Hey Telemark Tribe
This is it.
The moment a lot of you have been waiting for.
I’m so so excited.
Here are a few example of people emailing me about it
This years Telemark Foundation is going to be out of this league
I’ve been working VERY HARD and I know you’ll LOVE IT.
But more on that in a little bit.
A little bit about me:
When I started telemark skiing, I got hook instantly.
But it took me a couple of years to become comfortable on my telemark. I was not instantly at the same level that I was alpine skiing but I was out there doing it full time. At that point I had left the ski instructor position and moved out west in the Canadian Rockies. That first year, I had a hard a time on my tele.
Yes I enjoyed every moment, but I also struggle to ski the things I wanted to ski.
I can’t count how many times I cart wheeled down the slope or how many times I fell head first for memorable face plants.
Looking back, this was the most dangerous time in my progression.
I wanted to improve but I didn’t know how.
And I now realize I could have seriously injured a knee, my back or a shoulder.
I had a few people around to show me but it was always the “just do like me” technique.
Today people usually do not believe that I have no real talent for telemark.
But it’s true. If you look at my progression, I was not different than the average skier.
But I skied a lot. That’s really all I did.
More than 100 days a year for 15 years.
I’ve built a shack, camped, lived in trailers to work as little as possible and to ski as much as possible.
The best season was 1999-2000 in Whistler. I got a job at the ski school. In those days, if you told them you had a place to stay, they would hire you.
But on the first day when I told them I did not have a pair of alpine skis, they were dumb founded. They put me with the 3-4 years old and told me I could keep my winter boots. Perfect.
I worked 2 days a week, lived in a shack I built literally between two runs, and I skied every day I could. That year, I met a lot of really good telemark skiers, and skied with them. They showed me around but also, I got to watch them and try to execute.
If I’m not the fastest learner, my real talent is to analyse others.
How they do it, what they do that’s different, and I started to analyse every part of their skiing.
I remember one guy name Simon, a local that could do anything from jumping of 90 foot cliff to ski 65 degree slope to carve on ice. He was and still is today, the best telemark skier I’ve meet. And he was dedicated to being out there, in the mountains, day in and day out. I immediately hit it off with Simon.
Me on Whistler Peak
Me and Simon heading to the Fissile’s North face
Simon dropping in the North Face couloir
I also skied with a lot of other telemark skiers.
From looking at Simon and other great telemark skiers. I realize something.
That something became the basic element of how I teach telemark, how I analyse people’s main problem or flaw as I like to call it.
This is so powerful yet so simple.
Here’s why:
There’s only ONE THING that separates very good telemark skiers and the average telemark skier I was.
Only one thing.
Can you guess what it is?
It’s not talent
(When someone tells me they can’t progress it has nothing to do with pure talent. Even at high competitive levels, talent comes second).
It’s not equipment.
(The average telemark skier can spend 1000 to 3000$ a year on equipment, some way more. Good equipment is fun to have and it has improved greatly in the past decade but there were awesome telemark skiers before that).
It’s not where you ski or who you ski with
(Too many telemark skier focus on looking around to see who’s doing it and not)
So what is it?
It’s knowing what is killing your telemark right NOW
It’s having the ability to understand the steps to get where you want to be.
Not just being good,
Because, like Henry Ford said: Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re RIGHT
Here’s why:
Telemark is unique. The flow is unique.
Remember when you first got to link a few turns and just got that Haha moment.
And as you progress, it only gets better. The feeling of a great flowy powder run, or carving so much that your uphill leg touhs the snow is hard to beat.
And that’s often leading to not knowing what to focus on, what to do next in order to get that feeling
And we all know the reward: the feeling of the FREE HEEL, the energy created from those turns…
The best part?
Imagine you could know for sure what is killing your telemark skiing.
Know exactly the steps you need to do to improve like never before.
Once you start on this path, it become addictive.
But the truth is, the path to becoming a great telemark skier is not that complicated.
You only need to focus on the keys that will get you to the next step.
If you’ve have been telemark skiing for a couple of years, it becomes harder and harder to improve.
That’s a big problem.
Because when the good times comes, you want to enjoy every turn.
Whether is that trip that you have been planing or when the conditions are heaven like:
… I want to feel like I’m surfing down the hill.
… I want to carve that groomer,
… I want to float through powder and get those face shoots
… In the spring, I want to enjoy that perfect corn snow just soft enough that I can rail those turns, just hard enough that I can blast at high speed.
When the good times come (and there’s only a few a year) I certainly don’t want to feel insecure
(Am I going to break my leg and miss three weeks of work?)
I want to be on my A game and enjoy that flow so unique to the telemark turn.
The BIG question is:
How can you make this season the best in your life.
… without loosing the fun of the free heel turn
… without waisting days being burnt by noon
… without being frustrated spending time on tips that won’t work for you.
That’s where my project comes in.
I’m dubbing December “Biggest Change in your Telemark Month.”
And beginning on December 7th, I’ll share my recipe on how to create dedication, improve dramatically and find that light bulb moment you had that day. There will be HD videos, all-new webinars, and more.
More specifically, here’s what to expect:
This tutorials are based on the 7 flaws of telemark.
Through out my 17 years of teaching … I’ve discovered theses flaws kept coming back.
The 7 flaws are so powerful because they focus on what is not working NOW
Telemark is a complexe synchronization of movement.
Your main flaw is looking you down, whatever you try to improve, it’s not going to be easy.
Sometimes, focusing on the wrong problem can even get you in the wrong direction and do even more arm than good.
I’ve developed this method to rapidly and efficiently solve people’s main flaw.
Yeah that’s right.
We all have a main flaw that is really killing our telemark technique, and by simply eliminating that flaw, you will improve dramatically.
In this three video series, I will show you all the flaws.
I’ll also take you behind the scenes of two people that have followed this method.
Plus, you will get access to the exact sequence I use to improve year after year and how to effectively apply it to you.
This all means that I’m going to send you a lot of email over the next few weeks. And there will be work for you to do.
Right NOW?
You see, we’re starting the 2014-15 season, and if you’d like to CRUSH it on telemark from day 1, you’re going to LOVE the material I prepared for you.
But if you feel like you’re already skiing great, and you don’t need to know how really fast forward your path to improvement, feel free to click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email. No hard feelings.
Still here?
Great.
As I said, I will begin sending this material to you starting on December the 7th. In the mean time, I want you to do two things:
Thing #1
If you are not on my Newsletter, you need to subscribe to get all the content.
If you already receive my emails, great you’re all set
Thing #2
Are you going to join me (and the rest of the Telemark Tribe) on this journey towards passion and dedication ?
Leave a comment BELOW
In that comment, I want you to do one simple thing: tell us what is your greatest challenge on telemark. That’s it!
I’m still putting the finishing touches on this material, and this will be your chance to get your question answered by me personally.
Go leave a comment now.
Talk soon,
Rene-Martin
P.S. Look, if you are interested in improving massively this winter, don’t miss this. Over the next few days, I’m going to send you a TON of FREE training on how to telemark
Join Absolute Telemark
Hey Rene-Martin,
This new project of yours is really something awesome for the telemark tribe. Congratulations for all the hard work you’re putting into developping the sport and trying to increase the number of telemark skiers outhere. Can’t wait to December 7th to see the first vid !!!!
Oh yes, my challenge is to be able to ski down a mogul run when the bumps are hard pack and icy. See you on the slopes.
Roch
Great challenge Roch, probably the hardest of all
That’s so awesome, but let’s hope for snow!!!
This usually takes more than one flaw to master…
At the end of video #1 I will name all the Flaws, you will see that it can all make sense in putting it all together for skiing icy moguls. The Flaw #5 would be were I would start.
Thanks you for the support. It really makes a difference
Rene-Martin
I love all the information you post. The “first flaw” and the pre-season exercises have already improved both my tele and regular alpine skiing. I would like to have the muscles and confidence to do tele turns in all conditions AND happily go through a long field of moguls with pleasure, not the usual dread or terror with a “phew” (or a wipeout) at the end. I can’t wait to see your next video.
Hello Stephanie,
Thank you so much for the kind words. It really helps me stay motivated.
Great to see that you’ve seen result from the preseason’s trainning
Rene
Rene!
Your project to bring us together and share the stoke is really gaining momentum : )
My biggest challenge telemark skiing is: Skiing anything STEEP with control and confidence.
I used to ‘rush’ my transitions and/or ‘over-commit’ to my front ski (Flaw #1). In either case, it was difficult to find a neutral, ‘un-weighted’ position from which to initiate the next lead-change. I would often just traverse the slope and skid to a stop.
I have learned to stand ‘taller’ and ‘space’ my feet closer together in order to remain neutral, ready for the next transition in either direction. Generally speaking, this has greatly improved my ability and confidence.
It is relatively easy to maintain a tall, neutral stance with ‘turns’ of a longer radius. However, this style keeps me ‘in-the-fall-line’ and, on steeper slopes, results in significant speed. To this point in my development, I am nervous at speed because I am unsure of my ability to ‘check’ speed and remain balanced.
Deep, heavily weighted turns with lots of ‘deflection’ (twisting) at the waist are effective but…difficult to transition from!?!?
Hope this adds to the discussion.
Looking forward,
Wow John,
Great comment. It sure elevate the discussion
You will see that the flaws take you in a different path. That you will not see the end results the same way. And by knowig what you want to accomplish, you’re on a great start to find the right flaw to solve
Cheers
Rene
René-Martin! I’ve followed your project, although not very closely, for the last 2 seasons but now, I feel like this is the time for me to stop being lazy and get better in certain conditions. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a pass this year at the local hill but I’ll still get out there for pow runs.
My major flaw, I think, is that my stance is too long, and too narrow for my new boards.
Congrats on your website!
Sylvain
Hello Sylvain,
Your not lazy your a busy man or so I imagine… lol
That a very easy flaw to solve actually.
More on that in video 3
Hi Rene! Can’t wait for the videos. I purchased the «Riding Fakie» tutorials 2 years ago and it has changed the way I ski for ever.
Now that I can ride fakie, my goal this year is to ski moguls (and enjoy it!).
Keep posting my friend!
Thank you JS.
Riding moguls is not that hard. People often confuse riding moguls and doing it like at the Olympics.
My guess is that your going to love the 7 Flaws because it really takes you step by step to understand all the components to telemark the way you want to.
Cheers
Rene
Hello René,
I’ve seen your video with the first flaw and I think it
touches (not 100%) the problem I have – premature lead change which causes lots
of other troubles: difficulty with initiating the turn, instability, excessive
speed.
So my problems are very basic, yet I cannot solve them for
long time. Hope this season to be the breakthrough and have high expectations with
your videos to direct me :).
Take care,
Jurek
Hello Jerzy
Don’t worry, this is why it’s flaw#1. You are not the only one. And to be honest, it took me a while to get rid of it too. And like I showed in the video, it’s still happening to me.
If you have been stock with he same problem for a long time, it means that your head as learned to movement wrong. You need to reset your brain. HOW?
Try the exercises presented for only 15 minutes every time you go out and it will make a world of difference.
Hi Rene, Just found this website today. I’ve been telemarking on and off for about 6 years now, but have plateaued – probably stuck due to some or all of the ‘7 flaws’! I’ve definitely been guilty of rushing my transitions – I read somewhere that ‘speed masks performance’ with telemarking…
I’m pretty happy on groomed piste these days, where I struggle most is in trying to tighten up my turns in deep snow. I find I either glide along the surface, turning about as quickly as a container ship, or I end up resorting to ‘step’ turns – losing that sense of flow and smoothness of transition. It’s finding that balance of keeping positive control of the skis without stopping them from doing the turning, if that makes sense?!
Keep up the good work – definitely the best analysis of telemark technique I’ve managed to find online!
Hi Rene. I started telemark last year after 40 years of alpine skiing. I recently watched the first of the seven flaw videos and was able to make some huge improvements. I am still struggling to stay balanced between my lead and back foot after years of stiff alpine boots to lean on. Looking forward to more tips
I’m excited for this series -I hope I can be forwarded related emails from the previous month..?
my biggest challenge right now (aside from a torn mcl which has me grounded for another two weeks) is my upper body. I didn’t come to telemark from a strong alpine background & my upper body is a mess. my turns seem tight & my stance isn’t too spread out; but my upper body can cause unruly & undesired momentum shifts that require dampening.
that said, I’m looking forward to reading all of your tips & recommendations -as I’m sure they’ll all be of tremendous use to me.
cheers from park city!
lili
Hi René.
best niels
Started Telemarking in the late 80ies and stopped around 2000 due to backinjury. tried to get back a couple of times but got stuck more or less wirh alpine skiing and snowboard. It so much fun though so i have decided to give it at go. started powderskiing i went over to sking fast on the slope, bought your fakie video to slow all things down again, watched your flaw#1 video. I am realling curious about 2-7 :). My biggest problem is to carve: I ski in a classic matter, with lot of “hip bend”. i’ve analysed this on video. i clearly see the “banana” shape knowing i should bend in the other direction and lean into the curve. so there you go. i wanna learn to carve and ski telemark da nustyle way
hey Niels,
Great to hear you are back on your skis. Carving is soooo fun and deserves a lot of time and practice to master it.
One of my best tip is to sharpen your edges
Hey Rene!
Can’t wait for the season to begin. I purchased all your videos at the end of the previous season, so i didn’t have the chance to practice yet. I found them really helpful , watching them made me realise many of my mistakes, which was very important for me, since I am the only one among my friends who has an interest in telemark skiing.
My greatest challenge in Telemark is to be able to ski any kind of terrain and get rid of my alpine skis!
With your tutorials it feels like I’m not alone in this and this keeps me motivated and encouraged.
Keep up the good work, can’t wait to see your new video.
Cheers
Anna
Hello Anna,
Wow, that’s a great objective. For me the key here is to make the commitment, and then you will never go back to alpine. What ever the conditions, just stick to your telemarks.
The fun thing is that you can do some alpine turns on your tele if you are tired or that you friends are just going to fast…
Cheers
Rene