Tele NNN-BC Downhill ~ xcD @ Keystone 06Feb19

Wow, ~5K of vert never taxed me like today. I needed to get more "real" downhill experience on the Fischer S-Bounds so today I hit Keystone. This is really my cross-country outfit but the skis do have metal edges which are supposed to enable decent telemarking downhill. Despite my somewhat beefy (Rotofella Magnum) NNN-BC bindings, I still can't quite drive the skis into tele turns as I was able to do on full telemarking setups. Still, I took a dozen runs and fortunately there was some soft snow. I was decent and capable by the end and did 10 laps on Ranger (received the "Creature of Habit" pin) and runs on Schoolmarm - keeping balance over both front and back skis evenly through the whole turn is key - as is keeping my poles back/down with both knees bent athletically. I noticed when tired my back leg went "doggy" and didn't help with the turn enough, making the whole thing sketchy. Too, if my laces loosen and make my mating to the ski even weaker, things got dangerous. Free heels, especially when my toes are so lightly loaded, and bobbing all day with knees bent, is tiring. I don't think I'd be pretty at all on steep stuff unless there's a lot more fresh snow - I didn't even venture to a blue run today; I surely could snow plow it but I was trying to ski.