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Tuesday, January 27, 2004, SIA Trade
Show, Las Vegas, Nevada: There's
been a quiet, behind the scenes battle going on now for quite
some time in our sport, and last night at the SIAVEGAS04 Freeheel
Forum the issue eventually took center stage. The question is
an important one to telemark skiing, and to the industry that
serves it.
Just what should we be calling this sport,
anyway?
The evening's round table discussion at
the end of SIA Day One was organized by Josh "Bones"
Murphy of Unparalleled Productions. Bones invited the press,
manufacturers, and athletes to attend. The evening began with
an excellent PowerPoint presentation by Bones addressing the
image of freeheel skiing, as it is seen by the public, in the
media and through advertising. |
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Bones makes his
case |
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Murphy believes we need to rebrand our sport,
that the term "telemark skiing" is unwieldy and confusing,
as well as being seen by the younger generation the sport needs
to attract as lacking in "sex appeal." In his presentation
Bones put up examples of "telemarking" and "telemarketing"
having been confused by the mainstream media. One particularly
humorous example was a news report of a local crackdown on "telemarking
scam artists." Bones also used advertising images from surf
magazines and contrasted them with the way freeheel skiing is
often portrayed in our sport's media as being more about the
gear than the turn. |
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Left to right:
Karhu's Hansi Johnson, Bomber's Fin Doyle and Adam Howard from
Backcountry Magazine |
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It was hard to argue with what Bones had
to say about the sport's imagery, but after his presentation
when the discussion inevitably turned to the question of just
what do we want to call this emerging sport, the fireworks began.
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"Putting a picture of your new buckle,
or the pretty new weld on your shovel, in your magazine ad just
isn't going to connect with young people," said Bones who
then projected onto the screen a recent Karhu ad with a full-page
photo of pro athlete Lorenzo Worster ripping tele turns, using
it as an example of an ad that builds the stoke for freeheel
skiing, while presenting the sport in an accessible and attractive
way to young people thinking about trying telemark. |
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Left to right:
Couloir's Craig Dostie, gear writer Clyde Soles, and Mike Hattrup
of K2. |
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"What do you guys think of the term
freeheel as opposed to telemark skiing?" Bones asked the
crowd. I spoke up and said that I thought taking a sport that
is struggling for recognition and attempting to rename it was
a poor idea. "It is what it is, and to the skiers and to
the public our sport is known as 'telemark skiing,' why take
on a fight that doesn't need to be fought?" I asked. "We
have enough challenges ahead of us as it is."
Bones replied, "Of course you
are going to disagree with this since you are 'telemarktips'."
To which I answered, "yes, but I also own the domain name
'freeheelskier.com,' I'm open to making a change...but do we
really need to fight an uphill battle to change what the world
calls our sport?" |
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Nat Ross of Tough Guy
Productions and photographer Beth Lockhart.
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It was difficult to get a read on how everyone
else felt about this question, only Bones and I seemed to have
a similar high-level of passion for the issue, although many
others contributed to the discussion.
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Freeheel versus telemark skiing is a question
that both Bones and myself have both given a lot of thought...
and debated among ourselves for quite some time.
Josh makes good points when he advocates
an updated name for our sport. Certainly the word "telemark"
is easily butchered by a mainstream press that is often unfamiliar
with our sport.
Perhaps he is right when he says that "freeheel"
has broader appeal to young riders thinking about trying telemark
skiing.
"Freeheel" has the added bonus
of being more inclusive, describing a type of skiing that is
more than just the telemark turn. |
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Left to right: Athletes
Ben Dolenc, Pete Gallup and Max Mancini styling it up at SIA |
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But as a term for our sport "freeheel"
comes with its own set of issues as well. All of us were reminded
of this essential fact upon our arrival
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at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center room
where Bones' presentation and discussion took place. It seems
the hotel folks couldn't quite get the term "freeheel"
right either. The sign on the door read "Free Heal Forum."
So where did this discussion leave us?
It's hard to say. Bones' presentation was thought provoking,
and in many ways dead-on. I think everyone in attendance agreed
with his proposition that we all need to do a better job conveying
just what it is about the telemark turn that feels so good, and
what it is that makes people who try telemark stick with it through
the sometimes challenging learning curve. |
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Free-what?
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Couloir publisher Craig Dostie made a good
point, one that he has often made in the past: we all need to
take a friend out freeheel skiing and share the stoke. That's
one sure way we can individually contribute to building the sport
and keeping it healthy.. |
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