These Are The Best Skis For Telemarking In 2026

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Free-heelers have long debated what characteristics a ski used for the telemark technique should have. Notions of construction, dimensions, even philosophy come to the fold, becoming ever more prudent as the technique has bifurcated into iterations both more alpine-adjacent and striking a continuity with telemark’s original overland method.

Cliche as it is, part of the beauty of free-heel skiing is the many forms it can take. While all based on the Nordic downhill method, what steam one may take to in their telemark journey is often all their own. And from models designed to tackle high peaks to those tuned to hard-charging laps–even the unintentionally subversive skinny meadow-skippers–The Turn’s skis mirror that breadth.

Of course, it’s possible to use many “alpine-specific” skis mounted with a telemark binding, but here’s a short list of our favorite skis specifically designed for the case.

About Powder’s Best Ofs

Our Best Of lists are collections of the skis, boots, outerwear, and other gear that stood out to us while testing. If you want to learn more about how reviews work at Powder, we’re very transparent about our process.

These lists are constantly growing and evolving as we try new gear, all season long. If you’ve got a favorite piece of equipment that you think we should write about, let us know here. And, if you represent a brand or company and think your gear deserves a writeup, we’d love to get in touch. 

Best Telemark Touring Ski: Voile Endeavor

Telemark skiers of the modern touring persuasion–that is, along the lines of alpine touring and ski mountaineering–face a conundrum. The lightest skis of the era using superlight wood cores like paulownia, while typically allowing for solid free-heel turns, are subject to catastrophic failure using telemark bindings. Moreover, these models are typically not covered under warranty when mounted telemark. The forces of the free-heel turn are often more than an uberlight ski can handle over time, creating the need for a trade-off; slightly heavier models that can take a telemark mount, but are still light enough for bigger objectives. And that ski is Voile’s Endeavor.

The model is a response to many a free-heeler’s grumbling that Voile’s Objective–itself a paulownia-core ski–is warranty-void if mounted telemark. Thus the legacy telemark-leaning brand came to market with the Endeavor. It uses the same dimensions as the Objective, but utilizes a poplar core that retains a telemark binding better, but also allows for a smooth, damp flex in the turn. Win, win.

The ski is indeed on the narrower side at 82mm underfoot at the 171cm length, but the stouter build and rockered profile can still bring it in most snow conditions. And at 2713g per pair the skis certainly aren’t of the lightest variety, but offer a better turn for the trade. And they aren’t so heavy when strapped to the backpack.

The Endeavor has quickly become a top seller for Voile, and the maker offers the ski in a slew of lengths: 157cm, 164cm, 171cm, 178cm, and 184cm.

Best Telemark Resort Ski: Bishop Telemark Chedi

Telemark as a whole seemed to have long ago dismissed the notion of telemark-specific skis. While models like K2’s classic line of tele skis were well situated to free-heel skiing, they were often simply of a construction favorable to telemark–essentially soft-flexing alpine skis. Moreover, while distinct models like the late boutique brand ScottyBob and their asymmetrical tele-specific skis won many fans, they were also divisive, with many claiming they little improved the skiing experience.

But a fresh take on the telemark-specific ski has emerged in Bishop Telemark’s new line of skis, including their Chedi, a stoutly constructed 100mm underfoot model that is a fun and versatile plank that pairs well with the aggressive new guard in bindings.

Built at the Never Summer snowboard factory in Denver, Colorado, Bishop Telemark’s skis are well-constructed and beautifully designed. But the defining feature of the skis is what owner Dave Bombard has christened his Telem-arc Technology, a proprietary blend of features that he claims take to a telemark turn better than standard alpine skis. That includes a pronounced mounting zone under the toe that quickly tapers vertically toward the tail due to lesser mounting needs at the heel. Coupled with sidecut and tip flex with free-heel skiing in mind, Bombard feels these skis more naturally allow for a smooth telemark turn.

And the Chedi indeed skis. Unapologetically beefy, it takes to a slew of conditions well, and pairs with a binding like 22 Designs’ Bandit symbiotically, both situated well to where telemark sees its most aggressive and modern version–at the resort.

Best Entry-Level Plank In All Of Skiing: Madshus Panorama 68 

Did it turn your head that I called out an extra cambered skinny option as the best entry level ski not just in telemark but all of skiing? I am indeed being provocative, but I have an argument.

From consumers to producers, skiing is obsessed with gear innovation. And while we all benefit from the slew of features our gear now affords–tech toes, rocker, and waterproof clothing being amongst my favorites–this preoccupation with equipment has led to the rise of gear determinism in not only skiing, but the outdoor culture as a whole. This often subconscious construct–that equipment and the never ending innovation and purchase of such is as or more operative to successfully enjoying skiing than any other notion–has given the ski world a myopic view on tenets as core to the craft as technique, personal discovery, and even simply having fun.

That is part of the reason why I chose a $350 ski rooted not in conspicuous consumption and mainline definitions of what constitutes proper skiing, but in overland simplicity, granting a subversively accessible way to ski the backcountry–regardless of ability, experience or objective.

That ski is the Madshus Panorama 68. Previously known as the Madshus Epoch, and based entirely on the eminent if departed free-heel maker Karhu’s 10th Mountain ski, the Panorama 68 continues a legacy of cross-country downhill searching for turns. And in a world where many of us bring fixed-heel fatties onto low-angle midwinter slopes, the fish scaled Pano 68–pairing well with a three-pin telemark binding (themselves less than $150)–offers not only an exciting and liberating way to enjoy meadow skipping while the snowpack stabilizes. Its trailhead-leaning nature and truly entry-level price point makes it an amazing choice for enjoying skiing without pretenses. Or purchasing a megapass and contributing to all the problems that go with them.

And paired with a low-cut plastic telemark boot–like Scarpa’s T4–the Panorama 68 might just surprise you with how well it skis.