Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Hoping I can get some recommendations. Seems to me the internet tends to be full of opinions so I’m thinking I came to the right place…

Last year I picked up a pair of black diamond glide lites, similar to the altai hok style ski if you’re familiar. The BD skis came with the universal, snowboard-esq, type of binding. I think these bindings are no good for anything other than flat terrain or going uphill (which these skis do quite well, like really well).

Use case and about me: Live in Wisconsin and purchased these to supplement my alpine skiing addiction (I also volunteer ski patrol so I’m a solid black level skier). I’ve found these to be super fun in the north woods as a snowshoe replacement and they have taken me to some really nice, untouched snow filled glades. This is where the issue comes in. Going down hill I can’t, for the life of me, put them on edge and I’m guessing it’s mostly the boots/binding set up. To be clear, I’m talking the equivalent of a “blue” run. Not very steep but definitely steep enough to make turns and have fun.

My questions:
1) Am I thinking straight about mounting a tele type binding on these skis (They’re the 147cm version, 100mm at the waist).
2) If I am thinking straight, what would you recommend? Seems to me the 3 pin set up seems the most appropriate.
3) If 3 pin, cable or no cable? Given I’m not a tele skier I don’t have a point of reference.
4) As to boots…??? Thoughts?

I’m wide open for suggestions. Bottom line, I want to make these fun little skis perform well going down hill to maximize the grin factor while also seeking the solitude that only a nice trek through the forest in subzero weather can provide. Probably more trekking than downhill too.

Cheers!

First off Jason I've never noticed any major advantage in "thinking Straight". Other than that I don't see any reason why a 3 pin binding with a middle of the road stiffness xcd boot wouldn't be a big improvement.

Just my 2 cents, but I'd sell those skis and buy some real tele gear. The value of that setup is for folks wanting a sliding snowshoe. No need to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, those were not meant for turning, just sliding.

Do you currently have any telemark boots or bindings?

Nope. Blank canvas here.

3 pin, 3 pin cable with a Scarpa T4 or similar would be notably better than the uni binding. You'll actually be able to ski to a degree.

Really though, being that your a strong skier, a scaled ski like a Voile Objective or Altai KOM or Alpina Discovery would be a worthy investment for playing in the woods. They'll climb pretty good with just the scales, and you can add skins if necessary, but they will decend like a legit ski.

Get the boots, then you can go from there.

I used a set of 145 Hoks pretty extensively, they have their place, I was a beginner skier and they were good for that role, and yes the Tele boot and binding upped their game big time. I pushed them up and down shit I had no business on and survived.
Now that I have an Objective, I use the Hoks for utility,----trail work, playing with my kid out back, raking the roof, etc. They still are useful to me, but for "skiing" there's much better options.

I used the old Karhu Meta/Karvers (similar to your skis) for a couple seasons many years ago. I switched the bindings to 3pins and used some soft leathers with them. These are sliding snowshoes at best and do not DH well due to the embedded skin and short length. The tips want to dive and the skins in the bases "release" suddenly when the ski is edged, causing instability.

The advice above from other posts is spot on. Get boots that fit well and go from there. Check out the scaled Voile skis. They won't grip as well as your current skis but they work very well. Plus they glide better, and dh better and give you many more sking options than your current skis.

As you are familiar with the Hoks, you probably have seen this video. They probably ski like yours. I'm sure they're not using the universal binding. Do you want to ski like that? Better? As others have said, there is a limit to how well they will ski down even with 3-pin cable and T4, but if you like them and want to get the most from them, go that route. Then if you end up later with Voile V6 BC, you'll have the boots. Like others, I have to say that I use them less now that I have Koms and similar, but they are better for poking around (and climbing) in dense woods which has its place. Go where others fear to tread!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkuIfkFozm4&t=48s
Edit: okay, maybe cable is overkill.

I would also add--while the glidelites are "hok-like" they actually ski much worse than hoks. I don't think you'll actually find much better performance out of them no matter what you do. Imho the best application of the glidelites is to put silvrettas on them and "ski" them with mountaineering boots* for getting out to the ice. Really they are just slidey snowshoes.



* which is another kind of wild choice made by BD: the universal bindings can't be used with a mountaineering boot. The sole must be allowed to flex.

stilltryin wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 30, 2022 6:04 pm

As you are familiar with the Hoks, you probably have seen this video. They probably ski like yours. I'm sure they're not using the universal binding. Do you want to ski like that? Better? As others have said, there is a limit to how well they will ski down even with 3-pin cable and T4, but if you like them and want to get the most from them, go that route. Then if you end up later with Voile V6 BC, you'll have the boots. Like others, I have to say that I use them less now that I have Koms and similar, but they are better for poking around (and climbing) in dense woods which has its place. Go where others fear to tread!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkuIfkFozm4&t=48s
Edit: okay, maybe cable is overkill.

This is exactly what I’m thinking and I see it looks like stiffer boots & cable-less 3 pins are what they’re using? Appreciate the point of view on getting the boots dialed in which gives some options for the future.

For those who asked - I bought the BDs because I got a good deal on them so selling wouldn’t be the worst.

GREATLY appreciate all the feedback and suggestions. I’m pretty much looking for something in those tight trees of the N. Woods that can also provide some control when it gets steep (and short, we don’t have elevation here).