Guys and Gear

I went to the ski-and-skate sale, hoping to pick up X-country skis and boots on the cheap.  There wasn't much there, but I couldn't get away because an older guy glommed onto me and started talking about gear, certifications, and how he switched to telemark skiing six years ago and never looked back. I am unfortunately polite and conversational, which kept him engaged even though I was eying the exits. He pointed out various differences in skis, especially the binding, explaining to me that he was an NTN skier, who call themselves "pinheads" because of the three pins in the toe of the binding...

Pinheads is exactly the sort of thing guys dream up for situations like that. He was describing the types of turns and the stress distribution on your knees and quads and I said, nodding seriously, that it sounded like the old stem christie turn I had learned as a boy.  He beamed and said that was exactly it, so I went a step further and said I had always thought (translation: it just occurred to me this second) that the telemark and the stem christie turns were just the Norwegian and Swedish versions of the same thing. He nodded excitedly and asked if I had ever been an instructor. It might be my weathered look. I looked it up later and that actually isn't quite true, but it's close enough to sneak past even an old gearhead. An example of the gear-focus I am talking about. Bill Bryson describes running into similar characters when preparing for his Appalachian Trail hike and frankly, guys everywhere recognise this from model train enthusiasts, firearms instructors, fishermen, craft brewers, and a thousand other pursuits.