Discover your inner ski bum with this inspiring story. Nanou went from literally a top cancer researcher in a laboratory to full time pro patrol in a year. After nearly a decade of her inner voice talking, she took a leap of fate and fulfilled her dream, drove out west and telemarked day in and day out.
A lot of these GREAT pictures are from William Eaton. A big thanks for letting me post them here. You can see his work on Instagram @Williameatonphoto
That’s more than a few.
Located in the State of Vermont, Mad River Glen is an Iconic mountain resort of Eastern North America. It’s got a Single Chair lift, and it’s barely got man made snow.
Needless to say it have been many years on my hit list.
So here I was, ready for my first ride up the Single, as the local call it, waiting in line when the guy behind ask me about my skis:”what kind are those”
And that was it. That’s all it took to embark on one of the easy going, best vibe and fun week end of my life. No wonder it’s been around for so long…
That’s how I meet Steve, Wendy and Ben and about two dozen other enthousiast. They have been part of MRG and NATO for all these years. They simply welcomed me in there universe: Do you like to ski in the trees? Wendy asked.
I did not know much about NATO (North American Telemark Organisation) but I knew they helped created telemark like it is today. Their movies the Joy of Telemark and Sweet Joy helped define and have shown a lot of people how to telemark over the years.
But I discovered the real influence NATO have over the sport. You cannot organize a festival for 39 year with such success if you are not dedicated to the sport like Dickie Hall, president, is. And it’s not only him, it’s a full crowd of passionate people including Wendy, Steve and Ben.
I was sucked in the telemark community. I ended up skiing with Steve or his friends, or his friends-friends for the week-end. I got shown the best glades, the worst glades, the steep, the fun boardercross like classic narrow runs. Just a blast. By the time the party came in the evening I felt like part of the Mad River community like if I had been part of it for years. Wendy took my under her wing, presented me to everybody. Drank the BEST beer ever, thanks to Lawson’s Finest Liquid, awesome band playing all the classic rock so that everyone is dancing, a super nice firework… You just can’t reproduce such a welcoming ambiance like that. You have it or you don’t. And the Mad locals definitely have it.
I got invited to a supper, to sleep over, to try the best blue berry pancakes ever…
See what kind of spirit I mean
The next day, back to square one, skiing steep, engaging runs with a large bunch of really fun people. All levels or age, just so dedicated. In the evening was the Bump Buffet race, a short mogul race with a small jump right at the bottom of the mountain for the best ambiance possible. The run was perfect for all levels from kids to expert skiers, everybody having fun and cheering for each other. I completely miss my first run and ended up putting a decent second run to win the event. What a blast.
Another round of Lawson’s perfect liquid, with a cool band…
I’ll definitely be there this year for the 40th anniversary. You need to be there too.
In Podcast #5 with Dickie Hall, I give you the chalenge to find a telemark event, festival near you. If you can’t decided, you should definitely check NATF 40th edition on March 7-8 2015. You can see all NATO schedule here
I found a lot of good video on youtube about Mad River Glen like this one
But none reflect the reality of this unique resort. You have to ski it. It’s steeper, more rugged, than any other ski area I’ve ever been in the East. Almost every run has cliffs, ice, bumps and rock mixed in such an unpredictable manner that it’s all in on every turn. The concentration, the commitment needs to be 100% on every turn.
I just love it.
The moto: Ski it if you can… Mad River Glen, is more than deserved.
Yet, everybody can ski it. It’s ski like it used to be, it’s ski like it should be. The very few groomed runs are narrow any turny, the glades are anywhere from tight to really tight and one third of the ski runs are not on the map. Yet, everybody could ski it…
Meeting with the ski patrollers, the number of injuries is very low compared to the national statistics. I was not so surprised. After many years pro patrolling on one of the hardest ski resort in Eastern Canada, I have only ever evacuate 4 or 5 injured people on a mogul run or in the glades. On the other side, I can’t count the number of days I have had more than 5 injured skiers in one day, on wide, groomed blue runs
The average skill level of the local Mad River Glenner is higher than average but even beginners were on the mountain and doing fine. Everyone’s pace is different, but every one could ski it.
If you want a chalenge, the best ambiance a mountain can give and meet the best people in Vermont, head over to the Mad River Glen 40th telemark festival with Dickie and his friends. You definitely won’t regret it.
Dickie is a hall of fame first pick in the telemark scene. It is said he has taught more poeple how to telemark than anybody on the planet. He is the founder of the North American Telemark Organisation or NATO and organiser of the North American Telemark Festival in Mad river Glen who is celebrating its 40th aniversary this year. And the list goes on…
Let’s meet one of the most influencial character of the telemark scene in North America in the last… did I say 40 years!
An example ogf what Dickie Hall early season war machine might look like.
Going to Alaska before people where going to Alaska to ski.
NATO, Dickie’s organisation, home of all clinics, trips and more
Killington ski resort
Pico ski resort. Where Dickie had the first telemark festival.
The NATF, The Mother of ALL festival, the 40th aniversary will be just awesome. Put it on your calendar, March 7-8 2015
Mad River Glen, 100% wild, 100% mad
Backcountry skiing next to my house, Jacques-Cartier National Park
Brian Mohr & Emily Jonhson from the Adventure Skier
Rasta: Rochester Area Sport Trail Alliance
Marc-André Béliveau interview by TGR
The original telemark skis with Edges, Karhu Titan.
The Famous single chair at Mad River Glen.
Devon Wright is a telemark racer on the US national team and a solid freerider. In his early twenty’s, his goal is to telemark around the world and to compete in what he describes the best competitive community on the planet. Telemark tribe, join us in this awesome story, with one of the best telemark skier on the planet
Show your love, SUBSCRIBE, rate and review
Rusutsu ski resort
Devon’s website (great place to help Devon funding for the season)
Big thanks to his sponsor’s
In this episode, I interview Craig, a telemark passionate, but more than anything a backcountry enthusiast. He runs a website called EarnYourTurns.com and a forum, BackcountryTalk.com
Craig is a reference in telemark gear. His reviews are well documented and renowned. In the end, Craig ends up being a super passionate person and a true story teller. Embark with us in his journey to a quarter century of BC and Telemark experience.
The original Alpine touring binding: The ramer
First plastic telemark boot : Terminator
We talked about a lot of binding models, See Craig’s binding review
Website: EarnYourTurns.com
Forum: BackcountryTalk.com
In this episode, we meet with a true product developer. Fortunately for us, his cousin introduced him to telemark. The first thing he realized, the bindings on the market where not the sport’s greatest assets. Discover the Meidjo, the new binding that is a cross over between NTN and TTS.
Links from the episodes:
Pierre’s web site The-M-Equipment, the Meidjo binding
Telemark Pyrennees, online telemark store : See the Meidjo for sale
Frank Telemarcoeur from telemarcoeur.com
Meidjo telemark festival: one cool telemark festival
Seb Mayer, Pro Telemark skier
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Welcome to the Absolute Telemark Tips Podcast,
It is here to talk about telemark skiing, interviewing community leaders, talking about equipment, telemark tips and more. My goal is simple, get as many people talking about telemark. Through out my many years as a telemark skier, one thing as always came out, the telemark community is just awesome. Discover all there is about the latest trends, the best places to go, the best athletes, the history of telemark through are awesome guests. I will also answer your questions what ever your level and ability. Telemark is full of passionate people, this is theTelemark Tribe I want you to discover.
Rene-Martin
In this first episode, I will tell you my passion for telemark and where it comes from. This is simply to present the podcast format.
We will talk about:
You can help this show by sharing this post on the web ANd by commenting below.
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, please ask
Also, when the episode is going to be accepted on Itunes, I will put a link so that you can leave a review and (hope fully a good) rating.
Spread telemark. Love the telemark tribe.
Ever since I hear of this last year, I have been waiting to see this new TTS binding
Here is Pierre Mouyade, onwer and inventor showing us is last preproduction model.
I have seen a production model and it’s almost the same
Click here to see my first post on these superbe looking bindings
I hope you are well seated.
This is the most exiting news I’ve seen this year. Damn, in years.
A prototype is starting to hit the French Alps, The M Equipment (www.the-m-equipment.com) as just release this prototype. It’s an Hybrid of the NTN system and the Tech system used in TTS. It looks just amazing.
If I had to describe a perfect Telemark binding, the M equipment would be pretty close
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See this video to get STOCKED
But there is more than weight to a telemark binding.
The prototype was tried by my good friend Frank from Telemarcoeur.com
Frank was called by a guy he’d never hear of to meet in a parking lot to see his new telemark binding prototype. Pierre Mouyade, engineer, and telemark skier had the next big thing to show. What a surprise Frank had. He couldn’t wait to try them on. He manage to borrow a pair of Scarpa TX pro (which he found too soft for the binding !) and of he went to La Meije to try the M Equipment prototype (see the original review here, use Google Translate if you don’t understand French)
Because Google Translate has it’s limits here’s a summary. He describes the binding as a very good prototype, very close to the final version. Frank was impressed by the feeling, very close to the NTN, coupled with the touring capacities of a Tech binding. he noted the attention to details on the prototype, he liked the step-in, the 6 holes mounting pattern and the great touring efficiency of the Tech toe piece. On the down side, the binding was not a good match for the Scarpa TX pro, the boot was too soft. Seb Mayer, a pro telemark skier from La Grave also tried the binding with the Crispi EVO boots and did not have that problem. In the end, both Telemark skiers loved the binding.
Pierre Mouyade – Engineer and inventor
If the commercial version can deliver, my prediction is that this is most probably the Editor’s choice of next year in many reviews.
We will try to get in touch with Pierre for more details so stay tuned…
We reached Pierre again and good news for all those of us who are waiting for the commercial version, the Meidjo
It is now in production and it will be launched on November 1st.
Check out our interview with Pierre here
Check our blog for more info, Pierre promised to give us so scoops in the next fews weeks
in the meanwhile check out the m-equipment website for this
[ois skin=”M Equipment”]
The Telemark Foundation subscription are well under way. TODAY is your last chance to get in the most complete telemark tutorial program ever presented on the WEB
The Foundation is built around the 7 FLAWS that are killling your telemark technique
Let’s see what is Flaw #1
Don’t forget that you have until TODAY 11:59 PM to subscribe
>> Click Here to get newson the next TELEMARK FOUNDATION opening <<
When asked what the Foundation could help solve, here are some ideas some of you shared:
«I had the most problem with equal weighting – getting enough weight onto the inside ski. This issue always resurfaces when I start to get tired, and I can see/feel my inside ski flapping about. I now know that when I feel this instability on the inside, I need to focus on pressing on that little toe but it took me a long time to work this out. The second biggest issue I had was ‘poodling’ – all the pictures from my first winter show a 3′ gap between my feet – seeing pictures and videos of myself helped fix that one.»
The Telemark Foundation will reveal the 7 flaws that is killing your telemark technique. Improving only one of these flaws will improve dramatically your telemark technique, guaranteed.
It is the first time that I will reveal those flaws, as it’s always been kind of my little secret. I use it to analyze what people need to improve. I’ve been successfully using this approach for 15 years now.
There is actually nothing like this on the web right now.
«Fear of change is probably the biggest challenge for most people. Not for me though, I embraced telemark fully and learned quickly. Now my biggest fear is being able to make quality, in control turns when the terrain is steep and narrow and conditions are tricky.»
Because of the personalize approach, their is ONLY 20 open spots. The Telemark Foundation is now closed
This first version of the Foundation is going to be unique. As Founding members you will get more for your money than we will ever give, promise.
What others think about it