Latest Headlines
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Some Archived News
Stories of Note:
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 SIA Begins Tracking Online Sales... With Interesting
Results.....
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A Look At Jarden Inc., The New Owners Of K2
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No Big Surprises in Alexa Rankings Of Snow Sports
Media Web Sites
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BD's "Holy Grail" Binding: Details Emerge
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Commentary on the Demise of Couloir
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MORE...
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Notes On The Demo Tour and Introduction of Rottefella's
NTN Binding, Feb. 2007
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Rottefella breaks years of silence on their New
Telemark Norm (NTN) in this exclusive Telemarktips interview.
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Rottefella officially announces its new NTN system
(with photos):
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The Battle of the Titans, How We Got Here &
What To Expect...
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The Battle of the Titans Begins: Black Diamond
To Build Tele Boot & Binding System In NTN Showdown
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Black Diamond To Build Tele & AT Ski Boot Line..
(and maybe an "NTN" type system of their own?).
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Telemark News & Commentary
by Mitch Weber
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- 2/15-- California's Alpine
Meadows Ski Resort will host the first "Telemark Freeskiing
Championship" of
the season beginning with registration and a mandatory competitor's
meeting on Thursday, February 26 and ending on Saturday with
the Finals, Super Finals, and an awards ceremony/after party.
Described more accurately as "extreme skiing," the
event, co-sponsored by Tough Guy Productions, is the first of
a three comp series. A National
Championship at Crested Butte follows in March, and the series
ends with a World
Championship at Alaska's Alyeska Resort, to take place during
the first week in April. For more information on the Alpine comp,
visit the Alpine
Meadows event page, for CB and Alyeska info use the links
above. Oh and be sure to check out this 2003 Classic
TeleVision video of the most memorable run I've ever witnessed
in all of my years covering these events. I just watched it again,
and whoa, it's still as amazing as ever.
- 1/16-- BD has some amazing
video footage of an Avalung-equipped
skier getting caught and buried in a slide, then breathing through
his Avalung under the snow while waiting to be dug out, and with
his helmet cam running the whole time. They've turned it into
a commercial for their Avalung, natch, and who can blame them?
Afterall, it's some of the most compelling footage I've ever
seen, and if you can watch this and still pass on the Avalung
on those days you are beeping, well, you've got something
going on that Big Tim and I don't have these days...
Trust me, you don't want to miss
this... check out the 5 minute or so video here: www.bdel.com/landing_pages/F07/avalung_landing.php
- 1/14-- Twenty Two Designs
has a new binding and
will conduct a beta test similar to the one HammerHead designer
Russell Rainey ran when introducing his ground breaking design
back in 2001. Based on that now very popular high-performance
freeheel binding, the gentlemen from Twenty two designs have
come up with a free-pivot touring model called the "Axl."
In a press release sent out today, Twenty Two says it will build
200 to be "sold with the understanding that they are not
a final product, but a test binding. However, this fall when
we release the final version, we will provide all testers with
a new binding or new parts if the design changes significantly."
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Weighing in at 4 lbs., the Axl's
touring mode pivot point is located directly under the pin line
for a more natural feel when skinning.
Shown at right, (click for larger
version) the Axl will also feature the HammerHead's six hole
screw pattern and unique adjustable cable guides, allowing skiers
to fine tune the binding's level of activity according to personal
preference, a key feature of the original design of the standard
HammerHead.
The Axl will sell for $310 and more
information can be found on the Twenty Two Designs website at
twentytwodesigns.com/axl |
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- 12/9-- G3 today announced
the departure of ski line developer Paul Parker, and the hiring of former Karhu ski designer
Francois Sylvain to fill the role at the Vancouver-based manufacturer
of telemark and backcountry ski gear. In a very surprising post
on its House
Blend blog, G3 also announced that it had already shifted
production of its ski line from the Movement factory in Tunisia
to a facility in China, where Sylvain's first two models for
G3 are said to already be in production.
While it is common for an athlete's
name to appear on a specific branded model, G3's "Developed
by Paul Parker" tag-- formerly on its entire line of skis--
really tells you everything you need to know in regard to how
closely Parker has been previously tied to G3s effort in its
ski category, both in product development and in marketing. And
so on the surface this announcement seems surprising, that is
until one stops to consider the relatively recent and swift rise
of Naheed Henderson, from sponsored athlete to an apparent real
and powerful force at G3.
Connecting the dots....
Before moving to G3, Henderson worked
closely with Francois Sylvain on women's skis at Karhu. After
K2's acquisition of Karhu, Sylvain stayed on for a year or so
as a design consultant, and last year it seemed as though he
had dropped off the scene, this despite his previous success
with Karhu, and perhaps even more notably, with the once Karhu-owned
park ski manufacturer Line Skis (now also part of the K2 family).
Last year Naheed Henderson became a much more prominent fixture
at G3, introducing
her own line of women's backcountry gear. At this point,
to even the most casual observer, it quickly became apparent
that Henderson had the ear of G3 owner and founder Oliver Steffan.
So while on the surface the departure of Paul Parker initially
seems surprising, it is less so if you take the time to connect
the dots.
Although G3 and Parker had been
killing it with their skis, making model after model that won
awards and garnered near universal praise from reviewers and
owners alike, making great skis simply may may not have been
enough. In Francois Sylvain, G3 gains not only a highly successful
and very talented ski designer, but someone who is also well
versed in the challenges of producing skis in China. Francois
was at ground zero during Karhu's difficult transition to China
a few years ago and undoubtedly learned a lot. This too may very
well be a key to understanding the surprising breakup of the
otherwise successful G3/Parker/Movement factory team.
Indeed, when contacted this afternoon
for this report, Paul Parker explained simply, "Oliver chose
to take production to China and I decided not to go with him.
I just didn't want to abandon the good work we've done and all
that we have accomplished."
What now...?
So now the question becomes, where
will Parker land? A little known industry secret is that Nani
Tua, Parker's longtime cohort at Tua Skis before Nani's forced
departure some years prior to Tua's eventual closure, runs the
Movement factory in Tunisia, and Nani worked closely with Parker
in manufacturing G3's ski line. Might we see a public reunion
of these two, resulting in a new line of backcountry skis from
Movement or some other outfit? Only time will tell, but one thing
is for sure, today our little corner of the ski making world
just got a whole lot more interesting from an industry observing
perspective. Stay tuned for more...
- 12/9-- From the catching
up file...John Schweitzer, Garmont USA's longtime President and a major figure in the telemark and backcountry
skiing industry, going back to the days of skinny skis and leather
boots, retired last summer. Schweitzer's exit coincided with
Garmont's realignment of its North American distribution scheme.
Essentially Garmont USA is no more, with the Italians having
purchased Schweitzer's share of the distributorship and forming
a new, wholly-owned subsidiary now known as Garmont NA. Former
Garmont USA sales manager Gord Baily, now the new president of
Garmont NA says "the move is a natural progression for us
in this market, allowing for a more seamless, vertically integrated
distribution process between Garmont Italy, as well as our other
partners, Bridgedale, 7tm and LifeLink, and the North American
dealers."
For our part, and with no disrespect
meant to Gord or to any of our other friends at Garmont, we'll
miss John Schweitzer terribly. Spending time with John at the
trade shows was always a highlight for us. The word "brilliant"
is so overused, and yet it is John's brilliant mind which we
will miss most, his natural curiosity, engaging personality and
graciousness made every conversation special, and his passion
for the industry that serves our sport, as well as his many behind
the scenes contributions to our history, will not be soon forgotten.
Heading up Merrill Boots in the
80s, along with then-partner Doug Barbor (former Karhu owner),
Schweitzer played a key role in moving modern telemark skiing
into a more performance oriented sport. With the introduction
of the first truly big, stiff, plastic cuffed tele boots, the
Super Comp, telemark skiers began to see just what could be done
with the turn, paving the way for the plastic boot revolution
that was to begin in the early 90s.
Of course Schweitzer then went on
to form Garmont USA, where, along with Paul Parker, he helped
Garmont rise from a distant number two in the tele boot market,
to a position in which Garmont became a serious and respected
competitor to Scarpa, pushing hard on the originators of the
ground breaking, all plastic "Terminator" telemark
boots to continually develop a better product, a fact freely
admitted to me a couple of years ago by a member of the founding
family of Scarpa. The benefit to the sport of telemark from this
competition between the two Italian boot makers can hardly be
overstated, and just as he was there in the early days with the
Super Comp, in this way John Schweitzer again played a key role
in moving telemark skiing forward.
So it is that we wish John Schweitzer,
one of the giants in the industry that serves our sport, all
the best in his retirement, or in whatever else he may decide
to do in his post-Garmont life. Thanks for everything John.
Telemark
News story index & archive..
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