Hi All

New to the DC area (from OS) and looking to find a bootfitter to help with sorting out a painful pair of telemark boots. Any suggestions? I live in Bethesda, but happy to travel up to a couple of hours for the right place.

Alternatively, other than Whitegrass, where else sells telemark gear in the DMV? I could be in the market for a new pair of boots if these ones can't be beaten into shape.

Thanks

K

Welcome, Kieran.

Check out the Ski Center, located in Gaithersburg.  Ask for Brian.

Kieran wrote:

Hi All

New to the DC area (from OS) and looking to find a bootfitter to help with sorting out a painful pair of telemark boots. Any suggestions? I live in Bethesda, but happy to travel up to a couple of hours for the right place.

Alternatively, other than Whitegrass, where else sells telemark gear in the DMV? I could be in the market for a new pair of boots if these ones can't be beaten into shape.

Thanks

K

Oddly enough, I just learned that there is a fleet of telemark skis at Camelback in the Poconos.  Not that long a drive from DC.  Although Whitegrass may make more sense.  Be worth a call first either way.

Where did you used to ski the most?

Have you heard of the Fey brothers?  Learned about them on NYSkiBlog, which has quite a few tele skiers.  My daughter switched to tele several years ago, so I pay attention a bit to talk about tele gear.

http://www.telemarkdown.com

rivergirl wrote:

..  Ask for Brian.

Also, Brian at Pro-Fit in Leesburg is a bootfitter, and can work on tele binding mounts etc

Thanks all, I'll give one of the Brians a go - probably in Gaithersburg.

K

Whitetail had a pretty decent (but small) telemark demo program based out of their pro shop up until a few years ago when Dusty moved on.  While tele boot sales & fittings are likely a thing of the past at Whitetail, they do still have a large collection of manufacturer specific mounting jigs in the shop.  I have had a few bindings mounted there over the years and they have always done a good job in house.  Discounts for season pass holders.  Chip and his tribe at Whitegrass have a pretty good demo fleet of Voile's, although I have not had a need to check out his boot options. 

A good Alpine bootfitter can easily help with Tele boots.  I've worked with both of the bootfitters mentioned above and they are both great.  The main advantage that Brian at ski center has is he has a telemark background and carries boots in stock in case you want to try Tele Boots in the store.  By the way I think there are multiple Brian's at the store.  The one you are looking for is Beaumont although there are several good bootfitters there.

The tele gear at Camelback is actually affiliated with the Fey Brothers from Telemarkdown.  If you can't buy gear from a local shop ( I recommend always doing this so we keep the few shops we have) which is definitely possible since finding Tele gear is hard the Fey Brothers are super knowledgeable and will give you great info over the phone.

My two cents. Feel free to fire back with any questions.  Beaumont carries Outlaw X NTN bindings which are the hot new Tele binding.  I just got them and really like them.  By the way, if you are getting new boots I recommend going with the NTN protocol and not 75mm (duckbill) if you are going to be doing resort skiing (as opposed to say skiing at Whitegrass).  This is the future of the industry and the only reason not to be using an NTN binding is if you aren't ready to spring for boots.  Once again, my two cents but I guarantee the Fey brothers and Brian will tell you the same. 

Tom, have you had any releases skiing the Outlaw X?  I have been very happy with Hammerhead and Axl bindings and have skied bindings with no release capability for 30 years.  That’s just telemark.  Now, however, I’m recovering from 2 total knee replacements, the right one just 6 weeks ago.  When I get back to full ability, I’m going to want release bindings and I have great faith in 22Designs products.  As I understand it release is notDIN and I’m ok with that, but it is linked to the stiffness of the spring that resists the lifting of the heel.  So I’d love to hear from you and anyone with experience with these bindings.  PM is ok.  I realize that most of the above is Greek to most DCSkiers.  

 Have known Brian Beaumont and relied on his professional services for many years.  Great guy who is a top bootfitter.  Please give him my regards and to let me know if he gets to California.

tentative schedule for my return to skiing: cross country in February, alpine by April, telemark by next season.  This might be totally unrealistic but you gotta have a goal.

Denis - glad you will be back skiing soon. I only had the outlaws this season and have 15 days on them mostly in Vermont.  I skied them hard and never had any pre release issues. I also haven’t had any falls where I would have had a true release so I can’t comment on that aspect of their performance. Otherwise they are fantastic.  My previous bindings were Rotefella freerides which I liked but the outlaws are superior. True and easy step in once you get the knack of it. In the past people have complained about the brakes but from my experience so far there isn’t a problem anymore.  The Freedoms had a dead spot and a bit of an abrupt application of power as you flex the boot but the outlaw is much smoother and continuous.  The standard spring is plenty for almost anyone and you can adjust how active they are by simply hand adjusting a knob. I would recommend one of the lightest settings and the increase if you need to. I never had to.  Search for Absolutetelemark the guy there is very good and has a review and video on the binding. He likes it.  He switched to the M binding which is a tech binding which can be used for both tele and alpine but your boots have to be tech compatible. The Fey brother ski the M binding as well. However they are twice as much.  Both guys highly recommend the outlaw x.  Greg Dixon and grant bishop the national PSIA team members are on the outlaw x.

Hope this helps. If you have other questions fire away.

Tom, thanks for a very informative reply.

Denis wrote:

Tom, have you had any releases skiing the Outlaw X?  I have been very happy with Hammerhead and Axl bindings and have skied bindings with no release capability for 30 years.  That’s just telemark.  Now, however, I’m recovering from 2 total knee replacements, the right one just 6 weeks ago.  When I get back to full ability, I’m going to want release bindings and I have great faith in 22Designs products.  As I understand it release is notDIN and I’m ok with that, but it is linked to the stiffness of the spring that resists the lifting of the heel.  So I’d love to hear from you and anyone with experience with these bindings.  PM is ok.  I realize that most of the above is Greek to most DCSkiers.  

I'm enjoying the discussion. :-)  I had to learn from my daughter's teacher what bindings to get.  Went with 22Designs.  Cost almost as much as the skis, which was an easy decision since they are standard alpine skis that I know something about.  For her NTN is overkill given how little she is likely to ski until she is done with college.