What is the name of the ski technique and discipline developed in Norway’s Telemark region?

Telemark skiing is the ski technique and discipline developed in Norway’s Telemark region.

Telemark skiing is characterized by a free heel and a distinctive lunge-like turn in which the inside ski is drawn behind the outside ski. The technique is associated with Sondre Norheim, a skier from Morgedal in Telemark, Norway, who helped develop ski equipment and turning methods during the nineteenth century.

Unlike alpine skiing, in which the heel is fixed to the ski, Telemark bindings allow the heel to rise. This makes the equipment useful for both uphill travel and downhill turns. Modern Telemark skiing combines traditional technique with contemporary ski shapes, boots, and bindings.

The name refers to the Norwegian region, not to a particular mountain or a type of snow. Telemark skiing is also distinct from Nordic combined, which combines cross-country skiing with ski jumping, and from ski touring, which describes uphill travel and does not require a single turning technique.