Northern Michigan WINTER Life - WINTER 2009-10 13
the Telemark way -Continued.
the inside edge, bringing the opposite ski into a parallel position during the turn. “The bindings stayed around for years,” Baker said. “My parents started skiing on them, probably through the fifties, the bear trap is what they were called. But it wasn’t telemarking, you did the alpine turn on them.” It wasn’t until the 1970’s, in Crested Butte, Colorado, that the telemark style started gaining momentum in the United States. “My uncle Mike Trumble went out in the mid 80’s, probably 1983, to Crested Butte and saw these guys doing it, and it was like whoa, because we’re all cross country skiers,” Baker said. “He came back and immediately taught us how to do it: me, my dad, my uncle, a bunch of friends and then we started doing it here and that was it. We just did it on regular cross country skis or whatever we had, so it’s changed a lot.” We reached the top of the hill and unloaded from the chair. Now it was time to see what I was made of. Baker instructed me to aim for something across the slope and put my downhill ski forward and bend my uphill knee as if I just came out of a turn. To initiate the turn, just slide the uphill ski forward, drop your butt down towards your downhill heel. “You want to be athletic, you don’t want to just run down the street, you want your hands forward and fairly low,” Baker said. “You want to think about your knees, you want to flex, keep everything loose and just bounce along.” I was doing it; I was bouncing along comfortably at a nice snail’s pace. I slid my uphill foot forward, bent my downhill knee, started to turn and… to the ground I went. Baker then explained that, the outside edge of my uphill ski should maintain pressure while the inside edge of my downhill ski should do the same. He also told me to make a “C” downhill with my body, because as soon as I lean uphill my ski will torque that way making for the ‘triangle of death.’ Off I went again, gliding along, I made a large wobbly turn and almost fell but saved myself. Yes I did it! I continued down the hill falling several more times, but also completing several more turns. We ventured on to more dangerous ground, up the green lift, to more challenging runs. I started to get the hang of it as we continued, falling less each run. “Remember your shoulders are important because they control your upper body, so you’ve got to have your hands up and your shoulders are going to follow your hands.” Baker reminded me. “When you get in the “tele” position you want to hold it the whole way through and at the end when you’re ready to turn, do a transition.” I could almost picture myself gliding through the woods, dressed in heavy furs, with a grizzly beard, a shield and sword in hand; ready to conquer Europe with my fellow Vikings. But today the sun was shining brightly above and there were happy spring skiers all around us, this was hardly a place to conquer and pillage. The improper techniques (falls) were also catching up to me, so Baker and I said our farewells. By the end of our lesson, I knew this was a sport I could get into. The Outfitter has teamed up with Nubs Nob through the Winter Sports School to offer lessons to interested beginners to advanced telemarkers looking to hone their skills. With a large selection of demo equipment and a staff with the expertise to answer your questions, learning to telemark, or at least getting the hang of it, is fun and easy. For more information, contact The Outfitter at (231) 526-2621, go online to www. outfitterharborsprings.com or visit them at 153 E. Main St. Harbor Springs. For more information visit www.nubsnob.com
Top: George Gess listens to tips from Josh Baker of The Outfitter. Left: Baker demonstrates the proper turning technique. Below: Baker looks on as Gess descends the hill. Bottom: Mark Flemming demonstrates his telemark stance.
Photos by Mark Flemming
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