To the Dark Side

[triangleforge]

Well, with a bit of measuring, some drilling, a strategic sip of beer now and then, & a dab or two of epoxy... the deed is done. My favorite telemark skis are tele no longer:




I used to have them set up with Hammerhead bindings & Telebry release plates, but as high as my hopes were, the Telebry plates were just too much of a pain to live with. I've still got a couple of pairs of skis set up for telemark (though one's more of a back-country touring setup than hard-charging tele sticks) but I have to admit that I'll probably do 90% or more of my hard skiing (what little of it there is these days) with my heel locked down.

Today, in the words of "AT Anonymous," is the day I stopped being a telemark skier and became "just a skier."

[NAKID]

I'm lost. I have no idea what you did or what the significance is...

[Popeye the Sailor]

Near as I can tell from the pictures, he drank half of a beer, got drunk, and posted the rest.



Lightweight. 

[ducpainter]

Telemark bindings allow your heel to move...

the ones he installed don't.

Don't you kids have eyes?

[Popeye the Sailor]

Telemark bindings allow your heel to move...

the ones he installed don't.

Don't you kids have eyes?

Yeah-how else would I notice half a beer was left?

What we don't have is snow.

[NAKID]

Don't you kids have eyes?

And how would that help me? I didn't see anything that would tell me that. Stop being your grumpy old self (you kids stay off my lawn!)

[Bick]

Couldn't just go randonee as a compromise?  Had to go all the way?

[Popeye the Sailor]

Couldn't just go randonee as a compromise?  Had to go all the way?

Looks like a woodworking plane.

[red baron]

make the beast with two backs snow.

[triangleforge]

Couldn't just go randonee as a compromise?  Had to go all the way?

Bick: The Naxo bindings are randonee, just like the Frischis -- a little more quirky, a little  less expensive, but still solid & Swiss.

Everyone else: Sorry to be so opaque; I get that way after half a beer.  Basically, I gave up bindings/boots that go like this:



Which means I no longer ski like this (you might want to mute the music. You're welcome):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzgmeYrz2M&feature=related

(Yeah, I know -- if I could ski like that, this thread wouldn't exist. Video is just to show what telemark looks like)

Maybe an analogy is in order: it feels a little like I just traded an early-70s bevel-head 750GT for a Honda VFR. Yeah, the Honda will take me every place a Ducati classic would, and with more comfort and fewer surprises, but there's no denying it's just not the same ride, even if it's the same road.

[Bick]

Thanks for the clarification.  I didn't look that closely the first time.

[Porsche Monkey]

make the beast with two backs snow.

I'm still lost, What is this "snow" you speak of?

[herm]

i am considering giving up my snow board (been riding one model or another of burton for about 20 years) for pins...

[triangleforge]

i am considering giving up my snow board (been riding one model or another of burton for about 20 years) for pins...

Definitely give it a try!  Assuming, that is, you're getting more days on the snow each year than me. 

[DCXCV]

That's a half-assed fix if I ever saw one.  Go back and get more epoxy and turn the whole kit into a mono.  Then you'll be stylin.