What kit do you need to telemark with? Well skis, boots and bindings obviously but what are the options?

Three Pin Bindings – one of the original sets of gear, with leather boots, skinny skis and a very light clip-in toe piece. The advantages are that it is light and the boots work well as walking boots. The disadvantages are the level of difficulty to ski with this set up. There are so many opportunities for it to go wrong and if you see anyone skiing well in this gear, go up and shake their hand, as they are awesome dudes.

Cable bindings – which were long the standard bindings used by everyone, there are loads of variants of this set up, G3, Rottefella, Twenty One Designs and Burnt Mountain all have a dog in this fight. These all use a 75mm toe which is the long flap at the toe often seen in a telemark boot, this is inserted into the toe piece and a clip at the heel locks you in, attached via a cable with a spring cartridge in between. It is more convenient than the three pins and with warmer plastic boots. These boots both insulate the foot and help keep the water out. They give a better degree of control as the skier can pressurise the flex of the boot through into the ski. There is still a bit of slop between the binding and the ski so you do lose a bit of control still. They are heavier than the three-pin binding but still light compared to the third option.

NTN- The New Telemark Norm binding, these offer step in and a limited form of release. The release is not DIN certified but it is a release and it seems to work in most instances. It also features ski brakes, which add to the convenience. It now comes in six options: Rottefella, Freeride and Freedom; the M-Equipment Meidjo; 22 Designs, Outlaw, Bandit and Lynx. The Freeride is the binding you see the most on the slopes as it was the first on the market and is widely distributed in the shops. The Freedom was launched later after the criticisms of the Freeride as to its weight and lack of movement whilst touring and turning on the skin track. The M-Equipment Meidjo has just entered the scene and is enjoying a lot of interest offering it seems the holy grail of lightweight, as well as release and the accessories of a ski crampon and a lock down heel. I have not skied any of the 22 Designs bindings but users seem to be happy with it given the stuff I’ve read on the Internet. I’ve heard good reports of the Outlaw but have yet to try any of the 22 Designs bindings as they are, like most tele gear, not readily available in the UK.

Skis – anything you want there are no longer any telemark specific skis we all use the same skis as our alpine buddies. If a ski shows up well for an alpine discipline then it will show up just as well for a tele ski. Some, more than others, if you read a good review of a ski for on piste then it should work well on the piste as a tele ski as well. Similarly, all mountain skis are just as effective as one or the other, tele or alpine. The one proviso I would add is that it is more difficult to flex a ski in a telemark turn so be careful of not choosing a ski that is too stiff as you may need to be an expert telemarker to ski it.

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