Skis- For the modern telemark skier an alpine ski (metal edges) that is right around 100mm underfoot will be a good place to start. You cannot go wrong with a good all mountain ski. Try to keep the length of the ski anywhere from your chin to your forehead…just a tad over won’t hurt.
Bindings-Telemark bindings, just like boots are in two categories: NTN and 75mm.
NTN bindings, instead of attaching to the heel of the boot attach to a “bear claw” around mid arch of your foot. This shorter tension point allows for a much greater transfer of power when a skier is flexing their boot in a turn. Another plus of NTN is that quite a few bindings are being made allowing for “step in” which can eliminate the awkward phase of figuring out how to grab the heel piece of your binding to get it on your boot as a new telemarker.
75mm bindings accept the toe of the boot or “duckbill” into them and then the cable is wrapped around the heel so that boot is stuck in the binding. Most 75mm bindings have cables running along side the boot attached to cartridges with springs in them on either side of the boot. These cartridges have springs in them that when a skier flexes or bends their boot in a turn resistance gains the deeper the turn. The more resistance the more power can be applied to a ski in a turn.
Boots – There are two different types of telemark boots:75mm and NTN. 75mm refers to the width of the toe of the boot and the piece of the boot that goes into the binding. Most of us know 75mm as “duckbills”. NTN, which is an acronym for “New Telemark Norm” is a binding system introduced by Rottafella in 2007 that has taken telemark by storm due to it’s wide stable platform that helps to drive larger skis.
NTN boots and bindings allow for more control and power on modern skis but their unintended result of the new system is that virtually every used gear store in the country has high quality 75mm telemark gear at dirt cheap prices. This might be the best time in the history of our sport to become a telemark skier. At ski swaps you can get a complete setup: boots, skis, and bindings for right around 200$ but it helps to have an experienced telemark skier along on the search because some gear is obsolete while other stuff is great and will be for years. Some gear is good but replacement parts are impossible to find. Do yourself a favor and ask a fellow telemark skier or even contact us though this site and we’ll do our best to steer you in the right direction!
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