alpine skiing abuses your knees more than telemark

**charlesj** · 01-11-2025, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by parkmeister

since i have nothing of value to add to this topic, i just came here to say that this thread has the perfect combination of:

1. genuine and knowledgeable enthusiasts sharing their personal observations.
2. earnest and informative responses from a physiological perperspective.
3. a ton of lighthearted and self-effacing humor.
4. and no antagonistic, hostile, or uncivil bs.

happy new year, mags. may ullr smile upon us all.

Gosh, uhm. Thanks. May Ullr smile upon us all and may we all ski as much as we really want to as long as we can.

To be honest I started this hoping for a fight with clueless people hell bent on blathering about which they know little. I was looking for a fight because I was feeling ornery. I guess I should be glad that we’ll reasoned discourse followed. Thanks all for sharing your thoughts and insights.

So glad I was part of the ttips exodus back in the day twentiyish years ago. Good place to land. Have met and skied with a bunch of really good people from here. Catch you EC cats somewhere this winter

**TBS** · 01-11-2025, 11:14 AM

I tele’d for 15 years, gave it up 12 years ago when
- after about 20 linked turns my brain would say “initiate turn” and my legs would say “fuck you”
- I couldn’t keep up with my fixed heel colleagues - as you know Telemark is Norwegian for “Wait for me!”

I don’t know which is harder on the knees, but IME Tele is tougher on the rest of your body - I needed surgery on my cervical spine, one shoulder and one arm due to many mishaps with a free heel.

Telemark - free your heel and crash spectacularly!

**charlesj** · 02-03-2025, 02:43 PM

Have been doing both this season and my research with a sample of one confirms the theory. Obviously serious strength and youthful vigor make any skiing easier, sadly lacking both here. I prefer ice with a fixed heel but there’s something smoother and less jarring about the extended suspension you have with tele. When one makes alpine turns with tele gear the transmission of forces is about the same but my T-ones are softer than Hawx 130. Have wondered about softer boots as a way to reduce knee abuse but I think all my skis (and my brain) are fine with stiff alpine boots.

**shera** · 02-03-2025, 04:36 PM

My knees hurt. I ski alpine. QED

**stuckathuntermtn** · 02-03-2025, 07:48 PM

It usually hurts my back, not my knees.
So, yeah.

**bobz** · 02-03-2025, 09:04 PM

I think both fixed-heel and stiff boot free-heel offer their own special ways to mess up knees and other things, so I'm not about to pick a side on this.

But I know, mainly from reading up on running physiology, that using the muscles and tendons around the knees (while being on the watch for overuse injuries) strengthens the muscles and tendons (and even the bones) around the knees. I suspect tele skiers are getting more exercise in that area.

**2FUNKY** · 02-03-2025, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

It usually hurts my back, not my knees.
So, yeah.

Spinal or muscular?

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**stuckathuntermtn** · 02-03-2025, 10:29 PM

Why not both?
I have ankylosing spondylitis. Or however you spell it. It effects my entire body, and I definitely have a bit of osteoarthritis in some of my joints at this point in my life, but skiing around on big fat skis at Snowbowl (moguls) seems to do more to my back than my knees.

**2FUNKY** · 02-03-2025, 10:57 PM

Ah, sorry man. Get on some skinnies?

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**bio-smear** · 02-04-2025, 12:07 AM

This thread is proof we're living in a simulation. Came to TGR to bitch about my fuckered knee and here is this thread. Got an x-ray a few weeks ago that shows moderate osteoarthritis in the left knee. Hurts to kick back with it up on the ottoman. Walking with a limp, but bears weight with no pain. Back in October I spend a long day doing 10,000 squat thrusts in my mechanic's hangar working on my shitty airplane restoration. Granted, I came out hot straight from the desk but I'd also spent the summer swimming and riding stationary...lost 25 lbs. Something happened to my knee that day working in the hangar and now it's fucked. Still need to get to the ortho and get some proper imaging and eyeballs on the tissue instead of the bone, but arthritis...at 50? My knees have always been good until now.

end diary entry

Anyway, this thread is perfect because I skied with my young kids on Sunday and tele'd as usual. It's great for all the time spent on the flats skating and towing whining kids. Much easier on the knees for that kind of shredding. Slightly odd flex loading the magic carpet with that tacky rubber. I think tele is easier on the knees unless you're going low and hard and maybe ejecting. I try to ski tall and smooth, feels nice. Felt better than walking yesterday.