- 1/28-- Karhu's 7tm Power
has been selected as the official binding of the United States
Telemark Ski Team (USTSA). According to Karhu's announcement,
the selection was based on the team's "desire for an extremely
high performance, active binding and the need to protect the
team's investment in training with the safety of a reliable,
DIN Certified, releasable binding." In the press release,
Brandon "Moondog" Moon, a member of the US Telemark
Ski Team and FIS World Cup Telemark Competitor, says this about
the performance of the new 7tm Power binding: "The DIN release
is still accurate and precise. I never prerelease, yet when I
need out, it's smooth and uninhibited. Now the rear foot pressure
is firmly planted on the ball of the foot not just the toe of
the boot. In the team's opinion, this is the binding of the future."
Karhu National Sales Manager
Michael Welch told Telemarktips, "We are really excited
to be working with the USTSA. The 7tm Power's unique combination
of improved downhill performance, along with a proven DIN release
mechanism, meets the needs of the US Telemark Ski Team, and we
are very happy to be involved in this exciting aspect of telemark
skiing." For an interesting look at the world of telemark
ski racing, check out former team member Charlie Dresen's video
here on Telemarktips.com: Telemark World
Cup Ski Racing
- 1/22-- Taos Comp Cancelled.
Tough Guy Productions, promoters
of the 2006 Telemark Freeskiing Championship series, have announced
that the Taos comp has been cancelled due to a lack of snow.
This big-mountain event, the first in the series, had been scheduled
to take place February 2-4. It's unfortunate, but of course these
things can happen in sports where Mother Nature still calls the
ultimate shots. Next up is the Alpine Meadows Telemark Freeskiing
Championships, March 4-5 at Lake Tahoe's awesome venue, Alpine
Meadows Ski and Snowboard Resort. Last year, this comp rocked,
with some of the best freeheel skiers on the planet throwing
down hard on Alpine's skier and spectator friendly big mountain
terrain (see video here).
This year the Alpine Meadows
comp will be immediately preceded by an event at Squaw Valley
put together by freeskiing champion and tele film star Lorenzo
Worster. Called the "Hella Open," this big air comp
and rail jam will take place on Friday, March 3. The entry fee
for the Hella Open only is just $88 and includes a lift ticket,
registration, competitors bag, insurance fee, and the awards
party.
New this year at the Alpine Meadows
comp is a Saturday "Masters Big Mountain" category.
The entry fee for the Masters is also just $88 and includes one
lift ticket, registration, competitors bag, insurance fee,and
the welcome party/reception. Other packages are available covering
both the Hella Open and Big Mountain comp events for locals and
non-local alike, with more info at toughguyproductions.com.
The series overall winner will
be determined at the 10th Annual U.S. Extreme Telemark Freeskiing
Championships at Crested Butte, Colorado, March 23-25, 2005.
Every year CB's VP and ski industry marketing rock star Gina
Kroft has put on an incredible event, but last year was simply
amazing. With an awesome and fun welcoming party and Saturday
night get together, capped by a superb, deluxe buffet dinner
and awards party on Sunday night. Strong prize bags running some
25 competitors deep were awarded, and equal cash, Mexico vacations,
and gear prizes were given to both the top men and the women
competitors. Thanks to Crested Butte, Nat Ross and Tough Guy
Productions, this was the event of the
year last season in the world of telemark skiing, just as
the U.S. championships should be.
And yet the Telemark Freeskiing
Championships at Crested Butte were more of a gathering of the
tribe than anything else (first-time competitor and mom, 41 year-old
Erika Hosier took 2nd among the women), one where everyone had
a ball, the winners on down to the DFLs (Dead F'n Last), the
spectators, the media (it was a highlight of my season) and even
the hardworking organizers.
If you have ever thought about
coming out for a tele comp, this is the year to do it, whether
it be the Hella Open at Squaw, the Alpine Freeskiing event or
U.S. Tele Extremes at Crested Butte. You won't be sorry, they
are a helluva lot of fun and the experience will never be forgotten.
- 1/15-- Prince William
Sound Books of Valdez, Alaska announces the publication of the first backcountry
ski guide to an Alaskan mountain range. This guide book joins
a growing collection of books highlighting popular backcountry
ski destinations around the world. Alaska Backcountry Skiing:
Valdez and Thompson Pass (118 pages) by Matt Kinney, features
25 day routes and one expedition route—all within the Chugach
Mountains surrounding Thompson Pass and Valdez. Each description
is accompanied by a photo and topographic map indicating the
route. The book contains information on local skiing conditions
including weather, avalanches, glaciers, rivers, transportation,
safety notes and historical information on skiing in the Valdez
area from the early 1900s to present. Matt Kinney, who pioneered
many of the routes described in the book, has been skiing Valdez
and Thompson Pass since 1979. Presently, he operates Thompson
Pass Mt. Chalet and a backcountry ski guiding service. He is
a staunch advocate for quiet and safety in the backcountry and
for protecting the Thompson Pass area for future backcountry
skiers. Alaska Backcountry Skiing: Valdez and Thompson
Pass will be available February 10 at bookstores around Alaska
and on the internet, including on the Prince
William Sound Books website. Matt Kinney is well known to
many on our Telemark Talk Forum as "Valdez Telehead."
- 12/19-- Couloir and Telemark
Skier publisher Craig Dostie survived
a one hour simulated avalanche burial last Friday at Utah's Snowbird
Resort, breathing exclusively through an Avalung the entire time.
BD has conducted approximately 100 of these Avalung tests through
the years, but this was only the third real-world test of their
new line of backcountry ski pack-integrated Avalungs, scheduled
to debut at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show next month. The
day before, another test subject had established a new "world
record" test time by reportedly remaining buried and breathing
through the backpack model Avalung for well over two full hours.
After his hour under the snow Dostie was reburied, this time
without the benefit of the Avalung breathing device. Craig lasted
just 60 seconds before his CO2 levels, and the fact that he was
obviously uncomfortable, lead supervising MD Colin Grissom to
call for a quick end to the second half of the test. Asked afterwards
what it was like to be buried under the snow for so long, and
if he was now an Avalung believer, the Couloir publisher replied,
"I think I always was, but now I'm a more firm believer
that I don't ever, ever want to get caught."
We filmed the entire test from
beginning to end and will have video documenting Dostie's experience,
as well as BD's highly scientific approach to these tests, very
soon here on Telemarktips.... stay tuned, we think you will find
it to be pretty darn cool.
- 12/8-- G3's rumored new
touring-mode telemark binding is about to be unveiled. It will be the first major
new binding release by the Vancouver-based telemark and backcountry
gear maker in years, and as such we realize there is a lot of
interest out there. Telemarktips will have a full "first-look"
report by late Sunday night or early Monday morning, with photos
expected to be coming in over the weekend. Dubbed the Ascent
by G3, the new binding will incorporate several innovative features
not seen before in a tele binding with a free-pivot touring mode.
Updated here...
- 12/7-- Scarpa and Black
Diamond have completed their
recall and cuff replacement of the new T2-X boot. Sources tell
us that all of the boots have been returned to dealers with the
updated cuffs redesigned to eliminate the cracking of the plastic
discovered this fall, pretty much before the first of the dramatically
redesigned new T2s even hit the snow. A Scarpa North American
spokesman told us that officials at the company are pleased at
the way the problem was handled by everyone involved, the quick
and relatively painless resolution being another indicator of
the positive relationship BD and Scarpa have had with each other
for so many years.
- 12/4-- Sessions, the new
Tough Guy Productions film
for 2005/06, is on the road with filmmaker Stephane Riendeau
and tele film star Lorenzo Worster. The pair are hosting a number
of showings out west this month. Tomorrow night, 12/5, the film
will be shown in Jackson Hole at Snow King Resort, call co-sponsor
Wilson Backcountry Sports at 307-733-5228 for more info. On Tuesday,
12/6, the film will be shown at the Wildwood room in Victor,
Idaho, visit www.yostmark.com
for details. Thursday night the show comes to The Greenroom in
Reno, Nevada (775-825-2855). On Friday there will be a showing
at The Sherwins in
Mammoth Lakes, sponsored by Mammoth
Mountaineering and benefiting the Eastern
Sierra Avalanche Center, and on the 17th there will be a
showing at Sugar Bowl's
New Judah Lodge. Sessions is a great film so come on out and
enjoy the show! For a web video preview of the film and to read
our review click here.
- 11/27-- A gondola at Canada's
Lake Louise resort broke down this afternoon (Sunday), trapping some 65 people
for hours as darkness fell and temperatures dropped below freezing.
As of 7:45 p.m. (pacific time) dozens remain stranded, including
many children and teens. Frantic parents are blasting the rescue
effort according to several online stories filed by reporters
on the scene. "It's been an absolute fiasco, the lack of
every kind of organization one would expect," a furious
Michael Giuffy is said to have told a resort official who was
trying to stop him from speaking with a reporters three hours
after the Grizzly Express ground to a halt around 3 p.m., this
according to the Canadian
Press' Judy Monchuk. Giuffy's two sons, aged 10 and 15 are
still trapped. "It's minus five, minus 10 and there's been
absolutely no been attempt by your organization to communicate
with parents who have children there," Monchuk quotes Giuffy,
a pediatric cardiologist from Calgary. "I'm very unhappy,"
he said. "They've had no fluids, no food, no external source
of heat. They're at risk for hypothermia," Giuffy told another
reporter. Another parent said her sons 10 and 9, also remain
on the gondola and are getting more upset as time passes. "We've
got a cellphone and we've been talking to back and forth but
they're crying now," she said.
Eight teams of ski patrollers
are using self-propelled rescue units along the gondola's cable
to reach the individual cabins. They are then putting harnesses
on the occupants and lowering them down to the snow by rope.
At this time there have been no reports of injury. UPDATE: Reports
are now coming in (8:50 p.m. PST) that everyone has been safely
removed from the Lake Louise gondola in a rescue operating that
spanned more than five hours. Happily, the most serious injuries
appear to be nothing more serious than a few cases of frostbite.
- 11/24-- Decker Jory has
broken his back. The
popular tele athlete and graphic artist probably best known to
our readers as the guy who once was thrown out of a tele slopestyle
comp for wearing a duct taped-on, stainless steel salad bowl
for a helmet (see 19mb mpeg video here),
reportedly overshot a jump while warming up for a park demo show
at the Stubaier Telefestival in Austria on Sunday. The severity
of Jory's injury is unknown at this time, but he is currently
in a hospital in Innsbruck where he is expected to stay until
he is strong enough to make the long trip home to Colorado. "I
hope everyone in the telemark community will take a moment to
send some good thoughts Decker's way," said Tough Guy Productions
filmmaker and comp promoter Nat Ross on the phone last night.
"He's a talented guy and a terrific competitor, yet Decker
is also one of the most humble and soft-spoken athletes I have
worked with. We are all hoping that he makes a full, complete
and swift recovery," said Ross. UPDATE: 11/24-- We
received the following message from Decker the yesterday: "I
am still at the hospital in Innsbruck. The food sucks and the
nurses don't like me too much for reasons that I don't know.
I have been in the hospital for close to five days now and all
I can think of is Mexican food, Budweiser and home town nuggets.
The doctor will only allow me to fly home if I am in a stretcher
on the plane (costs $8,000 euros)... So all I can do now is play
the waiting game. I have a few tricks up my sleeve and the great
people at the tourist office of Neustift are helping heeps. Peace
and big pow, Decker."
Now word comes this morning that
Jory has been cleared to fly home and is on his way back to Colorado
here on Thanksgiving Day. According the Richard Schuerf, organizer
of the Stubaier Tele Festival, Decker is up, walking under his
own power and feeling much better than a few days ago..
- 11/18-- As previously
reported here, Karhu has shifted production of their entire ski line, as well as
that of their Line subsidiary, to China. Funny story: at the
SIA trade show in Vegas last year Karhu/Line owner and one of
the ski industry's all-around good guys, Doug Barber, ran into
Big Tim and myself walking the floor. Barber seemed a little
tired but oddly energized as he began to drop a bombshell out
of the blue, "remember all that equipment you saw in our
factory when you visited a couple of years ago?," I nodded
yes and Doug continued, "well we just finished putting all
of it in several containers and right at this moment the whole
factory is on its way to China." I was stunned. Despite
having excellent contacts at Karhu, I'd heard nary a word of
this!
We made plans to hook up with
Doug at some point during the show, then BT and I continued on
our way. A couple of days later at the OR trade show in Salt
Lake City, our first stop was the Karhu booth where I immediately
cornered my longtime friend and now Vice President of Operations
at Karhu, Ted McGuinness. "So I hear you are moving your
factory to China," I said. Ted's eyes bulged out in way
I had never seen before as he asked, "who told you that?"
Laughing pretty hard, I choked out, "your boss." Ted
just shook his head, speechless. The big secret was out and the
beans had been spilt by the main man himself.
Today it's easy to understand
why Doug Barber simply could not keep the secret: this move puts
Karhu solidly into a position to go head to head with industry
leader K2 in the battle for top dog honors among the tele and
backcountry ski makers. It's an amazing comeback story for the
once dominant Karhu, a company that just a few short years ago
was virtually out of the running and floundering with its tele
skis, their tele ski line consisted entirely of dogs, the flagship
of which was the much maligned Ryder. Karhu's turnaround began,
of course with the introduction of the Jak, the first truly fat
tele-specific ski to prove that boards in this category could
be, all-mountain, versatile, one ski quiver rides.
While a great move for the future
of the Karhu brand, the shift to China has not been easy. Many
and various sources have confirmed that while quality is not
an issue for ski makers working in China, material and cultural
challenges abound. In Karhu's case their problems may have been
slightly exacerbated by the fact that their 2005/06 line is more
high tech than ever, incorporating throughout the line the highly
successful and advanced design and manufacturing technologies
introduced the year before in the acclaimed Kodiak and Grizzly.
Thus, as many of Karhu's dealers and loyal customers already
know, delivery of this years skis has been delayed. The good
news is that containers of skis have reportedly begun arriving
at Karhu's Burlington Vermont warehouse this week, with new model
Jaks, Jak BCs and women's models expected to begin to hit store
shelves next week.
As for Doug Barber, the ski industry
veteran who was involved in bringing the legendary Merrell SuperComp
tele boots to market in the 80s (the first tele boot to offer
plastic boot performance years before the introduction of the
Terminator), well Doug returned home last month from a 16+ week
stint in China where he personally oversaw and managed the ramp-up
of Karhu and Line's ski production. On a personal note, after
so many years, Doug's energy and enthusiasm for the sport, along
with his willingness to roll up his sleeves and do whatever needs
to be done to produce the best possible product for his company,
is an inspiration to many, including our crew here.
Back to business, we've been
testing the Jak, Jak BC, Jak Team and the women's lineup for
months now, and without giving too much away in advance of our
coming reviews, feel that those of you who have been waiting
for this season's Karhu skis will be far, far from disappointed.
- 11/18-- Jason Manders,
producer of one of last years NET Film Festival favorites "The Pinhead Hunter,"
along with partner Chris Marr, took first place at the 2nd annual
competition held last week at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Maine.
Organizer Biff Higgison reports: "The auditorium filled
early (word was out that last year filled and ran
out of seats) and over 300 folks came for the showing. Ballots
were handed out along with pencils so everyone could keep notes
during the films and you could hear the rumble of voices and
the scribble of pencils between each film. The five finalists
were shown first and then during intermission ballots were counted.
Back on stage the winners were announced starting from 3rd place
which went to 'Free Up' by Chris Nelson. 2nd place and a pair
of Voile bindings went to 'A Winter Of Solos' by Randy Baker.
First Place and a $250 check went to 'Next Season' by Manders
and Marr. For the professional side of the festival a short version
of Chasing Home by Max Mancini and Ben Dolenc and the new Powderwhore
release PW05 were shown, needless to say to great acclaim! NET
was psyched that so many people came out for the showing and
would like to thank everyone, from the filmmakers on down, for
helping to make the film festival such a great success. In the
future we hope to see more and more amateur filmmakers creating
and submitting short films dedicated to the sport of telemark."
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