There is a telemark ski instructor group in Japan, and I attended their
training programs the other day. It was an opportunity to see people I
don't usually meet skiing, and that alone was stimulating. The group updated
their ski instruction method last season and compiled it into a book. This
is called the KYOUTEI BOOK. The training was conducted according to the
curriculum. In the curriculum, "up and down movement" is used
to introduce the telemark position or telemark turn. There is a drill for
switching telemark positions while skiing straight down, and that is also
up and down movement. Up and down movement is also used when switching
basic level telemark turns. Anyway, the basics are up and down movement.
Simultaneous switching. Lower your position and get into a stable telemark
position. That's it. In this training, we were divided into three groups,
and I was in one of them, so I took the time to ask each member of the
group questions. I re-shot the questions I asked them in this video. The
question was: "If you move your feet back and forth on an up and down
from this position, even on a gentle slope, you will slide sideways down.
Try it out. What do you think about this phenomenon?" Then each person
gave their own comment. This kind of thing is kind of like a training session,
isn't it? It's nice that it's not just listening to a one-sided conversation.
. Now, sliding sideways. On groomed snow, the skis slide sideways down,
so it creates resistance, which means it acts as a brake. When you make
a turn by switching between up and down movements to create a telemark
position, the brakes will naturally apply in the latter half of the turn.
When your speed drops to an appropriate level, stretch out and go for the
next turn. Hmm. On the other hand, what about in areas with ungroomed snow?
In an environment where the skis sink. The skis don't move sideways. They
don't slide down. It's a problem to rely on brakes. . The skis will move
towards the top, so you have to wait until they turn towards the mountain
and slow down... I wonder if that's how it works? ? Hmm, so what about
this up and down movement? It seems to be fairly common in teaching (←
well, there's a book about it). How can you improve it from there so that
customers can ski on ungroomed snow? That's what I would like to ask next
time. Thanks for the training session! December 19, 2024 Postscript:It's
not unstable because it's heel-free. People do it that way. By the way,
in B-tele, up and down movements are not used at all.
