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Getting around on skis 4-Aug-2009 At 4:53:18 PM foreverabumbly

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To answer your original topic questions, I would say it would depend entirly on where you want to ski!!!!!!!

useless I know.

If you were heading out to Bogong high plains then I would get touring ski's with a pattern and light plastic boots with a mid range tele binding (eg. Rottafella chilli's)

If you wanted to do Bogong or other like minded stuff then I would get heavier boots and bindings, telemark or downhill ski's and some skins.

I wouldnt really combine skiing and climbing

Telemarking and touring dont have to go hand in hand, although both get rid of the training heels, you can still tour entirly by snow ploughing and stem christies. You can alpine ski (parallel or Christiania for the purists) with tele bindings - it just takes more technique than on downhill bindings. Im constantly amazed at the lack of technique showed by a lot of resort skiers.

You will learn good tele technique by getting lessons at a resort. There is very much an old way of telemarking and a new way, as the instructional handbook has been updated recently. So ask around your local resort to find the best instructors - they are kinda rare in Australia. Alternatly you could do what I did and head across to NZ and get lessons there. (though because NZ gets real snow you will have to adapt to Aussie ice and wetness by getting a lot scrappier.)

Also, if all you have skied on is groomed runs then expect to suck for a while until you get used to ungroomed stuff. And also learn diferent styles. Sometimes the best way to get down a slope is by step turning, or by aggressivly stemming, or by doing some parallel jump turns.

Or by carving sweet phat tele turns to the envy of everyone watching:) (particularly your downhill skier buddies!)