2021, Year of Backcountry Telemark

Yep,

Oh, by the way, this gear selection is often what you guys ask advice about.

This year, I will talk more about my backcountry telemark set-up since it’s this one that I will change this season. Because of the pandemic, this is probably going to be the biggest season ever for earning your turns, so it might apply to you as well.

I can tell you right away that after a very satisfying set up last year, I will go back to what has worked for me in the last few years.

In this post, I share my touring set up.

Disclaimer: I don’t pay for much of the stuff I receive but I can choose pretty much all I want. And I can surely say whatever I want about the gear I use.

Backcountry is the essence of telemark. Skin up, ski down, I first tried in 1996-97 in the Chic-Chocs.

Equipment has evolved and the 2020s should bring a very exciting era. Today’s telemark gear needs to be compared to alpine touring. This industry has made giant leaps in the last 5–7 years and the question is now can a telemark skier keep up with an alpine tourer. This is one of the reasons a lot of people have switched from telemark to alpine setups.

This has been my quest for the last 10 years, trying to keep up with my alpine friends in the Backcountry. Today’s equipment is almost on par, thanks to the binding manufacturers.

My setup for this season is the Helio 115 (now OK to mount with a telemark binding) with the Meidjo. I will keep my Crispi Evo WC boot for a 3rd year.

I received this setup late January 2020, so I’ve actually skied them quite a bit.

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Telemark GEAR

Here is what I use and also some alternate choice I think are good options.

Binding

Because of the NTN, you have to choose to go 75mm or NTN before anything else when you build up your touring kit.

If you go 75mm, I think the Voile Switchback is your only real option. This binding is light, provide a free pivot and the feeling of the downhill will satisfy all the 75mm lovers out there.

If you go NTN, you definitely have to go with a TTS like binding or as Pierre Mouyade, inventor of the Meidjo, calls this binding family: TTN. Telemark Tech Norm

Those bindings are the go-to options for touring. I suggest you choose from the original TTS, the Lynx or the Meidjo.

Pins hold the front of the boot, giving the best ROM (Range Of Movement) and resistance-free stride. This alone makes telemark able to keep up with the alpine tourers.

If you go with a TTS like binding, you will have the freedom and Range Of Movement (ROM) to hike uphill like any alpine tech binding.

All we are missing is the ROM of modern alpine touring boots. I’ve heard that Scarpa is working on a new NTN boot that should provide this but it’s not yet ready.

Still the combo of boots, binding and ski makes for a very decent kit to enjoy the backcountry. And I will say that it’s never been better.

I chose the Meidjo. I will change from the 2.1 to the 3.0 when I receive them. Notice that I have the Alpine Heel Set.

Two years ago I skied a 50-degree chute north of Whistler-Blackcomb. Conditions were perfect, 10 cm of fresh snow, avalanche hazard was low, stability tests were negative. The snow was somewhat dense, coastal like. I don’t get the chance to ski couloirs like that in the winter very often. So I charged the first 10–15 turns, tele-skiing in the wider funnel-like entrance. The couloir then narrowed and the center had slufted down. The 10 cm turned into trashed, irregular, firm snow in the center and soft, dense on the sides. It was really hard to keep my balance between the transitions from the snow sides to the center hard pack irregular snow. Skiing down suddenly became a real life or death experience. I tried a few turns, alpine skiing without locking my heel. It was even harder as I entered the sides, I was losing balance forward. I tried a few turns telemark skiing and the center of the couloir was a real challenge to hold the edge in this super steep couloir. Long story short, I stopped on the side, made myself a nice platform and locked my heels in the Alpine Heelset. I skied the rest of the couloir not in an elegant way but felt a lot safer than the few turns I had just made.

On the pros, the Meidjo is the most complete binding for me.

The skiing is just great. Solid laterally, it transfers power like crazy.
Its tension is highly adjustable to get the telemark feeling you want. It won’t beat the super stiff Freeride or other full frame binding like the Outlaw X or the BMF but it can be stiff enough to race with.
There is a release system!!! And the release system is reliable. It’s not 100% nor are any alpine bindings.
The step-in is quite easy (improved on the 3.0 – can’t wait to try)
The combo with the alpine heelset is still releasable. And it keeps the same release values.
It’s very easy to go from telemark to ski and back. This means that I can telemark most of the time but if I feel that I need it, I can alpine easily.

The Cons:

The walk mode is not the most user-friendly.
Bindings are prone to icing in the second heel cup, it’s easy to get rid of it but it builds up in spring conditions
Not the easiest binding to install
The brakes are not for me, just too easy to break (new version this year so this could change.

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Boots

This is the missing link. While today’s boot are durable and perform very well on the down, we don’t have the same modern walk mode as alpine tourers. Their boots are significantly better for climbing. You have two routes from here in my mind:

Stay in 75mm boots and choose, light, flexible boots that will provide ease of walking. You will be missing the power to drive the big modern fat skis

Go NTN and use stiffer, higher boots. Here, you will carry more weight, have less ROM. Your stride will suffer but the way down is going to be as good as any modern alpine tourers.

Seventy-five millimeters boots are getting harder to find but Scarpa T2, Crispi XP are very good options.

My Choice: Crispi Evo WC for its stiffness, the fact that it has the tech toe inserts and the heel tech inserts.

The Pros:

wrap around liners for stiffness
has the tech toe inserts and the heel tech inserts.
Very durable [look at the sole after two full seasons.
just a solid driver

On the cons:

heavy boots compared to alpine touring equivalent (like all telemark boots in this category)
old walk mode mechanism compared to alpine touring equivalent (like all telemark boots in this category)
clips are not the easiest to undo. This is not a deal breaker, just something to get used to.
The liner is not the warmest.

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Skis

The Helio 115 are my go to this season

Last year I was on the Black Diamond Helio 105 with the Lynx binding.

I really liked the combo and it’s one of the lightest setups I ever had.

For me the 105 is a very polyvalent ski that I brought guiding and ski patrolling, inbounds and backcountry. Of course you need snow for this ski to be fun but I liked how skiable it was in other conditions. If you want one ski, this could be it.

This year, I will go back with a wider ski. The Helio 115. Good news the new Helio revamped line-up is now telemark recommended. [BD actually removed the “not recommended for telemark” tag.] This ski is just a great size for powder. I like to guide with it, it floats, it’s playful, it’s just an incredible ski that gives me the most fun.

105 was a bit too skinny at times, and I just didn’t have the same fun. It worked great, but not as fun. It’s the old saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.”

Because I have a few options to choose from, I want the big boy in the line-up for 2020-21.

The Lynx binding by 22Design is also a great choice that I strongly recommend. Good value, simple design, light, efficient. Step in was not the best for me but I learned that 22Designs have changed a toe piece since my version (I think I had a pre-production version). You can look at my full review on YouTube if you wish.

I will still ski a lot more set-ups like the Bishop’s 100 mm Chedi and their super good binding, the BMF, a few racing skis with the Freeride, a few older 75mm setups.

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Skins

I have used exclusively Black Diamond skins (and Ascension skins prior to that).

In 20+ years, I’ve had maybe 15 to 20 different pairs.

My go-to are the GlideLite Mix.

They’re just a good combo of lightness, placability and grip. These are the important factor for me. Oh and one super important quality is to be able to unglue the skins when they are packed glue on glue.

Last year, because of limited availability when I got my new Black Diamond Helio 115 at the end of January, I had to go for something new.

Skins are a simple product when it works well but it’s a real pain when it doesn’t

I bought a set of Pomoca Pro S-Climb skins.

Pros:

So far, I like them. It’s about the same as the Black Diamond GlideLite but with a better glide. Not a great difference, but noticeable.

Cons:

There are two metal wires that comes in the box. The White is not strong enough, they bent on me and then the modified shape affected how well they stayed in place.

They could just fall off the skins. I changed for the other all gunmetal ones and the problem was solved.

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I will probably add a set up in December or January. I will probably go with a 22Design binding and a more biffy setup.

Not sure what to get? you can look at my Modern Telemark Ski Selection and Problems post coming up soon

Bishop’s BMF binding – First Look

Hello Telemark tribe,

I have the chance to test the Bishop line of skis and binding for this season.

Here is my quick first impression.

If you want to receive an exclusive offer and see some free tutorials, subscribe to my newsletter just below

GEAR Talk: What skis should you get

In the twenty plus years I’ve been telemark skiing, I’ve tried quite a bit of skis. I generally try about 5 to 10 every season. Some years, it’s been 15. One season, I got to try DOZENS.

This was a ski test for a magazine. The funny thing is that almost all the tester found the same ski to be the best.

The Best Quiver All-Around Ski

Before I can answer, and give you my best tip when choosing your next all around skis, let me tell you about why this is a difficult question

I like to compare this to cars.

Do you want an all around car:

for the family, like a minivan,
for the off-road and city, like a Subaru,
a SUV so you can bring all you gear, go on long drives and tow your trailer
a pickup truck so you can work and still pick up your little girl at the day care

You get the point, not every body’s all around is the same and gear has changed so much over time. If you change your skis every 5 to 10 years, this post will help you even more.

Skis are described with different metrics.

In the 90’s, we liked to talk about the turning radius. It was the birth of the carving era

In the early 2000’s, we liked to talk the ski waist width size as a starting point, it was the birth of the Fat skis era

in this decade, we were introduce to rocker vs camber. The waist size have gone back down, and the rocker replaces super wide fat skis

Other metrics are the tip width, tail width, length, build material and the weight. There is more, but let’s keep it to that.

Wow, that makes for a lot of talk.

I will keep it simple and start the quest of the perfect ski with one metric.

Ski width

This metric is the most important for one reason, your feet

Most foot are between 98mm and 102mm wide

From this metric you have to choose your skis to be narrower or wider than your foot.

Because everybody’s feet are unique (some are more than 106mm) and that I want to make a general rule, let’s average a foot’s width to be at 100mm.

Under 100mm

When you are edging, your knees and hips are making a leverage of the ski to tip on it’s edge. A narrow ski will require less force to edge and to maintain the edging. An exaggeration of this is ice skates which are so easy to go from edge to edge that the challenge is to stay straight on the tiny blade.

Under 100mm, your ski will be:

easier to edge,
nimble and quick turning,
best for hard packed snow, moguls, carving, couloirs…

Above 100mm

The great gain above 100m is the floattability in powder. This has changed the game and made skiing in powder effortless.

Above 100, your ski will be:

good in soft snow, floating easily
create more momentum force in the ski, making it efficient in hard snow conditions like crud, chopped snow, wind packed, heavy spring snow and so on

Rule #1

If you want an all around ski, aim for a ski close to 100. the most popular will sit from 95mm to 105mm

New Metrics

The Rocker:

One of the newest metric was invented by Shane McConkey and Peter Turner,

Rocker is the way the tip or tail of the ski raise to create a banana look. It’s also called reverse-camber.

Camber is the the opposite. Camber is the amount of bounce a ski have under foot.

Rocker is always in the conversation but is overrated if you ask me.

It is not the most important metric as most skis nowadays have both rocker and camber to some degree. And the ratio rocker-camber is more and more constant from brand to brand within the given kind of ski. It’s like if the compagnies had tried a lot of combinations and found the same recipe to be the best. This is highly debatable since every one have their opinion on rocker.

Here’s mine: Don’t worry about rocket too much.

I will advise against full rocker ski, a ski without any camber.

Carbon skis

The other metrics I pay attention to is the construction of the ski, mainly a popular option, carbon. A few years back, the trend was to put titanium plates called Titanial. (It’s still very popular but it’s added with other materials)

Carbon is more and more used to save weight in ski construction and it gives great rigidity. One of the challenge for telemark skiers is to have a ski not so rigid at the tip so that the back ski doesn’t sink too much under the snow.

The tip tendency to dig under is accentuated by the NTN system bindings, which are very active. Combined with a stiff tip, it can really become unskiable.

Rule #3

If you go carbon just make sure the flex is still smooth at the tip. I have had great experience with carbon skis and bad ones. For example the Black Diamond Verdict 100mm ski had a super rigid design (because of Titanial, the point is the same here), and the tip part was also very rigid. This was great if you alpined ski. But for Telemark, it was just too stiff and face plants were more than frequent.

Tip curve

This is a new metric for me. There is a trend to have really shallow tips raise. They only rise a few cm off the ground. I’ve never ask a rep but I think this is to better control spatula vibrations.

Be careful not to get a ski that has barely no curve in the tip.

Again, the back ski will tend to dig under the snow. In a mogul run, it gets really hard to get the back ski over the bump.

I’ve had this problem with the Helios 95 from Black Diamond. But I did not have that problem with the Helios 105 or 116.

FYI: I had the Helios 95 in a shorter than usual length for me. I usually choose around 178-182cm and I tried to go 173cm. This combo of short ski and shallow tip raise made it hard to telemark in variable conditions and bumps.

—

The ski that all testers liked

It was 2005. The telemark tribe was at it’s height and a magazine had us try all the telemark skis on the market. K2, G3, Black Diamond, Rossignol…

All the best telemark skiers of my province were gathered to try and evaluate the skis.

I found it really hard to put in words the feeling proper to every skis. Even more interesting, some testers express the same feeling in completely different words than mine.

But in the end, there was one ski that everybody ranked #1 or #2. It was the clear winner. Great, let’s buy that ski.

If you look at the metrics of that ski today, it would not fit in the all around quiver that Lloyd is looking for.

It was the K2 World Piste if I remember correctly.

This is the description K2 had put up:

The K2 World Piste is a all-around mid-fat ski. A 78mm waist and 114mm shovel let this ski perform in Bridger cold smoke or Baker wet cement. Titanal construction and lightweight wood core make the ski nimble and responsive. If you can only afford one pair of skis check out the World Piste Tele ski.

78mm waist!

Performs well in wet cement!

What, this is crazy. Compagnies don’t make all around skis so narrow anymore.

But this is not the best part. Although the K2 WP were a favorite, it’s the rest of the skis evaluation that got me thinking a lot.

All the skis were OKAY.

There was no real bad ski. No lemon. And skis today looks nothing like the ones in 2005-2006.

The point I’m making here is that skis evolve so much over time. They really improve. What if I skied a 78mm ski today? Would I be able to do the same stuff? Moguls and carving for sure. But Powder and Wet cement?

Maybe 10 years from now, my tips on buying an all around ski will be completely wrong, given new metrics. Maybe not. But from a one year pool, skis do look alike in the same categories.

Final Thoughts

Lloyd, if you ski on hard pack, Eastern snow, I would go for under 100mm. If you ski out West and ski mainly in good snow, I would go just above 100mm.

My choice would be something like the Black Diamond Route 95 or the Helios 105 (mounting telemark binding is not recommended on the Helios but I do it anyway. If you choose to do so, remember that you have been warned not to)

In your case, a 95mm to 100mm ski would be perfect if you only want one ski.

I will also strongly advice you buy your skis from a dedicated telemark shop like Telemark Down, Freeheel Life or one close to your location.

The advice these shops will give you go way beyond just the skis, factoring in tips on binding (types, mounting…) and boot (fitting, type of liners, height of cuffs…)

I always says that we have to think about equipment as a combo, not just individual piece. This explains why 80mm skis where good all around 15 years ago. The boot, binding, ski combo went all together.

As a small community, we have super passionate people involved in our sport. These shops cannot afford to have a bad reputation just to make a sale.

Note:

Telemark is a technique first, you can do it in a variety of equipment, places, style. I take the liberty of talking of the branch I know best and that I get the most questions about. But by no means, I wish to deter the other styles, from cross-country to leather nordic skiing, all the way to the big mountain freeride… Telemark is awesome

Telemark Gear 2018 – part 2

Here Is The Accessoires I bring in the Backcountry

Notice: I’m sponsored and don’t pay much for the gear I use. BUT I can get pretty much all the gear I want so this is really the gear I wish to have, and I can still tell you my honest opinion. This is my gear choice, that fits my need. Take what you need from it, leave what you don’t.

For all of you telemark tribe gear freaks, here is all the little stuff that makes a big difference.

I’m not going to list everything I present but here is the majority

Emergency Sled – Stellar Equipment

https://www.facebook.com/stellar.equipement/

Evac 7 Shovel – Black Diamond Equipment

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/snow-safety-and-avalanche-gear-BD102187_cfg.html#start=1

Probe – Black Diamond Equipment

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/snow-safety-and-avalanche-gear/quickdraw-probe-carbon-240-BD1091040000ALL1.html#start=1

DSP Pro – Pieps Beacon

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/pieps-avalanche-beacons-PP1127710000ALL1.html#start=1

Jetforce Air Bag Saga 40 – Black Diamond Equipment

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_CA/jetforce-airbag/saga-40-jetforce-BD681303_cfg.html#start=1

021 – Chris Valiante from 22 Designs and the new Outlaw Telemark binding

Building a new NTN binding is a mission 22 Designs set out to do.

The Outlaw, most anticipated binding from the small Idaho company is sure to make some noise.

I had wanted to talk to Chris for a long time. This true step in, simple and though binding have received great critiques and 22 Designs has managed to keep the weight down.

Let’s hear more about this well established Binding company run by Chris and his partner Collins Pringle.

Show Notes for this episode:

the Outlaw and 22 designs Website

Telemark skier Chris is looking up: Paul Kimbrough

Rainey Superloop binding (note from earnyourturns.com)

In 2005, 22 Designs purchased Rainey Designs and continued producing the binding with very minor adjustments to the binding through 2012. They created a free-pivoting version of Hammerhead called Axl that maintained the same underfoot cable routing with easier to adjust power pivot points. The spring system was different than Hammerhead and in an effort to streamline sourcing costs the Vice telemark binding was created, effectively ending production of Hammerhead. It is one of the few, true, legendary telemark binding designs that had an effect on nearly every telemark binding design since its inception although its inventor, Russell Rainey, would be quick to point out even Hammerhead borrowed from other, less successful designs (the Pitbull), only with a better execution.

016-Mark Lengel Inventor of the Telemark Tech System (TTS)

For this episode of the Absolute Telemark Tips Podcast, I meat with Mark Lengel.

He is the inventor of the original binding TTS, the first that came out on the market with a low tech front attachment.

This true pioneer is so passionate about telemark, the turn, the feeling. His invention as turned head from the start and is sure to attrack a lot of followers in the years to come.

Links For The Show

Olympus Mountain Gear (the TTS web site)

Mountain shop – Portland

Montain Gear – Spokane

Wasatch turn (couldn’t find a link, if you know them, please email me: info@absolutetelemark.com)

Red Shred – William Lake

Awesome Telemark Skier

Mark White

The Gear talked about in this episode

In chronological order

riva original

riva 3

rottefella 412

Rainey superloop

Hammerhead

Rottefella-NTN-Freeride

NTN Freedom

22 Design Outlaw

Scarpa F3

Terminator X

Terminator TX pro

Crispy EVO-NTN

A new NTN and TTS telemark Binding made in France: The M Equipement

I hope you are well seated.

This is the most exiting news I’ve seen this year. Damn, in years.

A true, one piece TTS binding with Step in and Release capacities.

A prototype is starting to hit the French Alps, The M Equipment (www.the-m-equipment.com) as just release this prototype. It’s an Hybrid of the NTN system and the Tech system used in TTS. It looks just amazing.

If I had to describe a perfect Telemark binding, the M equipment would be pretty close

Great downhill stiffness,
Tech touring capacities,
Step in,
Ski brakes (not on the prototype),
Releasable,
Light,
Crazy light,

See this video to get STOCKED

And at (less than) 800 grams, it’s not light, it’s ridiculously light.

But there is more than weight to a telemark binding.

RIP WITH OUR TELEMARK TUTORIALS

Videos that will change your telemark

How does it ski ?

The prototype was tried by my good friend Frank from Telemarcoeur.com

Frank was called by a guy he’d never hear of to meet in a parking lot to see his new telemark binding prototype. Pierre Mouyade, engineer, and telemark skier had the next big thing to show. What a surprise Frank had. He couldn’t wait to try them on. He manage to borrow a pair of Scarpa TX pro (which he found too soft for the binding !) and of he went to La Meije to try the M Equipment prototype (see the original review here, use Google Translate if you don’t understand French)

Because Google Translate has it’s limits here’s a summary. He describes the binding as a very good prototype, very close to the final version. Frank was impressed by the feeling, very close to the NTN, coupled with the touring capacities of a Tech binding. he noted the attention to details on the prototype, he liked the step-in, the 6 holes mounting pattern and the great touring efficiency of the Tech toe piece. On the down side, the binding was not a good match for the Scarpa TX pro, the boot was too soft. Seb Mayer, a pro telemark skier from La Grave also tried the binding with the Crispi EVO boots and did not have that problem. In the end, both Telemark skiers loved the binding.

Pierre Mouyade – Engineer and inventor

If the commercial version can deliver, my prediction is that this is most probably the Editor’s choice of next year in many reviews.

We will try to get in touch with Pierre for more details so stay tuned…

UPDATE: Introducing Meidjo

We reached Pierre again and good news for all those of us who are waiting for the commercial version, the Meidjo

It is now in production and it will be launched on November 1st.

Check out our interview with Pierre here

Check our blog for more info, Pierre promised to give us so scoops in the next fews weeks

in the meanwhile check out the m-equipment website for this

[ois skin=”M Equipment”]