Telemark South America: All you need to know

This is the complete guide to choose your ski destination in South America

Today we meet with Serge Berthiaume, A French Canadian living and skiing in South America. I first meet Serge more than ten years ago; ski bumming his way all over North America. I was not surprised when I heard Serge’s plan to ski South America over the summer; it was a bit of a shock when I heard he would go back every year. Saving money, working winters back home just to go back to ski the Southern Winters. After all, most of us were doing the opposite. Serge now lives full time in Chile and skiing is still his main occupation.

Tell us the story behind a Canadian who lives and work in the ski industry in South America

It’s been 10 years since we started our history here in Chile, that was in 2003. When we arrived to Santiago after saving up our money (for a  whole winter), we understood that what we did was the  best choice, skiing 30 inch of fresh snow on our first day.

The first days were hard! Trying to figure where the best lines were, the best happy hours, the best restaurants… well, the best setup for us! Two months after our  return to Canada we realized that we loved our trip so  much that we didn’t’ spend a day without talking about it!  It was done: we were addicted. We had to come back, we never miss a ski season in Chile ever again!

What’s so special about skiing in South America?

Telemark skiing: weight distribution

The telemark stance define the sport. This split squat creates the turn and stabilize the skier.

A lot of the modern telemark technique and equipment is influence by the alpine ski technique. Balance and weight distribution are no exceptions.

How much weight should you put on your back ski?

It use to be really clear: 50% on each skis. At all time. When parabolic skis came on the market, that’s what the alpine world did too. Get both skis to carve is more efficient. For the past few years, alpine has come back to 80% on the outside ski. They say that it reduces the chance of falling on the inside ski. And people are winning world cup with that technique.

What about telemark weight distribution? Continue reading »

Life: Backcountry Telemark

Telemark creates a community and backcountry is a place where time and space are different. People are different. Hiking for your turns, on a good powder day, you hear it all over.

On a good crew, you’ll hear all sorts of them. We all get incredible feelings from the face shoots, nice flow on long arc turns, a clean line with a few hits. Seeing your friends ski and getting good snow, we all cheer once in a while. Or more.

What is your backcountry cheers.

Are you a loud backcountry lad?

My favorite basic sounds are: Youp youp youp. Whiiiiiiiii. Yeah wouhou yeah wouhou. But you also get full on cheer like a buddy of mine yells stuff like: Awesome, Get some cheese! Solid! MASSIVE! My favorite all time is a friend of mine going:

To all the friends in the backcountry; HIIIIII HAAAAAAAA

You can have some folk signing. From Divas like Celine Dion to Austrian yodeling (special greetings to Pierrot Lortie who can really sign all the Yodeling in the repertoire) to the latest music hits from your favorite ski movie and so on.

Continue reading »

Backcountry Telemark skiing grand opening in Jacques-Cartier National Parc

It is with great pleasure that we finally saw the Jacques-Cartier National Park in Quebec, Canada, open a 1 sq. km area to backcountry users.

Mathieu Brunet, Park director, was really please to see the minimum snowpack of 1 meter finally reach Thursday evening. This season was not the most constant with two major rain episode in January and February.

After two year in the making, obtaining the environmental approval for this pilot project, , it was finally happening and it produced immediate results, confirming the potential. On the first week end, more than 200 persons went and came back with smiles on their faces.

Having developed the idea and selected the area, I was pleased to hear about that. Eastern Canada does not have a great deal of backcountry access and the park opening could really be the start of something. Who knows! One thing is for sure, the sport is growing fast and people dream of powder.

The backcountry area:

With 300 meters of vertical, an average of 30° slope, there is definitely great terrain. It’s a forested area with birch, spruce and fir, it has a moderate density. The top plateau has a 150 meters vertical at 20-25° slope and has a low density, it is perfect for backcountry beginners (i.e advanced skiers/boarders). For more information, you can call the park at (418) 848-3169

The Park is 30-40 minutes from Quebec City and the Welcome center is a few hundred meters away for the base of the area so the access is not a problem. We’ll try to have a short video edit shortly.

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Telemark tutorials

Absolute Telemark is in the process of making a tutorial on telemark skiing.

HD quality, well conceive by more than 15 years of teaching experience, each lesson will be 12-20 minutes long and available for pc/mac, Ipod/Ipad, Android tablets and phones

These tutorials will cover subject like:

Basic telemark; a series of 3 tutorials will cover everything a beginner needs to know to get started. It even include a fast forward method for alpine skiers or snowboarders, eager to get rippin’ fast.
Telemark freestyle; a series of 2 tutorials will cover the new style telemark: switch telemark, snowpark jumps and modules.
Mogul telemark, a series of 2 tutorials will cover all the know how from the fundamental to all the advance stuff.
Powder telemark, a series of 3 tutorials will cover how to travel the backcountry, tree skiing, and of course powder turns

These tutorials will be release for the 2013-14 season.

Just register to our free email updates below. And make sure to visit our telemark tutorial page

Telemark market, survey

Hello,

Absolute Telemark is in the process of creating a new video tutorial, Please take a few minute to fill up this form. It takes about 6-7 minutes and it really helps.

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First day in the slope this year? 5 things to do

It’s time to finally get back to what we love best: telemark. You’ve train for three months to be ready for this?

This time of the year, we usually hit the local ski area for a few warm up runs. The snow quality and quantity might not be excellent but, hey, we go anyhow.

here’s my to do list for that big day:

1. A few days before, gather all equipment and inspect it carefully

I know you say: it was all good last year, why check it? First, make sure you find everything back.

A quick inspection will make you feel confident on the first run. Are your boots still comfortable? all buckles good? any mouse ate your Powerstrap (has happened to me!)? Are your bindings well screwed? (just tight them back with a screwdriver, if nothing moves, good, if it does, see your ski tech) Make sure the bindings are still adjusted perfect. Check your skins (clean, glue, straps…) Check that your adjustable poles still adjust (ask my friend Piteur, who came to me for is ski test for a job as ski patrol and could’t get is pole to move. I almost turned him back!) Check your helmet, your goggles, and of course check your skis (base, edges and chips, cracks…)

2. If you got new equipment, make sure everything is well adjusted to you.

Boots are the most important. Liners can be molded, Cuff alignment (canting angle) can be changed, forward lean is also available on certain models. More and more people buy their gear online, make sure you read your boot manual, search the web and ask questions.

Bindings need to be adjusted to your boots. This is much more simpler than on alpine gear. Again read manuals and search the web. Good tension on the cable is key to safety and performance.

If you need to install a binding, I strongly suggest caution on who you trust with this. Telemark bindings have much more stress on each screws than alpine binding (that’s why most brand have increased to 6 the total of screws on their binding). Also, on a lot of alpine gear, the binding are set on rail tracks which don’t require mounting. It seems fewer technicians are good at mounting bindings these days. You can mount bindings yourself, it isn’t so hard. But if the job is not 100% perfect, you might rip the binding from the ski somewhere through this season.

Check everything else, like jacket, underwear, socks, kneepads… Name it, if it’s new, make sure everything is dialed perfect.

3. the Big day, what to expect

Check weather report, check your ski area report, and check avalanche report. If backcountry is not your goal on the first day, make a habit to check avi reports anyway, it will give you an idea of the season’s coming. The start of the season can be crucial for snowpack stability trough out the season, just check the 2012-2012 Utah backcountry review.

4. There it is, your first run.

Make sure you warm up before going down on your skis. I know, it look silly, but I’ve never seen a pro skier not warm up before going down. On your first run, take it easy, and take an easy run for your level. Dial your balance, play around with different turn shape, telemark, alpine, stop on both side and so on. I always like to telemark fakie or backwards from the get go. This is something easy for me and it help me gain confidence. It is normal to feel a bit awkward at first but just enjoy the moment.

Telemark skiing, like any technical sport, is all in our head. And our head don’t remember the movement as good if it hasn’t practice for a few months…

5. Progress

Don’t wait for Christmas to get better. If you’ve train this fall, if you’ve check your gear, if the snow is good, if all is in place, do what is necessary to go towards your season’s goals right now

Here are my goals for the season:

a 360° cab. (start and land backwards)
Hand plant on our new wall at Le Massif
Improve my carving (which I’ve negleted the last few years for tree skiing and bumps)

What are your goals on telemark this season?

video of telemark bumps

video of telemark tree skiing

Feels free to leave comments below…

Telemark turn, weak side

Like most everything, we have a strong side.

Snowboard is a good example. You have to choose between regular or goofy stance. In fact you don’t choose, it just happens to be that way.

Telemark turn is the same, remember when you started, you had a strong side. Maybe you don’t even remember. Now, mechanically, you may approach difficult situations on your strong side.

Like mentioned in the post: Flawless method to learn movement, practicing your weak side as you learn will only take a few more minutes and will just make it easier to learn on your good side. But what if you never learned something on your weak side and you got real good at it on your strong side. Can you still make it up for the time lost? Will it take incredible amount of time and energy the make it back? probably the answer to all these is YES.

Even if it will seem longer now, it’s still feasible and definitely worth the effort.

You know the saying:

If it ain’t broken don’t fix it. BS. This is a a loser’s perspective.

I think it’s more something like:

Be a visionary: Think outside the box.

Let’s take for example an advanced telemark skier that can ski any run on a resort. You sometime get air of jumps, landing telemark stance. Are you able to land both side equally well? Meaning: can you land with your left leg up front the same as you can your right? Probably not.

And it has a major impact on your ability to ski. Here’s how:

Going down a black diamond run with moguls is still hard but you manage. Things happen fast in moguls and you sometime lose control after a few turns. You probably haven’t notice, but I bet you don’t absorb moguls as good on one side. Why? Because it’s your weak side that has never practice absorbing as much as your good side. And landing jumps is a good way to learn just that.

This is just one example.

Practicing your weak side is not the end of the world, It’s just another perspective to keep in mind as you progress.

Don’t take your ability to ski for granted, don’t stop progressing, Don’t be lazy. And have fun on the mountains. That’s what telemark is all about.

See some moguls skiing here

Is telemark safe for your knees?

If I have knee problem, can I telemark ski ? or is telemark safe for your knees.

I’m not a doctor.

But after 10 years of mountain rescue as a ski patroller in 4 different resorts, I certainly can tell you that telemark skiers are less prone to injuries. Here‘s somewhat of a proof. Ok it’s ski stats from Scotland, but still. It clearly shows telemark is less prone to injuries than any other snowsports. Their is a new research you can participate here

Is it because of the telemark gear or because of the people’s behavior? Again nothing scientific here but I’d say a bit of both…

Questions I’m often asked:

1. I have knees problems, will I be able to telemark?

Real honest answer is that I know more people that have quit alpine skiing and are now telemark skiing because of knee problems that the opposite. Telemark builds muscles around the knee and stabilizes the articulation. Also, when starting telemark, you will be less aggressive (probably) than you where on your skis or board. If you’ve never downhill before, telemark is a great way to approach the mountain at a friendly pace.

2. Are telemark binding safe?

“That’s true, there’s no release…”

No binding system on the planet is 100% safe.

On most telemark bindings, there is no release. Old data found here tend to show that it’s safer with a telemark release binding than a non release binding. Although, equipment has continued to change a lot over the years, few brands have developed release bindings. The arrival of NTN bindings, a solid performing binding with release has not created a mass movement toward this product because of the release option. Don’t get me wrong, releasable binding is not bad, but it’s not a must.

The way your foot is attached and the way the binding moves, in most cases, a fall will not cause injury. And believe me, telemark skiers are reputed to fall a lot. If you want extra psychological support and have the release option, there’s a few out there, but other than the NTN, none are really on my list. Again, After years of telemark skiing and being around the community, I feel perfectly safe telemark skiing.

What is the most common injury when you alpine ski: knee ligaments (way up there) and is alpine skiing more prone to injuries, yes. So if you are alpine skiing and are concern about your knees, think about telemark as an option.

Is telemark skiing safe for your knees: definitely. Can accidents happen? Obviously every day, every where.

Go on and try it, telemark skiing is pure pleasure