Keeping up with the slower skiers - telemark or snowboard?

A snowHead

I could have sworn I asked this question before, but I can't find the thread.

I'm thinking of learning a second way of sliding down the mountain, mainly as a way of slowing myself down when I'm with my son and wife, and give them a chance to laugh at me and be more relaxed.

The disadvantages of each are as follows:
- if I choose to snowboard, one of my best friends will look down on me disdainfully, and will try to break my skull with the edge of his ski when I'm not paying attention
- if I choose to telemark, I'm given to understand that I will start wearing the same sweater for two months and smell really badly

Would either be possible to learn without an instructor? Which one would be easier?

Which one would mess up my alpine skiing worse?

Which one's more likely to break various bits of my body?

Any other thoughts?

A snowHead

As someone who can do both (moderately badly) I'd say

Snowboard - with an adventourous spirit, high pain tolerance and decent lesson foundation you'll be up to more nervous skier standard after 3 or 4 days and wanting to get back off piste. You'll always be wanting to tell skiers you're a skier too (& vice versa) so you can mix in any social situation

Tele - not that hard to learn once you can reprogramme your alpine brain, can self teach to an extent, can always parallel cheat yourself out of problems, lifetime to master, have to buy a tassle hat and grow your stubble out as well as throw out your deodourant, chicks will dig you (maybe), people outsid ethe skiing community wil shun you as they'll think you're just a cold calling salesman.

Both highly complementary to alpine IMO. Snowboard kit cheaper (& less heavy) though you'll generally be driving & earn in eurobillions so not so much of an issue.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

snowblades

obviously rolling eyes

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snowbike

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i started learning to tele actually for similar reasons(started late last season). Loving it, can ski "normally" ie paralell on the tele gear, and throw in a decent (in one direction at least rolling eyes

) tele turn as I pass by the chickies Toofy Grin

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After all it is free

Arno's suggestion actually not a bad one - know two die-hard alpiners who converted to blades when helping with disabled skiers and never looked back. Been described to me as a sensation close to ice skating - plus you won't need new boots. You go slower by design too, and will be able to get in close to help missus and kid if they need it.

Hire a pair and see. and wear a balaclava too if you like, so nobody will know it's you

I'm a bit confused here... at what point did doing a tele turn become so cool that it is a babe magnet?... Surely most of the younger decent looking 'chickies' will think 'go and by some new skis'...

I recon (in a serious way) that if you are confident on the piste (whether skiing, boarding, etc tec...) you will probably pick up the basics pretty quickly of a new form and still be whizzing past the family by day 3 or 4.

Blades can slow you down but they don't have to and you end up avoiding any of the deeper fun stuff.
Why not try to get the most out of the area and play off to the sides?

Boarding can slow you up if you are as slow as me getting your feet in the bindings - you can send the family ahead and then catch them up!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Richard_Sideways, sure.

horizon, maybe stick some tele binders on the Rax? (I too will be trying to know you down in the future if you take up Snowboarding, not to mention being strapped to a snowboard means you won't be able to help your son very quickly if he falls over etc plus you can still alpine so you can show him the correct technique. Learning to snowboard will make him think that it's acceptable to snowboard).

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You know it makes sense.

horizon, Vaseline on your bases will slow you right down and you wont have to buy any new gear wink

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I like being able to ski & snowboard, but I agree that you'll be boarding faster than the family can ski in no time. I ride switch when with slower people though and it's very good practice. Sadly i know very few women who think tele turns are super sexy but no harm in trying!

Maybe borrowing/hiring or buying a cheap snowboard setup on ebay and that will do you for a couple of holidays with the family? It's fun to learn.

I have to say teles might be a better option as it's more difficult to learn for sure. You can also get a wire-framed rucksack and a hat like this

A snowHead

ski on one ski, cheap, effective and likely to result in just as many laughs.....

I don't find it an issue to 'slow' down with my kids.....(although they do tell me off for skiing outside the markers....)

A snowHead

Sleep while the wife and kid are skiing.

Or if you are looking for a healthier option skin up the piste while they are skiing down. If you insist on learning something new unlock the heel of your AT binding and see how it goes (zero additional gear costs). You will:

1. be funny to watch
2. be in great shape
3. go back to alpine and AT faster than a cat chased by three dobermans

Do not, I repeat, do not try snowboarding unless your pants are hanging around your knees. It's pointless and you will develop the wrong technique.

My 2 cents.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Forget all that! I have the perfect answer for you. Just watch out that you don't develop Skootch Leg

http://youtube.com/v/4w7sVSMbjyM

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I once fell in love with a girl we were riding a chairlift with - not only was she a smoking hot blonde but she skooched off the chair then proceeded to nail the nearest chute tele with barely a pause. Sadly my mate & I simply fumbled with our boots, took one look over the edge and decided that the "easy way" looked better "for a warm up" - it was 1pm rolling eyes

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fatbob,

Not much hotter than a tele-chick

At least that brunette in chamonix.. Laughing

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firebug,

PMSL - loved the "Phlat" vid!

After all it is free

If Dad snowboards, then kid doesn't see it as cool.

This is an important message to send to your children.

Decision sorted. Consider it a personal sacrifice for their long term benefit.

Tele it really makes alpining seem rather easy and you end up very centered over your alpine skis after a couple days doing the tele wobble with or without any tele turns, and you can hike up a hill, hike over to the wife and kid, you're not strapped into the gravity restricting single plank. Plus the bindings are much lighter, and you can mount up some retired skis.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Since I do (a very inadequate word for my incompetence) board, alpine and tele I can offer this:

Boarding will give you the learning curve from hell and little time to look around for the admiring glances of the pre-pubecent who you think will see you as cool but in reality will be pɪssing themselves at the old fart . . . but once mastered will give you an off-piste experience second to none and you won't care what the little oiks think 'cos the zen of boarding is your own personal connection with the snow, a symbiosis of thought and surface response . . . sensual, peaceful and bliss . . . better than sex and with half the equipment. Those baggy trews are to avoid the possibility of an embarrassing bulge after a long successful powder hit.

Tele will confuse you until you find and are able to keep and adjust your 'centre' of balance, then after your first day followed by the necessary two day break and intravenious ibuprofen injections while the pain and swelling in your feet, knees, thighs and buttocks subsides, you will begin to experience the utter onanism of dropping into a clean tele carve past a group of nubile ski bunnies and their now lumpen clumsy oafs in tow. You may not be the babe magnet that you think you are but a tele setup is the best ice-breaking conversation opener on the piste . . . success past that is down to your ability to charm them out of their thermal panties. With the added advantage that a week on tele will take you on the first steps from a lardarsed, wobble-thighed, jelly-kneed old fart to a slim, steel-bunned, iron-kneed, hawser-thighed God of lovemaking [/fantasy] . . . well it will seriously up your lower body fitness. THe thing with tele is, if you get it right it's a bit like having a secret w*nk in public, you can feel really smug and proud of yourself . . . get it wrong and it's like getting caught with a magazine and a tissue . . . by your Granny Embarassed

edit: As Charlotte says below . . . it is cool (as long as you do it well wink

)

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barry, Sooooooooooooooooo cool. Cool

If that isn't babe magnet stuff then the babes aren't worth bothering with! rolling eyes

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i've a ways to go before i can do that kinda stuff easiski, the first day i tried tele, it took me a good half hour of huffing, puffing and sweating to get my fatass into the damn bindings - could not for the life of me get the heel throw on the second binding closed!!!!

here's more pretty amazing action:

http://youtube.com/v/_RQdbpZ-Nz4&feature=related

Masque, that's the best line I've ever read on snowheads: "THe thing with tele is, if you get it right it's a bit like having a secret w*nk in public" Laughing

Horizon, you convinced yet??!!!! Laughing

Probably a very dumb question -- can one tele in AT bindings?

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I was only kidding when I suggested tele in an AT binding. Having said that, I have skied a lot with Horizon - I wouldn't be in the least surprised to see him try that Toofy Grin

A snowHead

As a chick and from a solely observational angle, I can definitely vouch for the sexiness of telemarking (when done with a bit of aplomb natch) over snowboarding.

Had come across many a snowboarder of course but never seen much telemarking until last season. The telemarker involved was teaching himself and probably doing it to slow himself down skiing with us far less experienced types. The skiing switch, the turns, it all looked so effortless ..... what can I say, things will never be the same again. [MissRibena fans self]

While snowboarders can seem cool (-er than skiers at times), it all seems far too studied in comparison with the coolness of telemarking. Mind you all that binding faffing would definitely help to slow you down if nothing else!

A snowHead

Apart from the inspiring tele-steezers of snowheads at Hemel (and my desire to not wash from now until April), this little clip demonstrated to me that tele could be where it's at:

http://freeheellife.com/

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Have seen those vids loads of times and they still give me goosbumps

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horizon, tele is the way to go to slow down for the family. It has worked a treat for me - but the IV ibuprofen really is required- the pain is soooooo bad to start with.

I first went with 2 sets of ski gear on family trips - alpine and tele- this is a faff by air but would be fine if you drive.

On the last 2 family ski trips I have just taken tele gear and this is great- the only problem was that I broke a tele binding and had to rent for 2 days. But I had a lot of fun skiing with my 2 older boys (although the 9 year old is now about as fast on alpine as I tele)

Needless to say I didn't wash much all week and after all those lentils the state of my guts was a bit nasty and perhpas this is why I wan't constantly follwed by a posse of wenches? (not because I am a fairly fat , bald, abnoxious short back bottom)

Tele has some other bonuses for Dads.

My older son now skis alpine about as fast as I tele- so I have several options to maintain dominance.

He want sto be like his dad- he has just got his 'etoile d'or' and want sto start tele himself. I think he shoul ddo a bit mor ealpine- but fine. We can still ski together me on tele - he on alpine. When he starts to get faster than me- simple, I can put on alpine skis- when he can ski faster than me on alpine gear- he can tele! Or some such combination of fatherly miserableness.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

where does all the hatred of telemarking come from? I had never heard from it until this thread? (im v new to the ski thing!)

Is it much easier? Does it allow for more tricks? What are the pros & cons?

After all it is free

billy_boy_2010, HULLO? HULLO? ( Laughing

)

think actually the vibe in this thread is one of tele love, no??? Puzzled

'mon the Hoops, 8 points clear NehNeh

Help!!

Keeping up with the slower skiers - telemark or snowboard?

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