Splitboarder turned tele-er, a few questions...

you want the top of the heel lift (when it's not in a raised position) to be the same height as the top of the toebox for the superloop, so your heel and toe are at the same height.

cool, thanks for the info. i got ahold of 22designs, and i can still get climbing bars...
but, crampons are unavailabile. i'm thinking i can make some out of aluminum stock my friend can get from his work, lib technologies. i'm curious though, how the crampons attach to to superloop binding. anybody got any pictures of this setup, or can describe it?

well, after epoxying some delams along the edges on these thriftstore tva skis, the whole tip of one ski delammed. (i think it was because of the warm temp. in my cabin) so... i'm going to attempt to epoxy it back down but if that doesn't work, i'm in the market for some new skis.

i've seen telemark skis that have fish scales on the bottoms. these look rad! i've done a bit of xcountry skiing and can appreciate the fish scales. a couple of questions: can you still use skins with the fish scales? how well do the fish scales work (as in, can you get away without skinning up on mellower grades?)

another question: i am 5ft 10", 190 lbs. what size tele skis would fit me well (being a novice)
also, would alpine skis work just as well? (of course, minus the fish scales)
after hearing your guys' input, i'm now looking for some scarpa t2's. am i right in assuming these boots have a walk mode?
(as an added benefit, i could get mountain plates for my splitboard and wear my tele boots, this would lighten up my splitty alot, due to ditching the highback bindings!) (and you thought i abandoned the splitboard!
you guys rock, i love this site and all of your friendly input

The crampons just kind of "hooked" onto the back downturned part of the footplate.  And they were a PITA.

you can use skins with patterned skis.  patterned skis are fun and tend to be lightweight but also tend to be bounced around by anything but powder, chatter on ice, and noodle in crud.  A good patterned ski is the Fischer Outtabounds, but if you are going with just a patterned ski you might look at the widere karhu guide (I haven't skied it).  I have Madshus Voss, Fischer Outtabounds, and Salomon X-Adv (aka Fischer Rebounds) but I ski them with brown t-3s and 3-pins; t-2s and superloops are overkill. In patterned skis, at your weight, you need something around 190 cm long (I weigh 230 lb). They climb well on mellow grades, depending on snow: I always carry skins.

A really good ski for superloops and t-2s is the Volkl Snowwolf (among many, many others); 185 or 184 is the longest and that's what you would want.  I used t-2s to drive my Atomic R:EX (84 at the waist alpine ski about 8 lbs/pair) with 7tm bindings, without a problem.

I concur with Acarey. Pattern base boards can be a blast. Especially if the grades are moderate and you're lapping 400 ft-ish knobs ~ and if it's steep or long, throw on the skins. My quiver has Outtabounds, Rebounds, Karhu Guides, Alpina cross terrain, and more. Every one has a $35 (or scavenged) Voille / Rottafella 3 pin mount. These rides are great because they're light and lively and comparatively inexpensive. Take a leather or 2-buckle on a light tour. Bring a 3-buckle for a more serious day or even the resort. I've had a lot of fun with the Cross Terrains and a T-1 inbounds - like sandals at the beach. Any 2-buckle on that ski would be a fine tele-learning setup.

To be sure, any of these setups suffer some performance at the margin compared to their big brothers ~ but so what? And, as you know, there's no such thing as 'the ultimate setup' - There'll always be a few gotta haves in the next season, so grab something that climbs and turns and join us on the dark side...

Everyone wants to move up so bottom feeding can be a inexpensive way to get into the sport. Believe me good gear comes later.
K2 made go gobs of soft flexing recreational skis
K2 explorer, flightx, Olin selkirk 107-75 -98 Same mold
Olin Catalyst around 90 70 80. Seems like keeping your eye open at thrift stores/craig list for another score. No scales but skins are to be found cheaply.
Acarey may correct me but tip delamination was a common problem with some TUA skis.

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Acarey may correct me but tip delamination was a common problem with some TUA skis...

I loved my Tuas (2 pairs of Excaliburs, 1 pr Excalibur Plus, 2 pair Excalibur Mitos, 1 pr Mitos) but I did have 2 delams and a friend I sold a pair to also had delams (mine were topsheet delams). My wife had a pair of Tua Touteneige delam. Tua stood behind their product however, and all of my skis and my wife skis were replaced. But, Tua is no more.

The best all-around Tua for me was the Excalibur Plus, I skied it for years before selling after I bought the Volkl Snowwolf--which was wider AND lighter than the Plus, Regine still has hers; no delam with that model.