My good friend and fellow telemark skier, Kjell Ellefson, put out a self edit last night. He was out of commission last season due an injury, but I think it’s safe to say that he was back this year charging harder than ever! Personally, I think that he is one of the most talented and progressive telemark skiers out there today. Please watch the video below to see what I’m talking about:
Kjell Ellefson Self Edit 09-10 from Kjell Ellefson on Vimeo.
Yesterday was the last day of the Telepalooza World Comp. After hiking the Headwall four times in order to compete in both Alpine and Telemark I made it into both Super Finals!!! In the Telemark Super Final I pioneered a gnarly line, billy goating down a narrow 65° rocky face named the “Headstone.” From the Headstone i dropped into a chute, and then skied back into exposure as i hit a few features on the spine on the left side of the chute. I continued to down into the skirt making fast tele-turns through the sluff/avalanche debris fields. I stomped the telemark super final run, but a bobble/hipcheck from the day before kept me from reaching the top spot, I ended up in 6th place.
The Alpine super final didn’t go as smoothly, I skied the same line down the Headstone (it had considerably less snow the second time) all was well as I made my way to hit the other, higher scoring, spine on the right hand side. However, after I aired a small feature near the top, my skies loaded up, threw me, and I got high-sided. I rag-dolled over rocks and down the steep face, and I was finally able to use my pole to self-arrest after having it break three times on previous attempts. I saw blood pouring from my face and I immediately waved for help. Thanks to my helmet, spine-guard and mouth-guard I only ended up with a broken pair of goggles, a broken pole, a broken nose, a few cuts on my face, and a black eye… I did however, win the “Tough Guy Award” for both hiking up the head-wall a total of six times, and getting my self together and skiing down after my crash. I’m going to take a day off, but I might be up for night skiing later…
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I’m exhausted from today so I’m quoting Brooke…
“Everyone killed it today on the headwall at Alyeska Resort! Huge kudos go out to star telemark athletes: Paul Kimbrough, Jake Sakson and Conor Davis who hiked the Headwall (A HUGE STEEP FACE) FOUR times to compete in two runs tele and two runs alpine (on tele gear) and all three are advancing to the super-finals tomorrow in both disciplines! Way to represent for our sport!” -Brooke Edwards
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I just got done with the 14th annual Extreme Freeskiing Telemark Championships in Crested Butte, CO. The comp went really well I qualified in 3rd place on Headwall, and after three runs on Sock-it-to-me/Little-Hourglass I jumped from 3rd to 2nd to 5th. Although I would have liked to stay in the top three, I’m perfectly content with a 5th place finish at nationals (still in the $$$ too)! Tomorrow morning I’m driving over to Salt Lake to catch the awards for my fix-heeled friends at the FWT world champ awards, stash my car, and then catch a plane up to Alaska!
Check Out Telemark Skier’s Video for the CB comp:
Day 1 Highlights US Telemark Extremes 2010 from Telemark Skier Magazine on Vimeo.
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I’ve been having so much fun traveling and skiing, that I haven’t found the time or motivation to sit down and write. However, after driving through countless snow caused accidents on the California highway, and then having to entertaining myself in the Nevada hell-hole that is I-80, I’m taking a day off.
I can’t believe that this season is but a few months from coming to an end, and that the first comp in Revelstoke, BC was almost two months ago. Now over halfway through the comp season, the 2010 Telemark Big Mountain/Freeride Comp in Alpine Meadows, California is also already over. This last comp went smoothly even though the weather and snow conditions didn’t feel like cooperating. I did however, have a major break threw, in that I was finally able to stay on my feet, and not get lost for at least one comp run! Even though a hip-check/slide would put me into the 8th spot, I feel that my falling/getting lost streak is finally over! Hopefully I can finally “have one” at the next stop in Kirkwood and show those alpine skiers that a guy on tele-boards can SKI. With three comps down and three more to go, there is still a lot of skiing to be had.
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Josh Madsen from Telemark Skier Magazine also did a fantastic job covering the comp:
(if the video doesn’t open in a player click the transparent “facebook” I cant figure out why some videos load and some don’t)
I found out that I’m on the poster for the Alpine Meadows Telemark and Freeride Festival! I’m so stoked, and I can’t wait to shred up Alpine Meadows this February!
I’m in the best mood EVER!!! Want to know why? …Because today was the first day of my 09-10 ski season. It felt so good to finally get reacquainted with the snow, and I am so happy to be sliding down mountains again. I forgot that I would have to get used to my equipment again, but after a few runs i was quickly charging ahead at full speed. After skiing today, I have a feeling that the rest of this season is going to be truly epic!
With the skiing dreams really showing up in the last few months I have been so anxious to ski that I was thinking about driving all the way to the Breanu Sand Dunes to go sand skiing. When I awoke this morning to find snow pouring out of the clouds, I could hardly contain my excitement. I ran around the house waking up everyone, making sure that I wasn’t dreaming. After running outside and throwing some snowballs for Bailey, my dog, I went onto the Sun Valley website to check out the real time status of the snow on the mountain cams and the snow depth indicator read 9in! Update: it now reads 12inches one hour later
I hope that this fresh blanket is a tell tale sign of a big winter to come. I have a bet with some friends going on about how many inches we’re going to get here in Sun Valley. How many inches do you think we are going to get here in Sun Valley? Leave a comment on this post, and if you’re the closest at the end of the year you will win the prize!
This is also the first snow the New Gondola has experienced
Hey guys, it sounds like AK isn’t going to Happen for me flights are backed up form 3 days of cancellations and i cant get up there in time for Telepalooza, if your in my same boat i have a proposal for you…
there is a Tele-race this weekend in Sun Valley (april 4th), its a fun DRESS-UP day, dual GS “race,” tandem Challenge(two people on one pair of teleskis), telemark Parade, BBQ… the works!!!
my mom has offered her house for a place to crash to anyone who wants to drive on over to SV and make the best out of a crappy situation… its not Telepalooza but its still a great time! give me a shout 208-721-8084
Two weeks, two comps, and 3000 miles later, I’m finically back home in Sun Valley, Idaho. It all started with the Subaru U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships in Crested Butte, Colorado. In typical ski bum style, North Parker, Bryce Newcomb, and I all mobbed over to the Comp in my mothers Big Blue Van. We were greeted with a much need blanked of fresh snow, followed by an amazing blue bird sunny weekend. With these ideal conditions I had the most fun I’ve ever had at Crested Butte. North kept his Jr. title for the second year in a row, and Bryce and I both fell which caused us to place further back than what we wanted(I ended up in 36th). I also skied the most burly line I think I have ever skies and aired a 50-footer at the bottom of the Dead End Chute. I got to meet lots of the alpine athletes and make friends outside of the SV-Possy. Then we were on the road again headed back to Sun Valley. After I dropped Bryce and North off, I only had time to Unpack, do laundry, Repack and get some food, before I was on the road again headed to California for the first extreme Telemark comp at Alpine Meadows.
The Alpine Comp was another great competition, and it felt good to be back in the company of so many rippin’ Telemark Skiers. The First day I skied well but I had an unfortunate bobble upon landing the bottom cliff out of the “Key Hole,” but I redeemed my self second run, with the highest total run score for the whole comp, which put me into 3rd place, right behind Jake Sakson, and JT Robinson. The next day in the Finals I was hoping to bypass JT and Jake by skiing the “money-line” faster and better than I had done the day before. I ended up being too aggressive and I lost my balance as I dropped into the keyhole and I fell in the “NO-FALL Zone.” Obviously my scores suffered, but I with the great run the day before, I was able to pull off a 8th place finish.
Now it feel like have time to breath, but im back to training, Crested Butte is coming up in a few weeks…
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