INKOM — Ski historians call Sondre Norheim the father of telemark skiing.

The 43-year-old tenant farmer earned this distinction in 1868 when he won Norway’s first national skiing competition in Oslo. Norheim beat out a slew of younger skiers, even though he was armed only with a rickety pair of telemark skis.

In telemark skiing, only the toe of the boot is attached to the ski, leaving the heel disconnected. It’s much different than modern Alpine ski equipment, where the boot is fully bound to the ski.

Telemark skiing is one of the oldest forms of skiing in existence, and Pebble Creek Ski Area in Inkom will be celebrating the sport at its annual Telemark Festival on Saturday.

The race will begin at 1 p.m. and will bring together the skills of telemarking and cross-country travel, combining slalom and uphill gates.

Registration will be in the lodge from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the registration fee is $25.

An awards ceremony and a drawing for prizes will be held after the race.

Though the history of telemarking can be traced to ancient times, its modern history began in the 1970s. During this time, many skiers were looking for more practical equipment to find fresh powder away from the ski resorts.

“If you can develop your telemark skills, it opens up the entire backcountry,” said Brian Hetrick, director at ISU Outdoor Adventure Rentals. “When you’re traveling, a rigid boot system can be very uncomfortable, but telemark skis give you more flexibility.”

Naturally, it was common during this time for the downhill and telemark skiers to exchange some friendly verbal jabs. The telemarkers would remark “free your heel, free your mind,” while downhillers would jokingly reply, “fix the heel, fix the problem” or “half a binding, half a brain.”

But there was a romance for many of the era’s telemark revivalists, who protested against the mass commercialization of the ski industry and sought sanctuary in the backcountry. This free spirit mentality is one of the reasons why Pebble Creek tie-dyes participants’ T-shirts at the conclusion of the Telemark Festival.

The binding in particular plays a huge role in telemark skiing, and they have come a long way since the days of Norheim. Back then, skis were largely made up of tough leather straps attached to two wood planks to hold the toes in place.

Now, the boots are made of more durable plastic.

“The boots and the binds have modernized,” said Tim Arrington, a Level 3 certified telemark ski instructor at Pebble Creek. “The technology has come a long way since the 1970s, especially in the past 10 to 15 years.”

But in many respects, telemarking nowadays can be considered a fringe version of skiing, as the majority of ski bums prefer the full binding option. Telemarking requires a different set of technical skills, where skiers utilize a unique lunging motion to control their movement down the mountain.

“When your heel isn’t locked, there is that perpetual fear of face planting for a lot of skiers,” Arrington said. “You almost have opposite stances to where your feet are supposed to be on full-heel skis.”

While there is an ample supply of downhill ski equipment at numerous specialty shops around east Idaho, telemark equipment can be difficult to find.

Hetrick said that even though the Outdoor Adventure Center rents out telemark ski gear, his department is considering paring down on this type of equipment.

“There’s a lot of demand for downhill skiing equipment, so it pays for itself,” he said. “But demand for telemark is just not out there for shops to recoup their investments.”

Arrington also said the National Outdoor Leadership School has also been phasing out telemark equipment in favor of Alpine touring gear in recent years.

Because of the lack of rentals, Hetrick said most skiers who get into telemark usually have to buy their own equipment. The lack of rentals also makes trying the sport more difficult.

But Arrington said for most skiers, it comes down to a matter of preference.

“A lot of strong Alpine skiers get into it for a new challenge,” he said.