Monday, February 15, 2010

Big Toe, Little Toe

Had an afternoon practicing telemarking at Cairngorm Mountain. I can more or less link an easy piste worth of wobbly turns with a fairly wide stance.

The eureka moment came when I spotted a young guy executing (what looked to me like) perfect tele’s at speed. I just had to talk to him; so I made an effort to get on the same T bar lift and rinse his brains for tele tips. What a nice bloke! (fortunately).

The mantra is: ‘Big Toe, Little Toe’.

Point with your big toe on your outside turning ski and at the same time point with your little toe (in the same direction) on your inside ski.

I’m really only writing this down so I don’t forget it.

Any other top tips from telemarkers out there gratefully received.


2 comments:

Stuart Malcolm said...

Hi Andy, Ive been doing the same on a little hill out the back of the house.. even found the same youtube video!

Thanks for passing on the big-toe, little-to tip.. will give it a go.

Andy Hyslop said...

Thanks for the comment Stuart. Here are some more tele tips from Martin Dean:

- Use the right gear (skis designed to turn, supportive boots/bindings and poles that are alpine length or less!)
- Ride the lifts - you get so much more downhill mileage under your skis!
- Use easy (non-threatening!) slopes (and ideally, good snow!) to work on technique
- Focus on one thing at a time
- Tuck the rear foot so you're on the ball of the foot and can pressure/guide the rear ski (Avoid too a long stance!)
- Ski without poles
- Read good guides - Paul Parker's Free Heel Skiing is a classic, even though it is a bit dated! BASI also have a tele manual!
- Look at Telemarktips (particularly the Telemark Talk section) http://www.telemarktips.com/
- Get inspired by some good videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwn7n0Li2ug and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAwTxpE7THk