This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips / Telemark Francais Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web since 1998. East, West, North, South, Canada, US or Europe, Backcountry or not.
This is the World Famous TelemarkTalk / TelemarkTips Forum, by far the most dynamic telemark and backcountry skiing discussion board on the world wide web. We have fun here, come on in and be a part of it.
You can attach the bindings yourself quite easily. Just get a 3.5mm (9/64") drill bit, and put some tape on it 9mm in, so your holes are only as deep as they need to be for the screws.
Balance the ski on the edge of a table, or even on your finger, to find the balance point. You will want the NNN-BC bar at the balance point. Place the binding there, and figure out where the front screw needs to be. With the front screw in place, work backwards from there.
The skis come with existing holes for some weird military bindings. You can easily water seal those with some pieces of wood skewer and wood glue. You can use the same wood glue to water seal your own screw holes.
Thank you for the detailed instructions, exactly what I was after. Sounds like an worthwhile endeavor!
I love my Excursions 88's on anything but hardpack. They track, kick, glide and climb extremely well as long as there is loose snow on top. They are not much fun on hardpack though. The camber on the ski makes engaging the edges very tough. Trying to slow down on a hardpacked decent can be difficult to say the least.
I'm currently looking at the Outback 68s for hardpack outings, but want to do more research before pulling the trigger on another pair.
I have a pair of S98's but recommend using a full size tele boot like the T2 and a mid weight binding like the Voile Traverse with them. Not the lightest of setups, but in my opinion you need the heavier duty setup to control the ski on the flats and hardpacked decents.
@kniepisler
I think part of the with hard pack and the E-88 is that Fischer edges aren’t very good. I know I wouldn’t dare sharpen the skinny edges on my S-112, heck there isn’t much left of them just from skiing. I believe Outback 68 to be a cheaper recreational ski, I find it highly unlikely it will give you the downhill performance you seek. On the cheap end an Åsnes USGI from Coleman’s will. I looked at your profile to see where you’re skiing. You’re a big guy, probably bigger than my 190 lbs. I ski a 210 Gamme, no problem with camber. So perhaps body position could possibly be a problem? If your weight is more on the tails the ski will just want to shoot forward. When I taught kids to make controlled wedge turns, it was obvious to me NOTHING was more important than posture. If they were flexed at the knees, shins flexing the front of the boots, hands on their mythical bicycle handlebars. If they had the posture the skis turned! If they didn’t they struggled. I couldn’t give them a patch to get off the rope tow until they could make controlled turns down a particular “steeper” pitch. Both the kids and myself worked hard to get these kids their brown patch. I got them in the right posture and got them their patches.
I relate this because I try to continue to improve my trail skiing. I am finding I am reminding myself about “shins pressing against the front of the boot” frequently. I find this reminder is making me better at both kick and glide and turning. I was surprised how my sloppiness in regards to the flex at the knees, was affecting kick and glide and balance. I wouldn’t think about turning at the ski hill without thinking about shins to the boots, but I had become sloppy, when “easy” trail skiing. I had thought about “shins to the boot” over the summer. I caught myself first time out this winter. It makes such a huge difference. I am skiing faster, quick stepping around corners, kicking faster because I’m “on” my skis better. While posture is important to all skiers, it’s all the more important to a man with broad shoulders, we can’t have that mass taking our center to a place it doesn’t belong.
While posture is important to all skiers, it’s all the more important to a man with broad shoulders, we can’t have that mass taking our center to a place it doesn’t belong.
This.
This is so good.
This might need to become my signature on this site!
........
Master Eater of Fish-
Your entire post ↑ was most excellent.
Cross-country AND down-hill skiing in the backcountry.
Unashamed to be a "cross-country type" and love skiing down-hill.
You might be onto something haha. Coming from a long background in Alpine and Heavy-tele, I'm used to tall, solid boots offering me a ton of power over my skis. Alpina Alaskas and NNNBC bindings not so much...
I not really looking for downhill performance other than being able to grab a decent edge on a medium size wedge or wedge christie so that I can check some speed on hardpacked trails of varying widths. I was thinking that having a ski with less dramatic camber than the X88's would allow me to get on center edge in a narrower stance thereby giving me more control in narrower trails.
