Just in case you didn't really have an opinion either way...

www.telemarktips.com/AlpTouring1.html

Telly till your smelly!! I did notice that this year there are a few models of tele bindings that realease the front pivot and act more like an AT binding. They also came out with a toe-less tele boot this year that weighs as much as a tank, and the specialized bindings with all the bells and whistles, weighed even more? WTF? Telemarking started as a lightweight, free love, soul patch havin, dope smokin backcountry adventure that has unfortunately gone the way of over technofied, metrosexual, overweight gear. Maybe I should just get out the old leathers, three pins, and skinny tuas. Oh wait, those were sketchy at best!!Damn, I'm screwed. Doh!

Yeah, I just got a used pair of 75mm 3-pin boots for general touring. Those light bindings for that set-up are dang simple and cheap. I saw some mounted on skis for $25 at Sports Recycler.

That new Tele binding (New Tele Norm) is currently being argued about amongst manufacturers I think. Hopefully they will agree on a standard and not make some proprietary crap that won't work with anyone else's stuff.

I prefer AT! A lot of my Friend's in Tahoe prefer Tele and they like the fact that they get powder face shot's on day's with less than 8in powder.

I free heel ski exclusively, it's the way I learned to ski- with simple lace up leather boots and cable bindings. When plastic boots came out I made the switch and enjoyed the controll, since then it seems like tele gear just kept getting heavier, outweighing AT gear.
Since I wanted to keep my heels free but loose the weight I switched to NNNBC touring bindings with very beefy BC boots (Alpina BC2000) and some wide shaped Fisher touring skis (Rebounds) with "no wax" scale bases (this was the biggest leap of faith I made). I have been very pleased with this set-up and I love passing others heading up the trails with their heavy tele gear. Clearly this is not the way to go for area skiing where the weight doesn't matter but for the backcountry it's great for all but the steepest of terrain.

Everyone has great points here. I started to tele because i loved the movement and the light weight ease in the back country. I have a Fischer Boundless (fish scale), with a three pin cable by voile. The boots i use are the Garmont Excursion. I'm convinced that this is the best setup available for all but the most steep terrain. i love it and everyone i know who has tried it loves it. I alpined recently for the first time in nine years...and now i might convert back. I use to feel like seeing another tele skier on mountain was like seeing a kindred soul in an alien world, but now it just seems....well...commercialized. Like most things it's a blessing and a curse.
I think that rondone might be a good step for me. i can't fit crampons on my tele boots, and i want to be able to access some steeper terrain... does anyone have any advice on which setup is best( lightest, durable, control)...dynafit?...fritche?..

I'm just learning to Tele Ski (perhaps I'm part of what's making it commercialized but...) and wondering if there's anyone out there who enjoys giving lessons. I have a pass to Copper/WP and I can bake a really yummy pie. That's about all I got.

Sara, I know some tele peeps and can hook you up with some of that. You've climbed with my partner Adam. I was thinking of hitting Thrillseekers some night to check it out after Jan 1. Let's tawk.

As I planned, I've been skiing at the resorts with my AT stuff and it's been pretty cool. And they have been ejecting properly when I wreck, which happens at least two or three times a day for me. My knees thank me.

Any splitboarders out there?

You called? I ride a split decision Mountain Gun 171 (by Voile) oh, and I tele (bindings are Rottafellas), depends on the conditions; If it's deep than I'm riding. I love both disciplines and encourage people to take up both. Ride safe~

P.S.
If you're in Salt Lake and you are interested in learning more about the split board my buddy Kelly Robbins is holding a splitboard seminar Friday January 11 (6-9pm) and Saturday January 12, 2008 (8am-4pm) see EXUM of Utah's site at: exum.ofutah.com/backcountry.htm#board for more information.

Free the heel, ski for real!!!
just kidding, I love my tele's, but alpine is so much easier, which is nice when the skiing is really hard. I would love to have an AT setup, but the bindings cost an arm and a leg (both of which I prefer to use for skiing/climbing). When I can get decent AT bindings for less than $300 I might go for it, otherwise I'll be soul searching somewhere in the middle of a deep tele lunge...(or skiing my downhill skis!)

I got my Silvretta 500 bindings on sale brand new at Alpinglow for $188. My friend got her Silvretta 404s mounted on older Black Diamond skis with mohair skins from Craigslist for $100! So you can get what you need if you do a little digging, as with anything.

The cheap 3-pin 75mm bindings I bought and mounted on my free skis don't fit my Asolo boots. The welt is too tall, so you can't get the toe past the pins. Lame-o. I thought this stuff was more standardized, but apparently not.

I've been reading up on skiing history. Free heel was the only setup back in the day. Speed skiers used it, too. When the first locking heel design came up, prereleasing was a problem so many skiers stayed away. The next design to come along proved more reliable, so it caught on. This was strictly the alpine setup, not dual purpose touring/alpine.

Silvretta's are a big bummer for hard skiing. I use them with my plastic doubles for lower angle skins in to ice climbs, but otherwise they are useless. Dynafits are best if you are mostly going to do high mileage tours, Freerides are the ticket if you are going to ski hard.

You can find good AT bindings for under $300, but they are all going to be used at a ski swap. Lots of folks are switching out older style Explores or Freerides for the new freerides, so the used gear isn't that hard to come by.

I think you will find opposing opinions for most AT bindings. I use the Silvretta Pure and it's performed flawlessly in the backcountry, in-bounds as well. I would recommend it to anyone. As for other Silvretta products, I can't say. Many folks I've skied with claimed to have ripped every type of terrain on their dynafits without a problem. So too have I heard that the Freerides are bomber and can handle big hucks, but they're also one of the heaviest AT bindings on the market.

In my opinion most gear performance exceeds the ability of the user. Look at what we had just 10 years ago, and we made it work. Most users can probably find the features, weight, and movement of a binding that suits them and they will get the performance needed.

If you're not skiing down really really steep back country stuff then there is no need for an AT set up, unless you are lazy or have bad keens.

I had a free-heel cable binding biological release of the Achilles in the Vail Pass BC once, no climbing for a looong time. Technical climbers used to heavy packs and boots should use Black Diamond's Free-Ride AT Binding setup for the kind of trouble your likely to find. But there is a photo in my album showing some real Tele Mountaineering.

The Silvretta Pures are nice, its the cable toebail style that sucks for hard skiing.

I'm not lazy and I have control of my balance, so i Tele. People who are the opposite of me AT.
AT- Alternate Transportation for more lazy and less fortunately skilled people.

i also rock big fat tele skis any wear cuz what's an extra 5 to 10 mins up for a whole lot better ski down.


Thats how I roll

Scarpa f1 + Dynafit + Trab Duo Freerando = 12 pounds
Best setup I've ever had. Any day any run.

neat AT definition, but remember that the word telemark is norwegian for slow hippie.