going back in time with set ups from four different eras.

We will go from the 80s super long skis to today’s wide boards.

Telemark skiing has evolved so much and I’ve kept updating my gear all along.

I want to go back in time and see the advantages we might have lost along the way, or the benefits I get from the modern set ups we enjoy today.

For the 80s set up, we have the Atomic 210 cm ski, with a lot of camber, mounted with the Chili binding from Rottofella. Then, I found my original telemark skis and binding. It is the Karhu Hardbody 203 cm mounted with Rottofella 412, a front-loading binding. I will ride both skis with a Vasque leather boot.

For 90s setup, I have the X-scream from Salomon, a parabolic ski, with the very popular Voile release plate. I also have the Rossignol Big Bang, mounted on the Rainey SuperLoop binding. This ski/binding combo is mine and I have skied it 5-6-7 years, can’t remember. I will ride the Garmon Veloce with these skis.

For the 2000 setup, I have found the Karhu Kodiak, mounted on the 22designs Hammerhead. This is a short ski for me, but it should edge and carve very well. Not in the video, I will also add a Black Diamond AMP ski mounted on a Black Diamond O1 binding. This is a fat ski, very good for powder. I feel that this is the era where people started to buy more than one set up, and choose according to conditions. I will ride both skis with the super-powerful Crispi XR boot.

For the 2010 to today setups are all NTN based setup. We have the Black Diamond Route 88 mounted on the Bishop BMF-R binding. This is my day-to-day patrol ski. I also chose the Helio 105 from Black Diamond mounted with the 22designs Lynx. This is my setup for backcountry telemark and the one I use telemarking in the Chic-Chocs. I might also show you a few other setups I have that are different for that era, plus a surprise. I will ride those with the Crispi Evo WC telemark boot check out the full series for more fun on the telemark history gear review.

 

Review of the Meidjo 2.0 Telemark Binding

See the Meidjo 2.0  with brakes

This is my review of the second version of the Meidjo Telemark Binding, made by the French company The-M-Equipment.

Hey Guys, this is René-Martin for Absolute Telemark and here is my review of the Meidjo Binding.

 

First, I really like the first version but I found a couple of flaws.

This binding is just awesome for touring, giving you the same ease of ascension as any low tech alpine binding. This is what brought me to the Meidjo from the get-go.

This is probably true for all the TTS family binding as I like to call them .

So what is so different about the 2.0 version?

Is it durable?

Does it ski well?

What’s changed?

Check out the video above for all my thought on this binding and what will improve for the upcoming 2016-17 season.

 

For more info, check out my friend Craig Dostie’s review on Earn Your Turn

You can get the binding in the US at Telemark Down.