Episode
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- Опубліковано 12 лис 2023
- There’s been some things that have gone down lately that really got me thinking about the current state of Telemark and where I think it’s heading in the next few years and beyond. At first these things that happened seemed like incidents that didn’t have much to do with each other, but as I started thinking more and more about them the connections between them become much more apparent to me.
So I thought I’d connect the dots in a podcast and talk a little bit about each experience I had, how I think these types of things impact Telemark skiing, and ultimately discuss my THREE TOP REASONS TELEMARK SKIING STRUGGLES TO GROW.
Thanks for listening. - Madsen
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#telemark #spreadtelemark #freeheellife #skiing - Спорт
Since you’re not carrying Voile anymore, could you make a fishscale version of the protector 105, maybe softer and a bit more rocker, and also put a mountain goat on the top sheet?
All custom ski orders aside, I think it’s cool you guys are investing in yourselves and tele, and hope you sell a metric shit ton of boots, bindings, protectors.
Hopefully we get a few, more strategic locations in Telefornia.
I love Mammoth, but its a nearly 6 hour drive from most population centers in California. In my case, its a 6+ hour drive from the bay area once Tioga, Sonora, Monitor, and Ebbets pass close for the season. I hit Tahoe resorts significantly more often than Mammoth for this reason.
For backcountry adventures in the spring and early summer mammoth makes a bit more sense.
Selecting a shop in Truckee/North Lake Tahoe (The Backountry makes the most sense but Alpenglow would also work) and South Lake Tahoe (Tahoe Sports ltd.) would include far more of the market I believe you're attempting to hit.
Would also love to see inventory at fifth season inc. in Shasta but muuuch less traffic.
These are definitely the usual suspects in North and South Lake so I'm glad you took the time to share your thoughts. I took this down in my notes so I can research the other ones as well. Are you in the Bay Area then? Hope all is well. Cheers - Madsen
@@FreeheelLife Yep, I'm in the bay area.
I started last winter, without ever trying alpine. I did my research and was looking at AT setups, but as soon as I saw Tele, I thought why would I ever do anything else. Way more flexibility and freedom as far as style goes and simply badass. Peace
Thanks for sharing your expertise and insights about the future of Tele. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! - Madsen
Definition of "HardCharge". Madshit is hilarious, direct and informed as always. Appreciate the candor.
Thanks for your effort's Josh! It seems to me that once upon a time in my ski world experience, Telemark was practiced all over. On piste, off piste and everywhere in between. It was viewed simply as a way to ride snow and everyone thought it was cool. These days I frequently hear people say they used to telemark "for the back country" and even get asked why I STILL telemark. How did this attitude come to describe telemark? When? I mean in the 90's EVERY serious skier I knew wished they could telemark. Particularly in powder and powder-bumps. Did the lack of solid snowfall in the first decade of the 2000's contribute to this dustbin of history attitude? Did the rise of fat skis simply make the weightless-trancendental experience of skiing powder easier to achieve and the telemark technique offers a steeper learning curve toward that experience? What the heck happened?
Young people are what made Telemark grow in the 80's. It was the cool new thing and it was the way to get into the backcountry at the time, because AT was not readily available in the US and it was heavy and klunky compared to the light Tele gear at the time. Then they started calling AT "Rondonnee" in the US because it sounded cool, AT equipment became lighter and more readily available, while Tele gear got heavier and more expensive. Sure, you can't Tele on AT gear, but a lot of people didn't really care about that. The other thing that happened is snowboarding gained popularity, so that became the cool new thing for young people to try. So, by the late 90's, neither the young people, nor the backcountry crowd was particularly interested in it. The Tele skiers got older and many of them switched back to alpine skiing because it was easier on the body, or they just quit skiing altogether. Even those young kids like Josh Madsen and Jake Sakson are getting kind of old, ha!
Pretty easy answer. Tele skiing is more difficult physically and the learning curve is steeper.
I agree, but did you actually watch the video?
@@FreeheelLife
Tried. Podcasts really aren't my thing and I don't live in SLC.
I feel triggered...I love patchouli. Haha. Great points, Josh. It's the only turn worth protecting!
Ha! this is a patchouli safe space i promise. Thanks for listening Chris, I really appreciate it. - Madsen
Good for Josh to get this off his chest but I really wish he had paused to think, then deleted it, and started over. I've appreciated much of the FHL content over the years and was willing to overlook the self promotion (and failure to acknowledge some of the competition, eg, Crispi, Telemarkdown), because of course there is a business behind this. But this particular episode crossed a line. I'm checking out for the season. (Or trying to ... It will be hard to resist anything Dostie, or when the rumored new Scarpa boot comes to market.)
As a lowland European, it's interesting to hear what you say about the problems of growing Tele in USA. I ski throughout the year at an English indoor snowdome which has NTN Tele gear to rent. We have a core of Tele skiers skiing here regularly and it's resulted in so many Alpine skiers that have now come over to Tele including a man in his 80s. Two main reasons - seeing it in action and having equipment available. PS. I spent 10 consecutive years coming over for the Utah powder and miss it so much. Unfortunately Trump, guns and the exchange rate have put a stop to it.
Wow. I'm interested to see what sort of feedback you get from this episode. The industry is so small that it's almost too obvious which companies you're discussing. It almost made me uncomfortable, but it is a topic that deserves attention. Go into a big box retailer (think of a company based in Seattle for example) and ask them about the telemark bindings that they sell. You're likely to get as much relevant info from a random person off the street. But every telemark binding they sell is one that is coming out of another shop's pocket because Josh is spot on: the big retailers and some manufacturers aren't doing ANYTHING to help spread telemark.
I was confused by his diatribe. What companies was Josh alluding to?
@@bc6881 I wonder where all the V* skis & bindings disappeared to on the Freeheelife website?
Thanks for taking the time to listen and share your thoughts back. Totally agree that these are uncomfortable topics which is why I felt the need to share some of these experiences with other people that buy Telemark gear from the few companies that are doing it. Cheers - Madsen
Not sure i'd call it a diatribe but hey, you're welcome to your opinion on it for sure.. I didn't feel the need to call out specific names on this one - I think it's probably fairly obvious to most people that have followed us for a long time, so I'm good with that.
Was there something that wasn't clear that I could help you better understand? - Madsen
Fascinating episode. Because I am in the habit of consuming all things telemark , I could not look away. 😅 Having made over a million tele turns over the past decade (and co-founding the Taos Academy of Telemark & Nature) I feel I am sufficiently credentialed to share in your pain. As is often said, "No one cares that YOU tele." Every decade another crew of "newschoolers" comes along with a new movie that is oblivious to every other tele movie ever made (including your movies, including my movies, including ALL THE TELE MOVIES EVER MADE that (wait for it) no one cares about. Anyway, all we can do is bite our lip and take it. It's part of aging to recognize our irrelevance. What are you going to do? Correct the record?? Because tele skiers are anti-tradition, anti-authoritarian, anti-record, anti-fascist, anti-obedience, anti-structure, anti-standing on ceremony, anti-giving a shit about what anyone else has done to "protect" the turn. We just don't care. We just want to ski. We want to spread our wings and fly out over the mountains and escape petty mortal bullshit--and just do our thing with or without the entire lift line looking on in abject jealousy 😂. Sure, no one cares that we TELE, but as long as we keep dropping knees with whatever we got to drop knees with, TELE will remain in good hands. Btw, I could use some blue bird leashes for some meidjos I ready to slap on some Nordica Unleashed 98s. For them in-between days! Glad they still in production with FHL! Classics! -- telemón 🐏🏔️🙏🏾 #spreadtelemark #spreadnondominance #dropkneesnotbombs
#myspiritanimalisjakesakson
Great topic Josh. I started telemarking in the late 80's while working at Snowbird for a couple seasons. Also, worked with a company out of Bear Valley Ski Resort in California in the early 2k. It seemed the only time I really saw a jump in interest is when the telemark technology was finally catching up with the alpine world...that's until the AT tech. improved.... I do most of my skiing these days in Tahoe. The consistent pattern I still see to this day is that most people who ski aren't even aware of telemark. And if they are the immediate response I typically get is "that looks really hard". The only way I can educate them is by informing them of all the similarities with the form in relation to alpine skiing (e.g. upper body positioning, pole planting, edging, etc.). Not to mention the diversity that we as telemarkers have. As someone like myself that does not work in the industry, what I see missing is on the advertising end. I would love to see billboards with a telemark skier(s) as part of the add. Or even banner's at resorts keep that keep exposing the sport to imprint on people that there are other options. I could ramble on.... Great topic over a beer or two for a brainstorm.
Thank you Josh for what you do and wish you all the best with your business ventures:) Hope to meet you down the road sometime.
Does Taylor Swift telemark? Does Michael Saylor telemark? John Oates does and he rocks. Telemark makes love not money. “What comes around is all around.”
Who is Taylor Swift & Michael Saylor? - Madsen
@@FreeheelLife Exactly. I love what you are doing and the passion you bring.
@@daramacdonald appreciate the support! Cheers.
John Doe from X telemarks! (Or at least he did, 10 years ago or so)
@@dr.badass702 I think he still does, we've talked a little bit before. Cool dude - sweet tunes.
I feel ya, Josh. And I am pretty sure I know EXACTY the ski company of which you speak. And I cannot understand why "that method" would void "that other thing". Seems like targeting a company and a sport to me.
Thanks for the thoughts - really appreciate you taking the time to listen. - Madsen