Need advice on switching leads please

[MikeK]

Al - I do what you are saying A LOT.

I actually do a hybrid now though as I feel a little more comfortable. I start wide (shoulder width, Alpine stance) and bring my feet closer the more I turn and the more speed I get.

When I first started I did what you said but I'd steer my front ski a lot more trying to overcompensate for not edging enough. I still do this to some degree or another depending on conditions, but it's much more subtle.

I still focus on not getting my rear foot too far back. With leather boots YOU CANNOT (IMO) get way stretched out and still have balanced pressure. NNN shows you this IMMEDIATELY. Because of the weird (for tele) pivot, you cannot stretch your stance and keep weight on that back foot. It just doesn't work and you feel it immediately. Could you fake it? Sure, but you wind up putting almost all your weight on your front ski.

I think it's key to find your "strong" stance off the skis. Get on the BOFs, put your rear foot under your ass, just like you say and try to keep your front knee and nose over your front toes. Then just flex the knees and go up and down until you feel that spot. That's where you want to be, not an inch more or less stretched out. If you get in that position consistently you can weight and turn the skis properly without cables or such.

[lowangle al]

the thing with tele is you need to know how to work the inside edge of your outside ski as well as your outside edge of your inside ski. In alpine you can get by with mostly using the inside edge of the outside ski and not weighting the outside edge of the inside ski. I think many alpine skiers do this there whole ski career and consider themselves good skiers and don't have a problem until they hit a powder day. I have seen them struggle and heard them complaining about the lack of grooming.

[MikeK]

Yeah - that's quite common and was a problem of mine. I realized I needed to use my outside edge more when I started skiing shaped skis, as they allow you to let the skis do the work and just roll them.

The pinky toe talk gets you thinking. I actually don't use my pinky toe, but shoot for my outer metatarsal on my BOF. It actually hurts to stand like that barefoot. Try it, you'll know when you hit the spot. It's not a feeling I ever used with Alpine - even when you apply pressure to the outside edge, I always felt it was back farther, and conversely, right on my arch with my inside edge. Tele does not feel like that to me. Everything is shifted forward. Although I bet if I Alpined now I'd be better and ski more on my balls than my arch.

[lilcliffy]

I don't profess to be an expert on the telemark turn- I consider myself a lifelong "Nordic" or "free-heel" skier- the telemark being just one of the approaches in the entire complex of free-heel skiing.

Been reading this one- and wondering if I can contribute anything that would help you. It would be much better if we could actually ski together and watch each other ski.

Do you have this book: "Allen and Mike's Really Cool Telemark Tips"? I cannot express how good this book really is. It is full of excellent tips and drawings. And in my experience, a good drawing always illustrates something better than a photo. I keep this book by the toilet, and I throw it in my ski pack as well.

Here are just a few suggestions from this book that might help: #27("slide the back foot forward"); #28(slide the front foot back"); #40("the monomark"); #41("smear peanut butter"); #43("slow motion turns").

Paul Parker's "Free-Heel Skiing" is another good book- although I find it kind of difficult to use it in a practical sense...I find it more difficult to visualize and feeel what Parker is writing about. Although I greatly appreciate Parker's focus on "free-heel" skiing, as opposed to solely focusing on the telemark.

HOWEVER- in my limited experience the number one best comment in Parker's book is about "keeping your feet alive". I am no expert Alpine skier either- but, at least in my limited experience, this is a fundamental difference between Alpine and Nordic/Free-Heel. Effective free-heel skiing requires being light and responsive on your feet, it requires constant athletic footwork- your feet need to be "alive".

I mention this because, although tele skiers rightly emphasize the importance of equally weighting both skis while in the telemark, don't get locked into position, keep your entire lower body alive and fluid, ready to respond.

All of the advice above resonates with me- especially the importance of a compact (or tight) stance.

[STG]

Thoughtful comments. Upper body counter-rotation also important to avoid washout when turning.

[Steel_drifter]

Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it! I skied Wednesday and felt comfortable, I am getting better slowly, and I skid from mid mountain after we closed... It was super bumpy after the powder was packed into moguls so I had a a little challenge but I held it together, nice and slow right? The new t2 ecos fit well despite sore feet after a full day for new bots they're super comfortable for the most part, better than my kamiks for work, tread wise too I figured I would wear them to break em in but I ski from lift to lift sometimes so they may be the new boot temporarily! Thank you for all the help