01:45 PM PST on Thursday, December 22, 2005

By MARK MORICAL, AP Contributor

MOUNT BACHELOR, Ore. -- As the sun beat down on the Cow's Face run at Mount Bachelor, Jason Montoya and Chris Smith made sweeping, artistic turns on their telemark skis, dipping low into the crusty surface and spraying snow behind them.

AP

Denise Rowcroft skis at Mt. Bachelor on her lunch break in Bend, Ore.

Then the two ski instructors found some jumps.

 Smith hit one, popping into the air and crossing his ski tips while grabbing his left ski.

 "That was a mute grab," Smith said after a shaky landing. "We'll call it a tele-mute."

 Montoya and Smith are teachers of a ski discipline that was invented in the mid-1800s, even before conventional Alpine skiing. Telemark skiing, also called tele skiing, was resurrected in the 1970s and has been increasing in popularity ever since.

 Telemark skiers like the unique challenge of turning on free-heeled skis, the access to the backcountry, and a wider range of motion that allows for versatility. And the discipline is evolving toward freestyle.

 Sitting on the Summit chairlift at Mount Bachelor, Montoya, 33, recalled how he first learned to telemark ski. He and some buddies at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., grabbed some gear from the school's outdoor center and decided to learn how to tele ski in the backcountry at night during a full moon.

 "It was a learning experience," Montoya said. "Back then the equipment wasn't quite what it is today. One hundred feet down the run there was a little gully -- and we all ended face first in the gully."

 Montoya's story summarizes the tele skier's willingness to do things the hard way and passion for making fresh tracks in the backcountry. Telemark technique is a challenge to learn, and the sport is more of a workout than Alpine skiing and snowboarding, according to Montoya.

 Telemark bindings are equipped with a solid plate across the toe. A thin cable runs around the base of the boot and locks the toe so the heel can come up. There are a variety of telemark bindings, but generally they allow the skier's heel to come up away from the binding. The boots flex to allow skiers to move their heels up and down.

 Telemark skis are much the same as Alpine skis -- so much so that it is not uncommon for skiers to take telemark bindings and mount them onto Alpine skis.

 Telemark technique is not much different from, but is much more difficult than, Alpine skiing. When tele skiers turn, they lift their inside heel and bend their inside knee deeply, their outside leg in a lunge position in front of their inside leg.

 "It's definitely more work than snowboarding or Alpine as far as pressure on the legs," Montoya said. "It's continuous lunge movements all day."

 But when a telemark skier executes a perfect turn, it's a thing of beauty -- especially in powder, as tele skiers can go deeper into the snow as they dip down the mountain.

 Learning to tele ski, however, is not easy. Montoya preaches fundamentals and learning by progression.

 "Sometimes watching people telemark is like watching Bambi walk across a frozen lake," Montoya said. "Balance is the first fundamental thing, and stance -- just like snowboarding."

 Most tele skiers nowadays learn technique at a resort, and then eventually head into the backcountry, with beacons and probes for avalanche safety. Telemark skiers can put climbing skins on their skis to hike uphill then ski down, their free heels giving them better movement up hills.

 Montoya said that tele skiers still have a stigma attached to them as "hippies who eat granola and like to hang out in the backcountry." He said that telemark skiers are sometimes referred to as "knee-dipping tree fairies," a name that describes their technique as well as their love of the backcountry.

 Montoya said the stigma is not necessarily accurate. In fact, modern Alpine skiing came along after telemark skiing.

 Telemark is actually a region in southern Norway, where Sondre Norheim, considered the father of modern skiing, lived in the mid-1800s. Said to be fearless on steep hillsides and a master of jumping, Norheim is credited with inventing the telemark turn and the telemark style of skiing.

 At the turn of the 20th century, the free-heeled telemark style began to give way to Alpine style, which is suited better for downhill and slalom racing.

 Telemark skiing enjoyed a rebirth in the 1970s, while snowboarding was in the infant stages of becoming a new sport.

 Most of those new telemark skiers in the '70s could be found in the backcountry. Now, more and more tele skiers are found at ski resorts. And the sport and its equipment are evolving. Smith and Montoya both have twin-tipped telemark skis, which allow them to ride backward or "switch," giving them maneuverability in the halfpipe, and on rails and jumps.

 Riding freestyle on telemark skis is not easy. Because of the free-heeled style, tele skiers have a tendency to fall forward when they crash.

 "If you go too far forward, you can face plant in a hurry," Montoya warned.