Oh yeah!

By Ben Lyman Ranked #553 - Telemark Skis and Alpine Touring Skis December 1, 2009

OK, I have to admit that I was nervous trying to telemark on these bad boys (and they are BAD as in GOOD), and it appears that I was right to be concerned. The wide shovel and easy turn initiation only play to your advantage if you are making a parallel turn--dropping the inside knee even a few inches engages the tip of the rear ski, causing a rapid divergence of the legs--ie, the splits. Eek!That said, these are freaking amazing sticks skied alpine, and they cut through the nastiest, mankiest, most horrible snow I've skied in years with amazing ease, making even breakable crust on sopping-wet knee-deep snow a hellofalotta fun. My first day on them was on an alpine setup, and I couldn't believe how nimble and versatile they were. Lines that would give me pause, if I skied them at all previously, were simply no-brainers with these boards. "Why WOULDN'T I ski that?" So I did, and it was fabulous.I'm going to give tele another chance on them, but expect that they'll get re-mounted with TLT binders (all praise the versatility of the Scarpa Terminator Pro X) and that my NTN bindings will find a home on some other pair of boards...

Updates: I knew there had to be something wrong with my setup, and not the ski, because everybody else who teles on them loves them--It turns out that my mounting was just a little too far back. I moved the bindings forward an inch, and they ski amazingly well. No more problems with the tips hooking or the tails feeling too small.

View Details: Icelantic Shaman Alpine Ski

Helpful Votes: 1 Yes