The Skippy Report

Meet Jay Marconi in this episode, a long time OG Tele-skier based out of Snoqualmie Pass, WA, however he grew up in the East skiing at Berkshire East in Massachusetts. Jay shares his personal ski biography with us and his journey to Telemark, as well as his journey from having to drive 90 minutes to Berkshire East as a young man to now living at the ski resort he now calls home, Alpental, ...and we do geek out about OG gear Enjoy!

Gabrielle shares her skiing backstory and her attraction/move to Telemark skiing. It is very inspiring to see vibrant young people, like Gabrielle, taking up Telemark skiing and giving back to our community by organizing meet ups and like events. It is people like Gabrielle who will take the torch and ensure that our graceful sport continues to lives on. Enjoy!

Gravity/Gary Denton discusses the evolution of his Telemark skiing experience that has led him to developing a highly adaptable, modular, and releasable Telemark binding. We delve into his binding development story, from idea, to production, to testing , and now wanting to bring it to market. I hope you enjoy this super interesting conversation with a person who is on the cutting edge of new Telemark binding development.

Erik and I didn't get to talk about all we needed to in the last episode of last season, so we decided, he and I would discuss gear and trends for the upcoming season. I hope you learn something from this episode, I learned a lot. Thanks to Erik for spending the time to share his knowledge about gear, his insight into trends, and what will could be coming this season and in the not so far future. Make sure to support your local tele shop and most especially patronize Erik and his shop Telemarkdown.com. Enjoy and thanks for listening!

My guest on this episode is Erik Fey, one half of The Fey Brothers and owner of Telemarkdown. Erik shares how he got into Telemark skiing, an awesome, "Uncle story", you know how those stories unfold! Erik shares multiple Telemark tales as well as how and why he got into Telemark retail. This is part one of two, as Erik had so many stories that we really didn't get to the main retail story, as well as trends and gear, content for part two.

J.T. shares his Telemark Tale as well as his personal ski backstory in this episode. I first became aware of J.T., back in the day when he was a featured Telemark athlete in Tough Guy Productions as well as Powdwerwhore Productions and have followed his career through Telemark Skier Magazine, and Vertical Integration. I don't want to give much away, as I don't want to spoil any of J.T.'s stories, but I do know you will enjoy them as much as I did. Enjoy!

I talk with Anthony Hunter of Canberra, Australia in this episode. Anthony teaches me about the skiing environs of Southeastern Australia as well as sharing his rude introduction to skiing as a youngster. Anthony shares his skiing backstory which includes being an OG Telemark skier, skiing on 200+ cm skis with flimsy "boots". He also shares some of his global ski escapades; skiing in Kashmir, Ski mounainteering in various countries, early Tele-skiing in Australia, AND guiding on the Haute Route, just to name a few. Enjoy!

Jed has a very inspirational story about recovering from a life threatening incident to returning to living a normal life but to racing on the World Cup Telemark circuit. Jed also shares his Telemark Tale about growing up in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire and learning to ski before he could really walk, and growing up in a Telemark family. Enjoy!

Helen Burkart shares her Telemark Tale in this episode of "The Women in Telemark Skiing" series. I became aware of Helen through Instagram, this past winter, and what she was doing, at Belleayre Ski Resort in New York State. Helen Lives and works in the Catskills of New York, however she hails from the Lake Tahoe area of California, growing up and skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort, most of her life. This past winter was Helen's second full year skiing on Telemark gear and is loving it so much that she wants to give back and share the excitement of the new set of skills that some good friends have helped her develop, by hosting Telemark meet-ups at Belleayre Mountain, most importantly, Helen is encouraging women to join her and her crew to ski together and have fun! This was a fun episode, I hope you enjoy it!

Wow! This will be one of my all-time favourite interviews. I had the opportunity to sit down with Gary McGuffin, of The McGuffins paddling duo fame. Gary is a Canadian paddling Legend, photographer, Telemark skier, Nature Conservator, and well-known author. Gary shares his Telemark/Nordic tale, from a very young age to today. As well, he chronicles how growing up in rural Southwestern Ontario and summering in Northern Ontario informed his choices later in life, schooling, activities, and the meeting with Joanie, his lifelong partner, while attending Seneca College and how they made a life of adventure together. They live just outside of Searchmont, Ontario where they continue to be very active in the paddling scene, and very importantly with land/shoreline conservancy of the Lake Superior environs. Gary and Joanie are founding members of The Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy. He shares why this Conservancy is so important to he and Joanie as well as to other Canadians. I hope you enjoy this episode, which is hopefully only the first of a few more.

Sophie Studd, a level 4 Telemark Instructor and examiner and Alpine Instructor with The Australian Professional Ski Instructors shares her Telemark tale with us. She also shares her backstory of how a Brit ends up teaching skiing and living Down Under, as well as being part of the flight crew for an airway that specializes in flying Scientists in and out of The Antarctic. We may also geek out on Telemark ski instruction and biomechanics in this episode, no surprise there. Enjoy!

Meet Robin and Enn, owners and hosts of Bellevue Valley Lodge in Searchmont, Ontario, in this episode. Bellevue Valley Lodge is the premiere backcountry ski destination here in Northern Ontario, Canada. Listen to Robin and Enn's backstory and Telemark Tale in this episode. Learn about the allure of the North and why people fall in love with this year round playground destination. Enjoy!

Wow, is all I have to say, and you will also, after listening to Kate Inglis share her Telemark Tale and backstory! Kate is an OG Canadian Telemark skier from down East, who presently lives on the Ocean in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. She is also an author of primarily of children's books, however she has also written an award winning non-fiction book called, "Notes For The Everlost", and will be publishing her first novel this coming Fall. Kate is also a longtime photographer. I know you will enjoy this episode, thanks for listening!

very close friend John Woods regales us with his skiing backstory and how he got into Telemark skiing at the age of 65, when most people are choosing to retire. John spends his Winters instructing Alpine skiers, Snowboarders, and the odd Telemark Skier in Northern Ontario, at Searchmont Ski Resort. Enjoy!

During this episode, my good friend Trey Clauss shares his story of growing up just outside of Buffalo, NY, and skiing at Kissingbridge. Trey was so fortunate that he has understanding parents that they moved to a ski town just as young Trey was getting into skiing the bumps and competing, and where he was able to work at the hippest ski shop. Trey shares the history of The City Garage and the rationale and history of the shop's former owner and originator, Sean Lowes. The City Garage is a well known Telemark shop in Western New York that services Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ontario, and beyond. When looking for Tele gear show them some love and hit them up. Enjoy!

Meet Julia Larson in this episode of "The Women in Telemark Skiing" series. Julia hales from Alberta, Canada and is a hard charging Telemark Free Skier. She shares her backstory about getting into Telemark skiing and why she likes it so much, as well as how she is doing competing as a Telemark Free Skier competitor. Enjoy!

I talk with longtime friend and Telemark skier Cam Evanoff in this episode. Cam shares his story of how skiing is in his DNA, yep, thanks to his parents. Cam tells us about his early days of skiing in Southern Ontario, Western New York and family ski trips and making his way to becoming a ski Coach for Milton Heights Race Club. He also shares how he discovered Telemark skiing by watching this crazy Canuck, and mutual friend Dave Kilbourn, slamming slalom gates on his Telemark gear on week nights, and how he got into it. Cam now has his son and daughter Tele-skiing. The cool story, in my humble opinion, is how Cam volunteers as a member of the Sled Dogs and Tremblant Jack Rabbits, who are two volunteer groups who prep and maintain the race courses when the Alpine World Cup Circuit comes to Canada. Enjoy!

Sara shares her backstory of Skating on the Bronx River as a very young girl, taking up snowboarding, playing on some super long skis, growing up at Mohawk Mountain Ski Area, in Connecticut. She also shares her story about moving out West, securing a job as a Land Surveyor and educated as a Geologist and how this profession allows her to be on skis many days a year as well as her introduction to Telemark skiing. She also shares some of her experiences as a senior member of The Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team.

Larissa shares her backstory of growing up in Switzerland and taking up skiing as a child and progressing through the racing scene and naturally taking up ski instructing as a young person to earn spending money. Larissa shares how and why she came to Canada where she started to dabble with hosting Telemark events which ultimately lead to what she is presently doing with Tailgate Tele, based out of Golden, British Columbia. We get to hear about the struggles and accomplishments of putting together a demo fleet of Telemark gear as well as the development of a unique athletic movement assessment and prescription programme based on Telemark skiing as the assessment tool and prescription delivery mode. Enjoy!

Kurt shares his backstory of growing up in Southern Michigan and going to College in the Upper Peninsula, and taking up skiing. He shares his story of becoming an Alpine Ski Instructor with The Professional Ski Instructors of America, {PSIA) and how he was introduced to Telemark Skiing. He quickly realized how much of a Telemark gear dessert he was in, just on the outskirts of Detroit, and what he chose to do about it. He chose to invest his own hard earned cash and slowly started to build a demo fleet under the name of Motor City Tele. Finally, Kurt shares his accomplishments and this years plans for Motor City Tele. Enjoy!