 Telemark
- rediscovering the origin of skiing. Wintersportsmen
stop
more and more on the swiss slopes to
admire a Telemark skier who is skiing
down the hillsides in elegant and
dynamic turns. The origin of skiing, the
turn of all the turns, has established
as sport for the mass and the great
skiers in Switzerland.
In 1860 approximately the Norwegian
Sondre Norheim from Morgedal in the
province Telemark paved the way with
its developments for skiing: waisted
skis, firm bindings and boots as well as
the Telemark technique. Almost an entire
century passes until the Telemark turn
is superseded by the parallel turn. In
the 80's the Telemark sport is reborn in
the USA, finds the way back to
Scandinavia and becomes the sport of the
mass.
 The
Telemark techniques gets new supporters
in the Alps as well. The Swiss Telemark
Ski Association is founded in 1989, in
order to promote and coordinate the
development of this sport. In the last
years the Telemark sport was established
in Switzerland though it is far of
becoming a mass sport. This movement
with its continuous and healthy growth
can not disposed as short term trend.
The education of Telemark instructors,
the active clubs and the successful
running scene are adding to this success.
But it can't be denied that Telemark is
not that easy to be learned. It requires
strength, endurance, coordination
abilities and balance to experience
successfully this sport in nature. The
Telemark skier is someone liking the
nature, contrasting with the crowd and
enjoying sliding over the snow in
another manner.
The character of the Telemark turn is
stamped by the "bending-down"
which is enabled by the free heel and
the mobile shoe: dropping the knee and
lifting the heel. The outside ski is
shifted forward and the inside ski to
the rear.
 The
possibilities on Telemark skis are
unlimited. The beginner prefers the well
prepared slopes, but soon he will
looking for new challenges: Moguls,
steep slopes, deep snow, races, etc.
Important component of Telemarking is
the jump: the impact during the landing
is weakend by the Telemark position.
Telemark is very well suited for
backcountry trips because of the free
heel and the light material. With just
one equipment all these aspects of the
Telemark can be experienced.
A very strong development within the
Telemark material took place in the last
years. The equipment was similar to the
material common in the cross-country
skiing some years ago, but is
developping more in the direction of
downhill skiing material nowadays. The
leather boots were superseded with
plastic boots with several buckles. The
tendency of the development of the skis
is clearly heading for Tele-Carvers.
 In
addition, nostalgia and tradition were
not lost with the Telemark. Telemark
skiers with the classical wooden stick,
in Norwegian dresses and the women with
skirts are often to find amongst skiers
and snowboarders. This is just the
beautiful thing of the Telemark sport:
one big family consisting of nostalgic
people, racers, nature-friends, people
coming of wide sections of the
population enjoying the practicing of
their sport and showing their fun.
|
