The Finest Leathers: Nordic Norm 75mm Backcountry/Telemark Boots

[greatgt]

leather boots are the most comfortable boots....They also have flex that can't be compared to plastic....What Tele King SHOWED was with flex there is energy that CAN"T be done with plastic....A very different energy....It ain't made for power.....just like an e99 double camber....Some can't ski them well....Some can connie....Double camber flexes and then snaps into energy mode...... If you can control that energy you can do things on those skis that NO APLINE ski can do....TM

[lowangle al]

If you can control that energy you can do things on those skis that NO APLINE ski can do....TM

TM I don't want to start anything but a discussion, could you please name some?

[greatgt]

Double camber on an e99 is about as "double camber" as you can get.....They are a ski with some heft even though they aren't heavy.....That said.....gulf of Slides.....Teleking and I were as a final trial before heading to Tuckermans Ravine.....The first time there (TR).....was a 600 foot controlled fall....the 99's once I flipped over spewed corn and I was a human avalanche...Together we had done all kinds of things up on Mansfield....We did our training.....At the Slides we waited for the corn to develop...Water down below was rushing pretty good...I was nursing a smashed knee.........soon as the slide was wider than the length I took off as did the King....It opened up nicely....I Skied up one side of the slide that had a small rise in the middle.....And flew....skis being so light did a 180 and dropped @ 10 feet and at that precise moment double camber was astonishing....instead of slamming the slope it was like an air cushion.....went down into the corn and instantly did a sweeping turn up and hit the rise again....same result....Air cushions.......Down South, Mass.....Mt. Greylock....The Thunderbolt......trail....3 feet of snow @ 20 inches at the bottom.....headed down....215 e99s....Totally serious long arcs....(NO TURNS)....All we had to do was pressure camber or not and the result was the longest and most wonderful ride...Never stopped but near the bottom.....Took a couple of pictures and home we went.......Compress camber and the skis energize....It's stored energy....How do you want to release it??? Getting access... Wax in the camber disappears when going down because you run the bottoms on the glider part of the ski....Wax is made for camber.....Most use skins....wax is better.....Crossing water.... fore and aft in the snow and you control the camber....Skis don't get wet and ice up.....Enjoy....Ultimately...you compress the ski with camber and when released....skis rebound and it's like a natural and EASY way to get an easy turn because camber has made it so....Cruising?....kick and glide????? You guys all know this.....Its a BACKCOUNTRY SKI.....TM

[lowangle al]

Thanks for that explanation TM. I agree that the stiff camber can create more energy coming out of a turn. This is a good thing because extreme unweighting leads to extreme weighting and that is what you need to get dbl camber skis to turn. That being said I have had skinny alpine skis that gave a similar pop coming out of turns but were also able to do unweighted smooth turns. After years of skiing dbl camber I could really appreciate how easy single camber skis turned with less physical energy. BTW they did have tele specific single camber skis 40 years ago that were more popular with the DH focused crowd.

To sum it up I can't think of a time when I looked down a challenging slope and thought to myself, "I wish I had my dbl camber skis." I can understand why someone would stick with long skinney skis and leather boots, it's being hung up on the dbl camber for the downhill that I can't get behind. I give you lots of credit though, for a guy your age to have the energy to use them.

[greatgt]

Two thingers...Three decades ago I was much stronger....Little bitty skinnies were EASY to manipulate...Only condition they had problems was hard pack...(we always had destroyed edges even with our own sharpeners) Downhill was pretty easy...Thinking the snow was quite different back then....Since I had skinny skis never thought of wider....but....at the very beginning when we were ripping it....many of the other Telemarkers went for "Anything" that was wider and shorter cause it was easier to learn on....(mostly down hill skis)...Problem there was the weight....Remember out in the bush with a set of downhill skis....Floppy boots and mondo skis.....Could shoot anything....but.....turning was hard...They were useless to me.....All in all love heading up and out...Love cruising...seeing....smelling.....feeling....Being in the forest is the deal and telemark is Whipped Cream Frosting.....Arc on everybody....Al are you in Penn?....Come on up this year and we will do some Vermont tours....kingdom tours.....Telecamp tours.....TM

[Tele kid]

First time on T talk in quite some time. Just refreshed this thread and I was drooling over beautiful pictures of leather boots. My Andrew North rims are still functional barely. Cant remember what kind of old Merrill's I had as a kid but they also were a double buckle boot. Think the North rim is my favorite. Couple years ago I picked up some new Alico lace ups. There a nice boot for touring and some Downhill. I call them my tele slippers. They are a little under powered on steeper terrain though. Would love a beefy replacement for my North Rims. Leather for life or at least until I cant stand. Tele on!

[lowangle al]

Never say never Kid, I felt the same way until I got some thermomouldable T4s. If I want to go fast and far I have xc skis for that, and they turn too.

[Segeta]

Hello,
I am xcd skier from czech republic.
I have quoestion how long (years) we use crispi antartic ,ski march, crispi bre, with roteffella super telemark And 3 PIN hole delamination?(cca Kilometters)
Thanks.

[phoenix]

Segeta, as long as you clip into the bindings correctly, any of those good leather boots can last for many years with no de-lam. Damage to the pinholes comes from incorrect clipping in. Sole de-lam often comes from the stitching of the welt braking down. It's important to seal the stitching with a high quality sealer; I have found Seam Grip to be the best.

I have a pair of Alico's that are more than 20 years old, and still in very good condition. While I have skied with other boots also during this time, I have many, many km on these Alico's.

[ᚠᚨᚱ ᚾᛟᚱᚦ ᛊᚲᛁᛖᚱ]

My friends finally arrived after a long journey from Lithuania. They look like they were resoled, but in great shape. It'll be interesting to see how much, if any, touring I can tolerate while wearing these. They feel comfortable enough (I have very tolerant feet), but the ROM is pretty limited. Now, just need something to ski them on.