North American Telemark Organization News Page with Telemark news, tips on telemark technique and instruction

October 1, 2009

With Fall less than a week old I find myself digging around the barn for my junk boards and other October related ski gear. Beyond a doubt it is one of the most exciting ski prep days of the year. A cold rainy front passing through tonight lends promise of an early morning climb and ski at a local ski area.

October 6, 2008 Full Foliage First Tracks

January 12, 2009

Mad River Glen, Camels Hump Telemark Workshop

photo credit: Ted Scott

Miriam's Birthday Tele Workshop

You may now purchase our movies directly from our movie store here and we are happy to anounce that all our movies are now available in DVD format. Our 2009 schedule is now up on our the schedule page. Register for any Nato event and receive a free three magazine subscription to either Backcountry or Telemark Skier magazine.

Ski hard, play fair, have fun,

Dickie Hall

Just wanted to thank you and Wendy for a phenomenol experience! What a thrill!! The sheer joy for tele that you and Wendy expressed was infectious and made your instruction and encouragement that much more effective -- and FUN!

My wife thinks I'm obsessed - she's probably right. It was probably my viewing of the Joy & Sweet Joy videos at least twice which gave her this impression. I picked up a hardly-used pair of Atomic TM 22s w/ G3 bindings @ EMS on my way out of Manchester Sunday and I'm going for boots tomorrow. Hope to participate in another Workshop this winter and look forward to Tele Fest.

Thanks again.
Best regards,
Ron Barrett

I wanted to drop you a line and let you know what a great time Paul and I had on the Vermont adventure tour last weekend.There was not one second I wasn't having fun or being challenged. What a cool new world waxing will bring us!

Tom Briede
Victory Bike and Ski

Hi Dick,
I had a great time this past weekend. The highlight was the decent down the backside. You were right ! you said I was gonna like it. Also, the PEOPLE .You and Wendy are great. you are able to put together a group of strangers and in a short time a feeling of camaraderie and fun spirit comes about. Thanks for the experience. I will be in touch for an adventure tour. My wife said you spoiled me. With the stories I brought back she said I have become a "powder snob"
Could you send me details on the two waxes you talked about. I would like to get some. Do you buy on it line? or do some shops carry it?
Check out my website below. If you can get down to Ct. this summer I would be happy to get you out for some sea bass and corona. Maybe we can swap an adventure tour at sea for one in the mountains?
Thanks again,
Bob
http://www.firstlightsportfishing.net/sportfishing/homeindexx.html

I looked at your new schedule, and you mentioned earlier that you would set up a "master class" workshop for more advanced/aggressive/difficult terrain. Which of these workshops will be that, or have you not decided yet? Best, Arild

Thanks Mitch for the great story on the fest....

http://www.telemarktips.com/TeleNews68.html,

Mari and I had a blast during our Jay Telemark Workshop. I felt that Mari's skiing advanced alot and personally I feel that I broke through that mediocre level of telemarking and now can ski anything. I've taken to heart the techniques learned and am practicing. Now I REALLY enjoy telemarking!! Your unorthodox teaching and love for the sport really helped me become comfortable with the equipment and really just have fun. Thank you for your dedication.

Sincerely,
Raul Octaviani

I had a blast skiing with you all this weekend and hope we can do it
again sometime soon. Dick and Wendy, thanks again for all the
insights, both on technique and attitude necessary to enjoy the woods.
Phil

I had such a great time with you and the group last weekend. I told my wife it was by far the best present she had given me to date (ok, she surprised me once with tickets to Breckenridge and it snowed 2ft. in 2days), but besides that, it was the best! I had such fun learning new tricks and meeting and listening to new people ( I could have listened to Kare all day ). And to take the clinic with you was a treat. I've been teaching for 20 years or more and recognize the passion you bring to your sessions. Great stuff! Once again, many thanks for the fun-filled, energetic learning experience on skis. I came away with an array of skills.
Best, Peter G. Bradshaw

This is Les Blomberg, from the Wildcat class a couple weeks ago. I've
only been skiing once since the class--a really nice GS skiing night at
Stowe last Thursday (before the rain)--but my parrallel turn is much
improved. And I think it is helping me to figure out my weighting in my
telemark turn, which, with 20 years of inertia, will take a while.

Thanks again for a wonderful class. I'm also amazed at how well you taught a diverse
class--you had something for everyone.And you should have seen Garrett on Thursday! We are skiing at the
same level now--an amazing tranformation. He's skied this well before,
but back slides at the beginning of each year.

Thanks again,
Les

Wowser. What a weekend. I truly appreciate the time, energy, dedication and expertise that you and Wendy applied to our course. Kyle and I found it fantastic. For me, it was about taking everything that I had ever learned and “blank paging” it. Stripped every motion of my turn down to its fundamentals. What a great feeling. Kyle was overwhelmed by your abilities as a skier and an instructor. He found that you really taught well and connected with him.

You achieved your objective-- we left with big pleasant smile on our face …completely satisfied.

Marcus and kyle

WE HAVE A NEW MOVIE. "The Joy of Telemark Skiing" is the long awaited addition to our complete library of Telemark instruction. Check it out on our movies page.

Received your new DVD the Joy of Telemark skiiing. It is excellent and gives
a tremendous advantage to a skier in any stage of telemark skiing.
I am 73 and was in a couple of your classes when you first started to teach tele
at Wachusett and Mad River Glen. Your instruction has given me many hours of
enjoyment on the snow.
Father Neve(Pete Lapolla)
PS I am happy to see that you have not gotten older and are still a little tapioca. (That's RI term for "off the wall")

I was up at the movie preview of the Joy of Telemarking up at Stowe
the other night. Since then I have 4 days on snow, and I have been
using the tips. Thanks, defenetly helps me to get back onto my back
leg more. I think that I can carve teleturns now. Just wanted to let
you know that the movie has helped one person thus far, and I will be
buying a copy. And could you send me some information on the trip up to the Ruth
Glacier? Really considering rewarding myself for a long day on skis.
See you in the woods
Jason

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed seeing your new movie at the
Ski Museum last week. I've been trying out all the tips on my free-heel friends with unsolicited advice. I'm going to call tomorrow and order a copy. I so appreciate your energy and enthusiasm - still feeling the glow
from the joy you spread with your presence and with the movie the
other night. It was fantastic to see all those kids whooping it up!
Ellen Miles

We loved your new movie!
I would like to purchase it for a holiday gift for us!
Have a wonderful holiday with your family .Thank you so much, DeeDee Cartinell

Thanks so much for sending the Joy of Telemarking. It's excellent - good
tips, good editing, and amazing sound. The Denali and other backcountry
shots are incredible. Nice job! I'm honored to have my 15 seconds of fame in there too.
John Tidd

Thanks again for the great instruction this past weekend at Jiminy Peak. I only started a few weeks ago but I’m now convinced that my 37 years of alpine skiing, including 10 years as a race coach, have merely been a precursor to my tele career. Hope to see you at the festival in March.

Regards,

Phil Cyr

Your Letters

November 4, 2005

Hello,
Not sure if you will remember me and my husband Rick Gould--we've both
attended your workshops several times, and I'm looking for a weekend to join
you again this winter.

What's your advice on starting toddlers on skis? I think that 2-and-a-half
is probably a little too young, but having never been a parent before, what
do I know? Our twins enjoyed being towed in pulks last year on the XC trails
(OK, they actually slept, but we enjoyed it) but I doubt they'll sit still
for it this year. What do you tell other parents?

Thanks--hope to see you this year.

Diana Stilwell

Hi Diana,

Having raised ( and taught skiing to ) three kids and and now grandchildren I am happy to offer this advise. Start your 2 year olds on skis now but not all bundled up and on cold and slippery snow. I started my kids on grass in the summer with one small cross country ski instead of two. The kind of kids ski with the universal binding ala LL bean etc. Anyway with street clothes on grass or even in the living room they learn all the moves without tripping up and falling over. With twins you can make a game out of it. You should join them and have one ski on too. I left the skis in the sandbox or in the toy corner of the living room. They even got to playing with them themselves. After a couple of times of goofing around with one ski you can give them two skis and play some more. They'll love getting on snow after this approach. I used very short multi use outings at that age. Skis on , ski to a small bump near by dragging a sled, skis off , sledding, chocolate, ski back. Yahoo.

Dickie

Ps Kids have the rest of their lives to learn to ski " right "but only one opportunity to fall in love with it.

I seem to be making my right turn tele reasonably good. But my left turn
seems unstable to say the least? Can you help?
Thanks, Randy

Hi Randy,
Thanks for your note and question. To have a strong side and a weak side telemark is one of the most common problems we see. The answer is as simple as figuring out why you write with one hand and not the other. We all have dominate biomechanical sides, writing, kicking, throwing, skiing, and the like. So how does that translate into strong and weak side telemark turns and more importantly how can you fix this problem? Step one is to understand why this happens, step two is to really look at how the turns look and feel different from each other. In almost every case you will notice that a skiers " weak side" is the side where the lower leg joints are not flexed as much as on the " strong side" specially the front of the ankle and knee.
Go make some turns, take a look, and let me know if this helps.
Dickie Hall
ps there is some great exercises in our new instructional movie that will cure your problem.

What folks are saying.........

I took one your 2-day workshops last year. I learned more in those two days and made more progress than at any other point in my season. It was great ! By the end of the season I skied some of the steeps at Whistler as well as Tuckermans and the Gulf of Slides. I'm planning on giving my girlfriend one of your 1-day Primers for a birthday present.

Thanks so much,

Charlie Lozner

Last week at Tuckerman's was awesome! You are a WONDERFUL teacher. In
fact, you are one of the best teachers I have ever had in anything I
have done. You created a very comfortable, encouraging and
noncompetitive atmosphere that inspires one's passion rather than ego.
Thanks !
Susie O Keefe

Thanks for a great day and a head full of new skiing concepts (the goofy:
what a concept!)!!! As you predicted, Shawn had a great day and the tele bug has bitten hard
(more thanks)!

Gary

A great workshop--now I understand what telemark and backcountry skiing are about. I have been cross country skiing for a while.

John Karlik

I got a LOT out of the clinic at Blue Mtn. last week. I should be able to
make significant improvement in my skiing! After several attempts and
really just flailing on my own, it made a telemark skier out of me.
Now, I should be able to go to the next level after a day with Dickie.
Both of you are fantastic teachers! Completely different approaches, of
course, but both absolutely great in your own way.
Hope to see you again - at Blue or elsewhere.

Dan Green

Just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for the great workshop this
past weekend at Jiminy Peak.
Your course has been described as being worth 3-5 years of trial and error
in improving a person's skiing. I would have to totally agree with that.
Whether it is at Jiminy or some other location, Nate and I have already
decided that a yearly workshop would be a great way to push ourselves as we
try to improve our skiing.
The only trouble seems to be that I have no interest in work! I'm shopping
online for skis, making sure clothing is clean and ready to ski this
weekend, and in general can't wait to hit some snow and work on goofies, hop
tele's etc.
Those of us in the work day trenches are dearly envious of your skiing
schedule. We feel its just too many ski days a year for one man......Oh
well. Thanks again. Your are a great teacher and my son and I both appreciate the
attention we received from you this past weekend.

Dave Harple

Just wanted to drop you a quick line and say thanks again for the great workshop at Whiteface Jan. 3-4. ! I now ski goofy every chance I get , and it has really improved control on that rear ski , not to mention helping with the elusive reverse goofy ! Ha !
I am planning to be at Mad River for the festival (party). I'll see you there !
Your latest tele monster,

George Farwell

Had a very successful workshop at Belleayre last week. Tom Stratton did a great job and after a few days skiing this past week felt improvement. Definitely workwhile. Got another quote for ya. My wife was asking me about something to do in a week or two and my reply, "I can't commit to anything during ski season"
She had a good laugh over it.

Gary Wolfgang

HALL NAMED 2004 DAGFINN AWARD WINNER

For his tireless efforts in popularizing telemark skiing and making cross-country skiing more fun for thousands of skiers over the years, Vermonter Dickie Hall has been named the 2004 recipient of the annual Dagfinn Award.
The award honors Dagfinn Ragg, the late Rottefella international sales manager noted equally for his passion for the cross-country ski sports, having fun and using some of the most colorful language ever heard on this planet.
"Dickie Hall's infectious enthusiasm and long term dedication to telemark skiing helped propel it from a secret sport to the healthiest, fastest growing segment of skiing in North America today," says Craig Dostie the publisher of Couloir and Telemark Skier magazines, adding, " without Dickie growing the telemark ski sport wouldn't have been as much fun. "
Hall, who says that when it comes to spreading the word about telemark skiing that he feels like a Fuller Brush man heading into a new sales territory, started his career in skiing at The North American Nordic Center in Killington, Vermont in the early 1970s. He went on to work at several other cross-country ski centers before opening the first telemark-specific ski school in the U.S. at Mad River Glen, Vermont in the late 70's.
He went on to found the North American Telemark Organization (NATO) conducting clinics across the U.S. attended over the years by over 40,000 skiers and 1,000 ski instructors. He also produced the first series of instructional videos on telemark skiing including "The Telemark Movie" and "Revenge of the Telemarkers". Previous winners of the Dagfinn Award include Paul Parker, John Schweizer, Chip Chase, Steve Barnett, Steve Hardesty, Clair Yost and David Chantler.

Dick Hall founder of North American Telemark Organization and the man behind the smile would like to welcome back and introduce the NATO Staff. "Some of the finest Telemark instructors on the planet. "

Wendy Bridgewater	Paul Weiss
Dennis Egan and Dorrie MacDanold	Steve Strothers and Terry Peterson

Thanks to Chip Chase, Mike Riddell, Paul Weiss and Joe Sack for several great photos used throughout the site.

New!!!

New to our site are photo scrapbooks of the Gulf of Slides and Chic Chocs, Gaspe Telemark Camps and the new Alaska Photo Gallery. Check them out below. These pages are also accessed on the Events page under the Telemark Camp description and on the photos page.

Gulf of Slides Camp

Gaspe Telemark Camp

Alaska Photo Gallery