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Tales of a telemarker
Monday January 11, 2010 - Email this article to a friend
Not just any old telemarker though, for Jack Harvard Taylor is in the British team. He's also a keen PlanetSKI reader. So, what are the attractions of freeing the heel?
Telemark in the last few years has made a revival and for so many years telemark skiing was about long beards and old fashioned equipment.
It's back and it's bigger than ever, you now look around on the slopes and see people pointing at the guys with the funny bindings and without their heel locked down, saying "Wow, that's cool!"
Telemark is the original form of skiing from which alpine skiing was adapted. Originating in Norway around 1868, it was used as a method of transportation and was sometimes the only way to travel during the cold winters in snowy Norway.
Jack in actionThe beauty of telemark is the many different elements of skiing that can be done on one ski. I now ski off-piste, freestyle, tour and most recently for me, race.
It is a very versatile sport combining many different disciplines.
I started telemarking for the first time last season, in Verbier.
After buying some second-hand skis and boots I was off straight up to the top at Attelas ready to try my hand at telemark. Since then I have never looked back - like many converted alpine skiers.
After spending the season working for Adrenaline Ski School in the resort I went straight onto Kaprun, Austria where I won a place on the British Telemark Ski Team.
The team comprises of ten men and two women all competing on the Telemark World Cup circuit.
Currently all members of the team are in full time jobs, expect myself who is at university, because of the little funding from the governing body we are all self funded with the help of a few sponsors.
Mercedes Benz UK has recently joined the team providing four vehicles helping the team get around the World Cup locations.
For me telemarking is the best form of getting down and around the mountains and I would recommend it to anyone. As one person once said "free the heel and the spirit soon follows."
For more information see the team's web site - www.gbtelemark.co.uk
The GB Team
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