Don't Hold Your Breath For The Fabled Free-Heel Resurgence

Everywhere I turn, I hear that a long hoped for prophecy has finally come true:



Telemark skiing is back.

"With a script seemingly from the ivory halls of Hollywood itself, telemark skiing is making a comeback," the venerable online backcountry retailer Skimo.co declared in their 2024/25 Season Preview. Other shops have taken to social media, giddily ogling new bindings from the likes of freemo darling ATK, a mainline ski brand whose reentrance into telemark feels especially heady.



And it hasn't stopped at retailers. Rank-and-file free-heelers have taken to forum boards and Instagram comments to echo this, declaring that telemark is having a moment, and that the new gear and a fresh corps of telers represents a new dawn for the genuflecting turn.



I've even picked up the mantle myself, proclaiming that free-heel's modern evolution shows that The Turn has indeed returned.



But no matter how much the sport has evolved lately; no matter how often us free-heel talking heads have declared a new day, much stands in the way of a fully-fledged telemark revival.



And not only is that okay, it might be a good thing.

The idea that telemark is finally reemerging into the wider skiing consciousness is based on two recent and connected evolutions; gear innovation and what appears to be rising participation. Less obliged to an older, usually negatively attributed stereotype, the modern free-heel newschool has brought a trendy, stylish approach to telemark, broadcasting it via social media, in turn influencing many to take to tele. Pair that with modern gear, and a new wave of free-heel skiing seems nigh.



But we've been here before. And it didn't end all that well for ol' telemark.



Long utilized as a quiet form of overland travel, free-heel skiing legendarily rose to distinction in the 1970s as a countercultural, backcountry approach to skiing. Decades later, as plastic boots, more active bindings, and a maturing backcountry movement coalesced in the 1990s, telemark skiing saw a pronounced second bump. With it came widespread coverage, gear options galore, and growing social cachet.

But there was a fly in the ointment. "‘Learn to telemark' used to be the mantralike response you got whenever you asked your local ski shop dude how to dabble in a little hut-to-hut action," began the 2003 Outside article "Rando Revolution." As the name of the piece implied, telemark's loftier standing was not long for this world. "The trouble then, as now, is that not everyone wants to spend a bunch of weekends enduring face plants on the bunny hill as preparation," the article continued presciently. From skiers to brands, telemark–long synonymous with backcountry gear–was abandoned. It became the forsaken snowsport, left to its own (mostly positive) devices.



But much has changed, and in just a few years. After decades of being propped up by DIYers and steadfast practitioners, innovative new gear from manufacturers has rekindled interest from a younger subset, moving telemark closer to wider relevance again.



But no matter how much it has evolved, I'm of the opinion that a permanent rise–or even the much fabled Third Wave of Telemark–will remain elusive.

For one, measuring the renewed interest telemark has garnered on social media, the newschool's medium of choice–is convenient, but fraught. While telemark accounts on Instagram receive thousands of likes and followers, they take place via algorithm as much as earnest discovery, hardly showing how far-reaching the modern telemark reach might actually be. While some interest from outside the industry is evident, like the coming release of ATK's new telemark binding in the fall of 2026, on the snow, the reality seems more muted.



Resorts do not appear to be adding telemark instructors, a standard during the sport's last rise. And many a ski shop–even those that were once leading free-heel retailers–often do not even have telemark skiers on staff. Likes and followers do point to something brewing in free-heel skiing, but those digital fingerprints don't necessarily translate to a growing field of telemark skiers.



Additionally, as with many modern trends, telemark skiing has been subject to ironic interpretation. A sort of hipster, jokey approach–best exemplified in things like snowblading telemark accounts and unserious declarations of skier's biggest mistakes as being ‘I tele ski,'–has permeated the scene. While this approach is used to strike a counterpoint to the overwrought seriousness many associated the sport with previously (see the joke from 2000s: no one cares you tele), much of telemark's recent online attention seems based on novelty or unconventional interest. For something that requires many years to become proficient in, this degree of hype may mark more a flash in the pan than a legitimate wave of participation.

Telemark's new gear and new guard still deserve credit. The newschool has achieved something that only a few years ago seemed impossible–a rehabilitation of telemark's relevance. And manufacturers have lately released resort and touring gear that has brought free-heel into the modern fold.



But how–and if–that points to sustainable growth for telemark is yet to be seen. And as long as the evidence is mostly bound to likes on social media, it may not show much at all.



And that might be a good thing.

How can that be? As with many things free-heel and beyond, a little history might be our guide.



If telemark was to go mainstream (or something close, like it did in the 90s and 00s), the scene would undoubtedly get much, just like it did then: more participants, a stronger subculture with more films and coverage, and a bunch of new gear.

But the mainline ski brands that created that paradigm are at best fair weather friends of telemark. With another major bump, we might get their return, but for how long? Ever prone to ebb and flow, a reestablished telemark world would inevitably be subject to the whiplash of brands coming back before then leaving all over again. Rising participation would be great, but a modest one would be best. That would help our long-time manufacturers–small, core outfits like 22 Designs, Voile, and beyond–instead of siphoning dollars to the big players. Some of them that were present during telemark's previous rise–K2, Rossignol, Black Diamond, and more–are nowhere to be found in free-heel now.

So what can telemark hope for then if not mainstream success? The same thing it always has: Off-the-beaten-path modesty, great gear, and a good turn.



The 3rd Wave of Tele would get us certain things, but the more modest rise we're living in now is already giving us what we need. And nothing we don't.

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This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 6:30 AM.