This is one of the common questions on these forums, and you will find all the information you need by doing a search here.

The recent thread was "High wind tacking", I suggest you start there: High wind tacking

It's fun to see the sport of free heel skiing spread, since just 20 years has gone since it's new conception here in Norway. It was almost forgotten, but in the '80s it caught on again..
I spent 10 winters on telemark skis, but my knees could not take it any longer. So I switched to a snowboard from Voile for backcountry use. Split Decision
This cured my knee problems, and I have found it to be a more versatile tool than free-heel skiing (hard to admit, for a norwegian), superb when you break trough the upper crust with skis
I only do off-piste skiing, so it was either this, randonne skis or a lot of pain on telemark skis.

Rolf