Tech/tele boot hybrid / "tech telemark" binding?
After just racing the Grand Traverse, I realize how completely inappropriate even the lightest skimo-style AT setup is for that sort of travel (37 miles with only 8300' of climbing). It was hateful beyond words but, like anything unpleasant, some stupid part of me wants to do it again, better. What I am wondering is: is there a light (~1kg) boot with tech fittings + a forefoot bellows like a tele boot? I think some sort of "tech telemark" binding hybrid, combined with an ultralight fishscale ski (either a Voile Objective BC in a short length or a metal-edged XC ski with fishscales) would be the ticket for this sort of terrain, bringing skins only for the occasional "real" climb; but, doing this sort of travel in ordinary AT boots sucks, for nordic-style striding/gliding you really want at worst a tele-boot level of boot flex. Most ordinary tele boots are fucking heavy though, and I suck ass at (and thus hate) making telemark turns... so for any actual ski descents, I'd want to fix my heels. For the rolling stuff, rather than skiing downhill with skins on in walk mode (which sucks ass), or making a thousand transitions that even my rando-commando self does not want to do, it would be great to be able to say, flip one boot lever and tele down on fishscales.
I have seen this binding: https://www.campsaver.com/telemark-t...TFF-TTSS-LARGE
It seems to me that you could use a skimo race binding (eg Plum 150 or similar) and keep just the tele cable from that setup there, leave the Plum 150 in flat mode and tele/fishscale, then rotate the binding to ski mode and still engage the heel pins? This would require a boot with a foreboot bellows and a tech heel... maybe like a TLT5? I think Scarpa had something remotely like this. Does anyone know?
Tech/tele boot hybrid / "tech telemark" binding?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
yeahman
Those are interesting observations on alpine turns/tele gear. Not my experience at all though. I never felt compelled to stay in the back seat, I actually felt like it was quite natural to keep the weight on the forward half of my feet and drive the turns, or at the very least centered. The only time my heel really left the ski was between turns when I unweighted--it made kind of a clacking noise that I liked lol. The boots were pretty beefy, though, Scarpa T1's, lots of support and a stiff duckbill. And I never did it on a rockered ski either, only traditional camber, so that may have helped. Between the 1980s and 2000s I switched back and forth between tele gear and alpine gear maybe 4 times, sticking with each for several years before switching back. Been on alpine gear for the past 7-8 years and obviously I love it but I do sometimes miss having the option of dropping a knee whenever I feel like it.
Sure, you can do it and get used to it. And I skied some 40º+ descents making parallel turns on tele gear. But I would RATHER not, hence this thread. The "it is possible to convince me to go tele" era of my life has ended ;)
^ those crispis look pretty neat though.
and fwiw, it could be a cool quiver setup... big spring days, big range traverses (Oquirrh, La Sal, etc)