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" Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing. Telemark turns are led with the heel flat on the outside ski, while the inside ski is pulled beneath the skier's body with a flexed knee and raised heel. The skis are staggered but parallel, and 50% to 80% of the body weight is distributed on the outer ski, depending on snow conditions. TelemarkThe Telemark turn came to the attention of the Norwegian public in 1868, when Sondre Norheim took part in a ski jumping competition. Norheim's technique of fluid turns soon dominated skiing, and in Norway it continued to do well into the next century. Starting in the 1910s, newer techniques based on the stem gradually replaced Telemark in the Alpine countries. Newer techniques were easier to master and enabled shorter turns better suited for steeper alpine terrain and skiing downhill. The Telemark turn became the technique of ski touring in rolling terrain. The technique is named after the Telemark region of Norway, just as the Stem Christie turn was named after Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. Not only did Sondre Norheim and his fellow skiers invent the telemark turn, but they used and refined parallel skiing techniques as well. Thus, while the telemark is part of early skiing's foundation, so are parallel techniques of equal importance.
The Telemark RevivalThe revival in the Telemark technique, after its decline from popularity in the mid-1940s, first started in United States in the 1970s. Telemark skiing was a back-to-basics reaction to the high-tech equipment developments of Alpine skiing, and the increasing reliance on crowded groomed pistes (trails). The use of traditional clothing was often (and sometimes still is) part of the Telemark skiing revival. The telemark revival started in Crested Butte, Colorado, and quickly spread to many other areas in the Western United States. It came to the attention of a larger public with a demonstration by a team from the Professional Ski Instructors of America at Interski, Italy in 1983. It grew to prominence during the 1990s but is still a minority sport. While some still choose Telemark for its counter-culture or "hip" image, others choose it because they enjoy the beauty of the turn, or for a fresh challenge, or to do downhill or cross-country skiing on or off piste, and ski-touring, all on one well-chosen Telemark ski, once the Telemark technique has been mastered.
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