Telemark or free heel skiing is now very popular with off piste or touring skiers. Telemark skiing (also known as "free heel skiing") is a form of downhill skiing using bindings where the boot is attached only at the toe (similar to those of Cross-country skiing), allowing the heel to come up from the ski. Because the heel is free, it allows the skier to go into a lunge position in order to turn. The act of lunging while turning is a technique called the telemark turn. Telemark turns are led with the heel flat on the outside ski (which becomes the downhill ski at the end of the turn) with the knee at a 90-degree angle. The inside (and uphill) ski slides back under the skier's body with a flexed knee and raised heel. This position resembles that of a lunge. The skis are staggered but not quite parallel, and the downhill ski is pushed forward by the skier’s lunge. Normally the 50% to 60% of the body weight is distributed on the outside ski, depending on snow conditions. The Telemark turn came to the attention of the Norwegian public in 1868, when Sondre Norheim took part in a ski jumping competition. Norheim's technique of fluid turns soon dominated skiing, and in Norway it continued to do well into the next century. Starting in the 1910s, newer techniques based on the stem gradually replaced Telemark in the Alpine countries. Newer techniques were easier to master and enabled shorter turns better suited for steeper alpine terrain and skiing downhill. The Telemark turn became the technique of ski touring in rolling terrain. The technique is named after the Telemark region of Norway, just as the stem Christie turn was named after Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. As well as inventing the Telemark turn, Sondre Norheim and his fellow skiers used and refined parallel skiing techniques. Thus, while the Telemark is part of early skiing's foundation, parallel techniques are of equal importance.
