(no subject)

[apoetic]

I've been getting really into telemark skiing in the last few days, the concept being that the telemark binding only secures the toes of your boots to the skis, leaving the heel free to move up and down. It's basically the black sheep of the skiing/snowboarding family with a fairly small community of fanatically devoted Telemark adherents who praise it at every opportunity without being able to come up with any real reasons why it's so great. In downhill settings it performs worse than standard Alpine skis in virtually all snow conditions due to decreased stability, and exponentially increases the risk of injury due to a lack of quick-release bindings. In response, telemarkers insist that the style has special intangible, ethereal qualities, and are very serious about getting into the "zen" of the telemark turn, which they consider an art form in itself. All in all, I think it's really funny and something I'd like to do, largely so that when people inquired about my strange skis I could enigmatically reply: "free the heel, free the mind, bro".

I'll be back in Berkeley on Monday with a new and improved schedule that trades my early weekday mornings for a free friday afternoon. I anticipate a newfound contempt for my alarm clock this semester.