Tele Ski Size

[Affix Snow]

Many of you have offered help on suggestions for my need for a powder tele ski. Thank you so much. I now pose another question.

what size/length would be good for powder.

Im 5'9" and about 180lbs.
Blue eyes. Brown hair. A goatee. My interests include long walks through the powder..........wait. Sorrry about that!

Should you ride a shorter or longer ski when it comes to float.

Thanks for all the help! :beer:

PS. Im looking into the K2 Work Stinx or maybe the Hippy Stinx

[RR]

..
PS. Im looking into the K2 Work Stinx or maybe the Hippy Stinx

And not Jax or Pocket Rockets?

I go shorter for tele compared to alpine and a lot fatter means a skosh shorter either way. I'm 6' and weigh between 185 and 200 lbs depending on season and quantity of exercise.
Type......fat..................................... .thin
Trad XC.............................................210
BC XC..............182........200
Alpine..................185....200......205
AT...................182....188
Tele......170......182

[Luddite]

I'm 5'10" and around 170# For skis around a 70mm waist I like a 180, but for fatter I go with 169s. Better in the trees too. Then again, I have no goatee...

[RR]

These look nice: http://www.karhu-trak.com/gear/item.php?p=Jak%20BC&c=telemark

Jak BC
Sizes/dimensions
170 120-90-110
180 127-97-117
190 127-97-117

[Tommy T]

The powder hounds out West all say "The guy at the store tried to sell me shorter ones. I wish I had listened." I've heard this ten times in the last two years from guys who bought fat tele skis for Rocky Mountain powder.

Sierra Cement, Cascade Crud, New England Neoprene -- well you probably shouldn't have gone that fat.

Tommy T.

[M@]

I'm not a tele-skier: But the whole length thing burned me. I was skiing 210's for the longest time cause my buddy said for my height (6'0") that's what I should be on... finally this year I got some 180's and I'm having a BLAST on them - so much more fun in the trees.

M@

[Harkin Banks]

I'm 5'10" and around 170# For skis around a 70mm waist I like a 180, but for fatter I go with 169s. Better in the trees too. Then again, I have no goatee...

Once I stopped laughing, I thought: "I gotta give this guy some rep, but there was nowhere on his post to do so. Or maybe I'm just a moron. Help?
:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[Zack]

If you are looking at the Hippy Stinx(which is a sweet stick btw) the twin is massive, and really takes a chunk out of the size. The 179 has the surface area of a 169 at the most. I'm a fan of the 189(6'3 155lb). Same goes for Lines, my friend just picked up some 186 pollards and they are the same as my 176 Elan Mantis 777s.

[Affix Snow]

I think i will go shorter. Seems to be the concensus.

RR...I do like the JAK bc's. They look sweet! Real wide!

Now we play the waiting game...the waiting game stinks. Lets play hungry hungry hippos!

Thanks a;l for the suggestions and keep em' commin!

[RR]

I think i will go shorter. Seems to be the concensus.

RR...I do like the JAK bc's. They look sweet! Real wide!

Now we play the waiting game...the waiting game stinks. Lets play hungry hungry hippos!

Thanks a;l for the suggestions and keep em' commin!

Jaks look great to me also...one itsty bitsy problem...I tend to break stuff: six skis (one XC), two binders, two skiboots (one was XC but still a bummer).* Breaking stuff s*cks, but as proof against it I go beefy on gear. So the Scratch BC's are the gleam in my new ski lust. They have beefier edges that most inbounds skis and gobbs of wood and structural stabilizing. But if I was a tad lighter and a bunch smoother...Jak BC's would be right back in the hunt**.

* Other busted stuff: One cyling helmet, and seven bikes (Pro road bikes: 2 Fuji, 1 Roberts stage bike, 1 Grandis Special; Off Raod bikes: 1 Roberts cross bike, 1 Stumpjumper, 1 Shogun MTB-1 Team).

More other busted stuff: Three Capris (8500 + rpm is tough on distributor fixing bolts) and one Charger (360HO).

** I interviewd a couple of Jak and Jil owners at the Bush during the December Dump.....wow were they ever happy people.......only boarders looked more blissfully exhausted that day.

[Affix Snow]

Here is a link to a review of the JAK bc by a dude in NH.

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=18750&sid=f9f3d16e5cd54f6442c0e3c7dc6f066b

Sounds real sweet.

I dont break alot of snow equipment. Just bindings and stuff. I rip up bases, but they are fixable.

Bikes...another story. Several Helmets (thank you), Specialized big Hit, Trek 2300 carbon. Stumpjumper. JR T. fork. Psylo SL fork (2times). Many Bottom brackets and numerous wheel sets.

Im with ya there.

[Affix Snow]

Also,
The Jak bc 170 is alittle skinnier and obviously shorter. Thinkin this might still be the way to go.

Thoughts. Im 5'9"

[RR]

Also,
The Jak bc 170 is alittle skinnier and obviously shorter. Thinkin this might still be the way to go.

Thoughts. Im 5'9"
Way! Absoposilutely Way :D

Some folks might even call that a tad long. I disagree, being old-school as well as old. If you have skills, the rewards of a skosh more length are found in long arcs and more contact for those medium arcs on crispy days. At 170 it's hard not to fit the zipper line....my leathers and soft skis wash out in crispy bumps, but even with my weak tele* soft bumps are getting friendlier when I wear the 175's (I'm 6' tall and 185 on a good day 19+ after a week of no exercise...).

* Just a senior moment: Tele skiers and Kun-fu practicioners refer to their skills as having qualities...

"I am Thunder legs, your Kung-fu is weak...your sister will be mine..you cringing..dog!"

Tele skiers aren't trying to kill each other, just trying to have the most fun..."My tele was working in that chute...."

[DMC]

I can't wait to tele again...
All I have is some old(orange) plastic boots.. And I borrow skis from my friends quivers.. I'm psyched... I really want to be able to tele at Tucks next year... :)

[Affix Snow]

What about bindings....
G3 Tagra?

[RR]

What about bindings....
G3 Tagra?
With all the money I've spent on my knees I gotta vote for releasables

[jdw]

What about bindings....
G3 Tagra?

I've been happy with mine so far - pretty simple design, different cartridge sets depending on your weight and skiing style (though if theses are going on some new powder sticks, the standard set will likely be fine).

I have come out of them, however (standard springs). This may just be that I didn't have them cranked down enough or I ws on the wrong springs altogether. One time was at MRG getting too velocitized in the bumps. The other was at Deer Valley (oh man, I hope Castlerock doesn't read this thread....) on a stump. In both instances, my foot went -further- into the binding. What I mean is that I wound up with the cable around my ankle with the ski dangling. It's not clear to me the this would have been different with another binding. - just a curious result.

I've been ble to adjust them in the field with no problem.

The upgrade to titanium wasn't worth the cost to me.

Like I said, I like simple. I used to have some superloops, but felt that those really had a lot of little parts to go south. I loved the binding, but had more than one day cut short due to equipment failure.

I've also skied the Voile hardwires which seemed just fine, too. Just another variation on the theme out there. Nothing to rave about, but no negatives for me either.

[Affix Snow]

With all the money I've spent on my knees I gotta vote for releasables

Like the Karhu?
How do they tour?
Whats good?

[el-bagr]

I use Hardwires on my powder boards -- they're one of the lightest binders out there. When I first started using them I had the same problem as jdw with popping out and turning the binder into an anklet a few times; seemed to be caused by not having the springs tight enough plus a little bad technique on my part (i.e. going up on tiptoe instead of flexing the bellows). A bit disconcerting when you're getting low on a fast cruiser and your duckbill pops out at the bottom of your turn... but if they're that loose, I've been able to get the toe back in the toebox without wrecking. Bent the hardwires slightly, but they're easy to hand-bend back to shape.

I don't use releasables, but don't really have a good reason why not... except (1) a history of beginning on ultra long skis with lots of knee torquing action and (2) being rather young yet and still on my original knees. Yeah, they're expensive, but as is often pointed out, they're cheaper than surgery.

As folks have said on the length, I like going relatively short (mid-160s to mid-170s, not counting twins). Very useful for much of the bc, trees, slides, and hiking trail skiing in the region.

[RR]

Like the Karhu?
How do they tour?
Whats good?

I have Voile CRB's on my metal edge touring skis (200cm) and have not tried the Karhu's. The CRB's can be a pain to reset after a release...but that's a short lived sort of pain.

Ask NHTele about his Karhu's...again with the interviews....I have asked three people about their Karhu's: each was happy with the toughness and felt like it was a bit of a process to dial in the settings.

Remember: No one will admit they spent a lot of dough badly...at least not to their friends.

[Affix Snow]

Ill have to do some more research on the bindings.
I guess it comes down to prefernce or fear of blowing out knees.
Ive blown one out already. Then again, i tend to just deal with that when it happens. I guess i should be smart, but im still young and stupid.

Thanks for the help.

Think im gonna aim for the Jakbc or Work Stinx. Just need to find a deal on last years models!

[Affix Snow]

Bindings..............
Releasables.

what about 2004 Voile Hardwire CRB with Alpine Brake?

on ebay. Good deal or not. Good binding or not.

[RR]

Bindings..............
Releasables.

what about 2004 Voile Hardwire CRB with Alpine Brake?

on ebay. Good deal or not. Good binding or not.

I have the three pin cable CRB with brake...if I had to get a CRB over the Karhu because of the $ I'd rather it be the Hardwire. Dialing the CRB #'s is a bit of trial and error, but they have been consistent for me. I ski in old leathers so there's bound to be a lot of consistently undetected slop.

[Luddite]

I have a pair of targas, a pair of cobras and a pair of 7tms. The targas feel most neutral to me, haven't had any release issues yet. The cobras feel more powerful to me than the targas, but they're on different skis. The 7tms ski real nice, but are a pain for me to put on (Garas). Still I like release when I'm eating wood!

[Zack]

If you are still looking at the Jak, size up to the 180. If you are a decent skier you will be more than able to handle it. Its a soft round flex and skis MUCH shorter than its length, and that whole twin thing knocks off even more surface area. Its also got a really short turning radius, 21m, so it skis short to begin with. My 190 k2 lawnchairs have a real soft flex, and because of it feel a lot shorter than say my 180 explosivs which are quite stiff.

I think if you get the 170 you'll love it at the beginning, but hit its limitations quickly as you progress. The 180 might take some adjustment(no more than a day or two) but you'll thank the decision to size up farther down the season....especially if you take a trip out west.

[Affix Snow]

You bring up a good point. Dont want to kick myself later. Itll really depend on what i can find this summer. Thanks for te advice!