Tech/tele boot hybrid / "tech telemark" binding?

[ski-wpk]

I raced GT about 5 years ago when it was won by a team on skate skis. Damn those guys were fast. I raced on 185cm Rossignol BC 125 fishscales, Voile hardwire, Scarpa T4. Heavy setup but able to move fast on flat and rolling with far fewer transitions for skins. I’m now on 169cm Rossignol BC 90s with Voile Mountaineer 3-pins (no cables). Downhill performance is a bit compromised but setup is light and fast. Granted I’m a tele skier so I’m ok with sketchy tele turns or alpine fakey, which is easy even with no binding cable and T4 boots.

[bodywhomper]

It’s been more than 10 yrs, but wra is a very good and strong skier making exclusively alpine turns in tele gear.

Why did scarpa stop making the at boots with bellows?

[Todd Zander]

skiing backseat alpine on tele gear is only necessary in new england on slushy runout terrain, where are you skiing when that is always a problem?

[ill-advised strategy]

Just throwing this out there...but have any of you ever looked into nordic jumping boots/bindings for this kind of thing?
I don’t know, but it least seems like they’d be worth a look...light, freeheel, lots of rear and lateral support.

[SB]

The AT bellows boots are a niche inside of a fraction of a percent of skiers. They also require a puck to function correctly in their original intent.

I found a set of Crispi AT bellows boots in my size a few years ago and wanted to try them with tech binders to see for myself if there was any advantage. Sadly I have yet to test them out since our snow pack has been crap for touring to turns for the last four years or so.

I used to see those F1 and F3 Scarpas on close out for under $200 and never got any.

Here is a back in the day review by LouD on the Scarpa F3.

https://www.wildsnow.com/1042/scarpa...for-big-tours/

[yeahman]

Rocker launch is nothing to do with the ski being rockered. It is the combination of the binding and the rocker in the boot sole - some boots in some bindings leave the heel of the boot well above the surface of the ski. Not an issue for tele turns where the heel of front foot is lifted anyway and rear is weighted back. Parallel turns feel like being on tip toes.

Ah, got it. Yeah that would make it tough.

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

LOL I hear you man.

[Danno]

It really doesn't suck. How much have you done it? More than once I skied with alpine skiers and they never even knew I was on tele gear, and when they realized it they were very surprised. Based purely on my turns, they had no idea. Granted I'm the best skier on TGR but that's beside the point.

However, I've never done it on NTN gear, and I don't think it would work as well. I think the duckbill part of the boot being secured into the metal front piece of the binding really provides the rigidity needed. Crank the cables tight and you're good to go. I've never been sold on the whole NTN concept anyway, but I've never skied it, just basing my opinion on friends who have switched and IMO did not ski as well. Probably a separate thread topic though.

Anyway, just a suggestion, good luck in your quest.

NTN makes alpine turns better than any 75mm tele binding I have ever been on, and it isn't close.

If you can't make parallel turns without your heels locked down then I'd recommend spending all this $ on lessons rather than a boot/binding combo that you'll use for one race.

Now that is a quality M-series jong post!

[Flyoverland Captive]

NTN makes alpine turns better than any 75mm tele binding I have ever been on, and it isn't close.

100% agree.

This would make a good combo: Meidjo with heel and the new Crispi boot (not yet in production):

[XXX-er]

" Quote Originally Posted by m9285d View Post
If you can't make parallel turns without your heels locked down then I'd recommend spending all this $ on lessons rather than a boot/binding combo that you'll use for one race. "

stop all atempts at hygiene and buy a bigger bag of dope eh