Telemark Skiing Norway        Telemark Skiing 

Go Tele in the Bumps!

One bump, two bumps, three bumps, POW! Over your tips and into the trough OW! Although catching unintended air off a mogul can still be challenging for alpine skiers, it can often lead to spectacular yard sales for tele skiers. To avoid launching into space next time you are on your teles on a mogul run, keep both skis in contact with the snow by pushing your tips down as you crest the top of a mogul.

Try this on an isolated mound or high spot, standing with your feet side by side and directly over the crest of the rise with your tips and tails off of the snow. Push your tips onto the downside of the rise and move into a telemark position as you slide down the snow mound. To help keep your body over your skis, make sure that your front ankle is flexed and your rear thigh is beneath or in front of your hip. After coming to a stop, climb back to the crest and do it again, moving your body forward and down the slope as you press your tips onto the side of the �practice mogul�.

After you have this wired, notice how easy it is to turn your skis in any direction when your tips and tails are off of the snow and your feet are on the crest of the bump. Back on top of your isolated mound or high spot, repeat the same drill as before, but make a turn as you push your tips down onto the side of the rise and move into a telemark position. This is the complete movement package you want to have wired before heading back to go tele in the bumps.

When you go back into a true mogul field, you�ll need to stay centered over your feet as you go not only over the crests, but through the troughs as well. Your legs need to act as shock absorbers, compressing as you crest a bump, then extending into the next trough. Time your move from one telemark turn to the next so that your feet pass just as you compress over the crest of the mogul and begin to push your tips down onto the backside of the bump. This will set you up to be in a strong telemark position when you reach the trough. With equal weight on your entire front foot and the ball of your rear foot, you will be ready to absorb the transition and to avoid a face plant into the back of the next bump

The next time you slide off the cat track into a mogul field, remember to let your skis flow through the maze of buried VW bugs. Press your tips down the backsides and suck your skis up and over the next bump. Then turn as you slide over the top, doing it again and again and again, dancing not in the streets, but on the mountain.
