carving; tele vs. AT

Exact same ski history profile as Dave. The foot carves the ski differently tele vs. AT. The entire leg angulation is different, just like the foot pressure and motion, standing on the middle of the two skis parallel compared to the back tele ski. Don't really know why, but for me, the angulation control with tele falls off above a certain waist size while is continues unencumbered fatter on AT. 112 is as fat a waist as I can use tele as an effective multi conditions tool.

Interesting comments, all.

The gotamas (bought 5-6 years ago) were my first foray into modern skis (previous pair was so, so old...) and was pre-AT for me.

Three years ago, I added in LaSpo Hi-5 and G3 Zenoxide carbon, both of which are similar waist but traditional camber. I find that I prefer them, but I only have AT bindings on them so have not tried tele turns on them. I wonder if I would find as great a difference between the two turns as I do on the gotamas.

It would be fun to find a full service demo day with both AT and tele rigs to try out.

These skiers seem to be carving on freewheel gear

Remember telemark is not a license to suck

If you watch that video closely, and compare it with scenes of modern alpine racing, there's no comparison between the quality of the carving that parallel skiers and telemark skiers achieve. Those telemark racers (impressive as they are) are losing their carve a LOT in that video.

I think the telemark position is at fault. In a telemark, it's very difficult to pressure both skis the same. One ski is going to have more pressure on the tip, and the other is going to have more pressure on the tail. This makes it difficult to find the sweet spot on both skis. You really have to hit that spot to hold a carve in high-level skiing on hard snow.

So, yeah, I think the telemark turn is at a disadvantage when it comes to carving cleanly.

I have rarely been able to carve on telemark skis. For that reason, I don't tele in area. I find it unsatisfying to skid on groom.

If the snow is just right I can carve on tele. But it has to allow a couple inches of penetration without crushing. Rare.

Also, I'm not nearly as strong at tele as alpine. But I also believe the turn stance is inferior. I don't believe that the forces you can generate and withstand in a skeletally strong position can be replicated from a crouch.

There is no logical or practical reason for using telemark gear. However the feeling of tele skiing well is remarkable. Many people on telemark gear don't execute it very well. It takes more skill, strength and determination than fixed heel gear.

It's also easier on tele to get your skis not parallel which results in one carving and one skidding. This happens to me all the time and I've definitely had to focus on keeping the skis parallel for a good tele carve. When I want to go super fast and feel that grippy hooked in carve I just alpine turn (on my tele bindings). Fun to do both.