Will this set up work for Telemark?

Hi bought some NEW few years old ski's still wrapped in there original plastic for $29. The skis are Rossignol 4S Racing Junior's. There length is 160cm. I believe there are a few years old, on one of the sticks it might say 1998? But they are still shaped somewhat decent and have a bit of a sidecut. (I can send / post pics of them if needed) Will these junior ski's work? I bought them sorta knowing they where juniors,  but at 29 bucks still in plastic and  the length I was looking for. I had to jump on it.

I am 25 about 5"11 / 6ft and only weigh around 150 lbs. skiing on these tele skis would be on 98% groomed runs here in IA & IL 300 & 475ft vertical hills. The alpine skis I have now are 170 cm but I wanted 160 for tele for easier learning / turns.

When I bought the ski's the kid that sold them to me got bitched out by his manger,  He was saying they wouldn't work with any "modern" telemark bindings. He seemed pretty upset I bought them.seemed to lay into the kid after I left. Hope he didn't get fired. I figured for 29 if they somehow wouldn't work I could make on or break even on the 29 dollars.

I wouldn't see why any bindings wouldn't work with these skis as there pretty much just as thick as my Rossi xpi 100's from 05 and basically just as wide in the middle where binding would go. 3 pin or NTN was that i was thinking as  I consider them "modern"

For binding I'm thing about maybe these gearx.com/black-diamond-03-telemark-binding.html

What type are those? From what I get there are 4 or so types of telemark bindings?  1: super old just cable bindings with no springs basically cross country. 2: 3 pin bindings with the sealed springs? which a lot (maybe most?) people use? 3: NTN bindings which pretty much the same as 3 pin with the springs but with out the pins and they came out a few years ago 2003ish?  and 4: hammer heads which super new and I don't really care about too new too $$$ lol.
And then some type of alpine binding that the heal lifts and can lock but thats mainly for climbing touring etc and not really telemark?

Boots: Now will boots that have the holes for 3 pins work with NTN too? I,m thinking about maybe some Crispi CXP's. Which has holes but I could also use with NTN correct or no?

Basically the ONLY place in the midwest that I can find that sells telemark gear is midwest mountaineering in the Twin Cities in MN. Whats's the cheapest I could get new beginner telemark boots for?

Sorry for the lengthily post  but thanks for any and all replies.

Dan

I learned to telemark on some 1970's era Rossignol double-cambered skinny XC skis that had metal edges (and were I think 225CM long - I'm 5'9" tall). They cost me something like $25, and already had beefy Rottafella 3 pin bindings on them, and I picked up a pair of lace-up Merrill telemark boots (more or less a hiking style boot with a 3-pin duck-bill). I think they were the same as the skis in the right of this photo:



I worked my way up to black diamond slopes at Sunday River and Mt Abrams in ME using these, before moving on to the "wide" single cambered Karhu Extremes with V1 Rainey Superloops (the ones with a massive rubber bungie that you pulled around your heel). A few years later, after moving out here, I got a sweet deal on some K2 alpine skis and some Scarpa T1s that were a bit too big for me. That got me by until I had built the bank account up enough to feel OK about springing for the sort of gear that folks at the time thought of as closer to optimal for telemarking. I'm now on AT gear, but my last pair of tele skis were K2 World Pistes, with Scarpa T2 boots (and somewhat sketchy but releasable bindings). These were WAY more fun in most conditions than any of my prior skis, but I had fun at each step along the way. Of course people invented the telemark turn on skis, bindings, and boots that would probably have felt like a downgrade from my first setup.

The point of my reminiscence is that you can have fun on quite a range of gear. You'll have an easier and possibly more fun time if you buy your way into gear that has been tuned and optimized for the sport, but I bet the setup you describe will be plenty fun and certainly wouldn't prevent most reasonably athletic folks from learning to tele.

Hi Dan,
Have fun learning!  The only thing I'd say is the new NTN bindings aren't made to accommodate a "duckbill" nose boot with the 3 pin holes, so don't buy your bindings separate from your boots.  If you buy NTN boots, you need the NTN bindings.  Lots of options, but it will all start making sense pretty soon.  Don't discount the "old" style duckbill gear and bindings - they still work great, too.  There's a ton of that kind of used gear available, but I'm also starting to see used NTN setups now.  Great information available on:
www.telemarktips.com
It looks like your "new" skis have a sort of sidecut - at least the waist is slimmer than the shovel and tails, but the long waist is sure straight. I think you should commit and burn your bridges! Rip the Alpine bindings off your skis, sell your boots for $29 and cobble together the rest of your tele quiver! Most of us have evolved with our gear - you probably will too, because the gear isn't static.  Come out to the NW when you get tired of skiing Iowa   

Jim - it's fun to see your gear spread out like that.  I spent 15 years trying to tele on some Karhu Kodiaks with partial metal edges and soft XC boots.  My first pair of plastic boots and Atomic TM22's opened up a whole new world...

I learned to telemark on some 1970's era Rossignol double-cambered skinny XC skis that had metal edges (and were I think 225CM long - I'm 5'9" tall). They cost me something like $25, ...s, with Scarpa T2 boots ... you can have fun on quite a range of gear. You'll have an easier and possibly more fun time if you buy your way into gear that has been tuned and optimized for the sport, but I bet the setup you describe will be plenty fun and certainly wouldn't prevent most reasonably athletic folks from learning to tele.

LOL:  I started out el cheapo on used 220 cm Karhu XCD GT, 3pins, and Asolo snowpines and moved up to BC Valmontes--what a bunch of crap!  Finally got a pair of TeleSauvages the original black and green t-2s and started to ski rather than dig snowpits.  Next came Volkl Prestos then Tuas: Excalibur, Excalibur Plus, Excalibur Mitos, Mitos, then K-2s ... etc. etc.  And along the line having new fish-scaled Fisher Rebounds and Outtabounds, Karhu Catamounts and Pavos with 3-pins and brown t-3s, ... now I'm skiing AT with Dynafit Vertical STs and Manaslus--and just today I was wishing I had those 20 years ago when I managed to descend 3,000 vf of breakable crust on the Nisqually Glacier on my Snowpines, 3 pins, and Valmontes, with every turn being a fall.  Interesting, tho, after starting on 3-pins, going to Riva cables, the Rainey Superloops, then being a Rainey Hammerhead tester, I finally went back to plain old 3pins/3 buckle blu t-2s, and Volkl Snowwolfs before switching to AT.

Just like youth is wasted on the young, beginners should start with the best gear; once they're skilled they can ski anything.

Dan

Practical advice:
Those skis you have will work just fine.(and much better than what some of the above described as their starter tele skis.)
For bindings I would go with cables or voile hardwires which can be found cheap because most people have shifted to touring pivot bindings..
For sure you can find a good deal on three pin plastic boots either here on TAY ,Ebay or Craigs list in western cities.
I would avoid NTN till you know you are committed to Tele and that will take a few years unless you are gifted athletically.
Basically no need to spend a lot of cash to experience telemark skiing .
Once your hooked then let the bucks flow.
Good luck and do put the pacific NW on your list .

The best answer to your question is contained in acarey's final sentence. Notwithstanding the tendency of longtime tele skiers to wax poetic about all the famously inadequate gear on which they learned, it'll be easier and more fun to start on the best gear you can afford. If that's really 12 year old kid's alpine racing skis (doubtful, but maybe), then so be it. But if you're really just looking to save a few bucks, you'd probably do far better to buy something already mounted with tele bindings, used for a few years and then discarded for whatever the latest and best is these days. Check the ads on this site and count on spending $1-200, more or less.

In fact now that I think of it I've got some skis that fit the description myself, and they're gathering dust in the garage. A couple of years ago I gave away some mounted tele skis that were every bit as good as the ones you just bought. And just last week I gave away some perfectly adequate early T-2 boots and a whole slew of cable (tele) bindings, proving that you don't need to spend massively to find decent gear; you merely have to decide that you're looking for decent gear. It's out there, waiting for you.

IMHO, of course.

Mark