Teleboard

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Teleboard, side view Teleboard profile.jpg
Teleboard, side view
A teleboarder riding a King Carve 191 at Wachusett Mountain Teleboarder at wachusett in 2007.jpg
A teleboarder riding a King Carve 191 at Wachusett Mountain

Developed during the winter of 1996 by Martin and Erik Fey, the Teleboard consists of a long, narrow snowboard, or wide ski, with two free-heel telemark bindings arranged one in front of the other at a slight angle to the longitudinal axis. This is similar to a skwal which uses fixed-heel bindings mounted in line with each other.

Contents

History

When experimenting with successively narrower alpine snowboards to allow for quicker turns, the Fey brothers ended up with a board that could not fit hard-plate snowboard bindings, and tried telemark bindings instead. After a successful trial down a mogul run at Killington (one of the only remaining open trails in New England at the end of that ski season), they continued to refine the design. The Teleboard earned them two patents between 1997 and 1999. The Fey Bros went on to found Telemarkdown.com and continue to sell Teleboards as well as Telemark and AT ski gear in their two New England shops.

Physical characteristics

The unique binding alignment coupled with the use of free-heel bindings on the teleboard allows the rider to face forward and have complete freedom over weight distribution. The rider can focus their weight down on the center of the board to flex it and carve tightly, or distribute weight over the length to keep the board straighter. Also, weight can be shifted vertically, by standing tall or kneeling. This extension and flexion is an essential part of carved turns, and the extent of them that the teleboard allows lends itself to deep or extreme carving. The extremely close angle of the bindings, along with the long length and narrow width of the board make the Teleboard extremely easy to use for quick edge changes, rendering the board ideal for riding bumps, carving tight turns, and reacting to unexpected obstacles. Also, the edge radius of Teleboards tends to be very small, comparable to slalom skis, which is unusual for skiing or riding devices as long as a teleboard. Because the bindings are mounted almost in-line with the direction of the board, it is possible for the rider to use poles, which can aid the rider in learning the sport.

Patents

The patent for the Teleboard is held by Uniboard, Inc. (US Patent #6000711)

The abstract is as follows:

A skiboard system is provided, which includes a divisible skiboard having left and right skiboard halves and left and right loose heel binding. When the skiboard halves are joined, the skiboard has a central, waist portion and an upward curving front shovel area. The left and right loose heel bindings may be secured on the left and right skiboard halves when the skiboard halves are divided, oriented substantially parallel to the longitudinal axes or the skiboard halves. When the skiboard halves are joined, the left and right loose heel bindings are mounted on opposite sides of the skiboard waist at an acute angle less than 35 degrees from the longitudinal axis.

No implementation of this 'split' board described in the patent is commercially available. All commercial teleboards are made of a single monolithic piece, and therefore are most appropriate for resort skiing, not the backcountry approaches which would be possible with a splitboard.

Specifications

There are currently four different models of teleboards ranging from 168 cm to 191 cm.

Pipe Dreamer 168

The Pipe Dreamer 168 was designed for the pipe and park, and for younger, lighter riders. The deck is 168 cm long, with dimensions (Tip / Waist / Tail) of 187mm, 120mm, 183mm. The sidecut radius is 9.4m with an effective edge of 148 cm.

Legend 181

The legend 181 is based on the design of the original Teleboard. It was the first Teleboard to make the descent of Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine. The deck is 181 cm long with dimensions (Tip / Waist / Tail) of 195mm, 122mm, and 179mm. The sidecut radius is 9.3m with an effective edge of 158 cm.

Pursuit 191

The Pursuit 191 along with the King Carve 191 are the two longest Teleboards available. The Pursuit 191 was designed to be the longer brethren to the Legend 181 for those who want the additional stability which comes with a longer plank. The dimensions (Tip / Waist / Tail ) are 199 cm, 127 cm, and 185 cm. The sidecut radius is 9.3m with an effective edge of 168 cm.

King Carve 191

The King Carve 191 was a stiffer version of the Pursuit 191 mounted with 25mm solid polymer risers and Rottefella Cobra K hardwire bindings. The dimensions are identical to the Pursuit 191.

2013 Mark F 186

186cm. Added early rise; gives the board much better float in powder AND also makes the tip easier to manage in moguls

2013 Sheriff 198

Even bigger. Even more stable.

See also

External references

Related Research Articles

Snowboard Winter sport equipment

Snowboards are boards where both feet are secured to the same board, which are wider than skis, with the ability to glide on snow. Snowboards widths are between 6 and 12 inches or 15 to 30 centimeters. Snowboards are differentiated from monoskis by the stance of the user. In monoskiing, the user stands with feet inline with direction of travel, whereas in snowboarding, users stand with feet transverse to the longitude of the board. Users of such equipment may be referred to as snowboarders. Commercial snowboards generally require extra equipment such as bindings and special boots which help secure both feet of a snowboarder, who generally rides in an upright position. These types of boards are commonly used by people at ski hills or resorts for leisure, entertainment, and competitive purposes in the activity called snowboarding.

Skiing Recreational activity and sport using skis

Skiing is a means of transport using skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International Ski Federation (FIS).

A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can be attached at the base of the ski.

Snowboarding Winter sport

Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered slope while standing on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games.

Alpine skiing Sport of skiing downhill

Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing, which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for recreation or for sport, it is typically practised at ski resorts, which provide such services as ski lifts, artificial snow making, snow grooming, restaurants, and ski patrol.

Ice skate Boots with blades attached to the bottom for propelling the bearer across a sheet of ice

Ice skates are metal blades attached underfoot and used to propel the bearer across a sheet of ice while ice skating.

History of skiing skiing from 7000 BC to today

Skiing, or traveling over snow on skis, has a history of at least eight millennia. The earliest archaeological examples of skis were found in Russia and date to 6000 BCE. Although modern skiing has evolved from beginnings in Scandinavia, 5000-year-old wall paintings suggest use of skis in the Xinjiang region of what is now China; however, this continues to be debated. Originally purely utilitarian, starting in the mid-1800s skiing became a popular recreational activity and sport, becoming practiced in snow-covered regions worldwide, and providing a market for the development of ski resorts and their related communities.

The parallel turn in alpine skiing is a method for turning which rolls the ski onto one edge, allowing it to bend into an arc. Thus bent, the ski follows the turn without sliding. It contrasts with earlier techniques such as the stem Christie, which slides the ski outward from the body ("stemming") to generate sideways force. Parallel turns generate much less friction and are more efficient both in maintaining speed and minimizing skier effort.

Ski boots are footwear used in skiing to provide a way to attach the skier to skis using ski bindings. The ski/boot/binding combination is used to effectively transmit control inputs from the skier's legs to the snow.

Giant slalom

Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles (gates) spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G.

Skwal

A skwal is the main piece of equipment used for skwalling, a hybrid sport combining the carving of skiing and riding feel of snowboarding. It is similar to a snowboard or monoski in that both feet are attached to the same board. On a skwal the feet are one in front of the other, in line with the direction the skwal is pointing in. This differs from snowboards and monoskis.

Monoski

A monoski is a single wide ski used for skiing on snow. The same boots, bindings, and poles are used as in alpine skiing. Unlike in snowboarding, both feet face forward, rather than sideways to the direction of travel. Similar equipment includes the skwal and the teleboard, with feet in tandem formation.

Splitboard

A splitboard is a snowboard that can be separated into two ski-like parts used with climbing skins to ascend slopes the same way alpine touring or telemark skis are. Similar to cross country skiing, splitboarding allows free heel movement and with skins attached to the bottom of the skis, provides uphill traction. The two halves can then be connected to form a regular snowboard for descent. Splitboarding culture often focuses on the idea of using your own power to access the backcountry usually on unmaintained trails.

Carved turn

A carved turn is a skiing term for the technique of turning by shifting the ski onto to its edges. When edged, the sidecut geometry causes the ski to bend into an arc, and the ski naturally follows this arc shape to produce a turning motion. The carve is efficient in allowing the skier to maintain speed because, unlike the older stem Christie and parallel turns, the skis don't create drag by sliding sideways.

Ski geometry

Ski geometry is the shape of the ski. Described in the direction of travel, the front of the ski, typically pointed or rounded, is the tip, the middle is the waist and the rear is the tail. Skis have four aspects that define their basic performance: length, width, sidecut and camber. Skis also differ in more minor ways to address certain niche roles. For instance, skis for moguls are much softer to absorb shocks from the quick and sharp turns of the moguls and skis for powder are much wider to provide more "float" in deeper, softer snow.

The Dual Edge Snowboard (DES) is a technical categorization of a general snowboard concept and technology, where a device or mechanism creates two simultaneously ridden edges for a snowsport equipment that allows the user to ride in a similar fashion to the basic (classic) snowboard.

Freeboard (skateboard)

A freeboard is a specialist skateboard designed to closely simulate the behaviour of a snowboard. Freeboards were developed to allow snowboarders to transition to skateboarding without the need to adapt to a smaller deck and narrower wheel-base.

Elan SCX

The SCX, for "SideCut eXtreme", was an alpine ski introduced by Elan in the winter of 1993/4. Skis before the SCX had almost always used a shape that was slightly curved inward on the sides, typically by 7 millimetres (0.28 in) compared to a straight line running from tip to tail. The SCX was designed with over 22 millimetres (0.87 in) "sidecut", producing a wasp-waisted ski unlike anything on the market.

This glossary of skiing and snowboarding terms is a list of definitions of terms and jargon used in skiing, snowboarding, and related winter sports.