mahgnillig
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I recently bought a pair of Madshus Epochs (backcountry skis with fish scales) for those times when the snow is too deep for my other XC skis (Madshus Voss). I figured the setup could serve double duty as light telemark gear, so I equipped them with Voile Hardwire bindings and bought some Scarpa T3 boots. Today was my first day out on them, and something doesn't seem right. Normally when I kick and glide on the flats on my skinny skis, my ankle flexes back and I kind of slide on the one ski while setting up for the next stride by flexing the opposite ankle forwards. This feels quite natural and comfortable for me and doesn't feel like I'm jamming my toes up against the front of the boot. When I switched to the heavier setup today and tried the same kick and glide motion, it was a whole different story. The T3 boots have a decent amount of forward lean, unlike my XC boots, so every time I tried to glide I got the same sensation as being in the back seat on Alpine skis, and my toes would push up against the toe box of the boots, which was really uncomfortable after a while.
I have since thermo moulded the boot liners (probably should have done that first!) to give myself a little more toe room, but the boots aren't really that tight, and that doesn't really address the back seat/toe bang issue. So my question for any other backcountry skiing divas is whether the technique is different when you are kicking and gliding on tele gear vs XC gear. If so, how should I be doing it?
I have since thermo moulded the boot liners (probably should have done that first!) to give myself a little more toe room, but the boots aren't really that tight, and that doesn't really address the back seat/toe bang issue. So my question for any other backcountry skiing divas is whether the technique is different when you are kicking and gliding on tele gear vs XC gear. If so, how should I be doing it?