Anyone interested in improving their Telemark skills should seriously consider the Timberline Telemark clinic this coming Sunday. The instructor/student ratio is always very high. Their will be at least one examiner (only a handful of PSIA examiners on the East Coast), at least one level III and several level II telemark instructors. Regardless of your level they can help you improve. I understand Vic will be taking photos for analysis. It also is a great opportunity to get to know the close knit group of telemarkers that hang at Timberline. They are really great people and will continue to help you once they get to know who you are. Snow conditions are perfect right now at Timberline and the weekend forecast is good so everything should be just right. Hope to see you there - I'll be the guy working on weighting my back foot (I guess that's every telemarker) and getting more angulation and about 10 other things.

Thanks for the post. I'll be there!

Forgot to add that there is a brief blurb on the Timberline website cover with the cost of the clinic ($65) and signup times ect.

Ha... weighting the back foot... I thought I had that somewhat figured out until I tried to ski some bumps this past weekend. I just completely lost my composure when I hit the tough stuff.

I'll see you guys there! Hopefully I'm not too stuck in my ways to learn a few things...

I'll be taking the day of from teaching to become a student. Can't wait! Hope to meet some of you guys there.

Weather: looks so promissing!
Super COLD at night (but comfortable days) for Sunday.

not to diss t-line at all, they have some fabulous instructors for darn sure! But there is also a 2-day NATO workshop/clinic this weekend at White Grass with Dickie Hall that is pretty highly touted that's worth checking out also. and possibly more bang for your buck as your skis are guaranteed to spend 100% of the time "on snow" and none dangling in the air

Yes, it is quite unfortunate that the T-Line clinic and the NATO clinic are both on the same weekend. I've participated in both and recommend both highly. However, they will be different and emphasize different aspects of Tele skiing. The T-Line Clinic will be taught by PSIA instructors and will be more technical in nature and all the instructors will basically follow the same progression in teaching the Tele turn. The instuctors in the NATO clinic tend to follow their own individualized teaching methods. Both groups have helped many people learn to ski. The T-Line clinic will be largely on piste. The NATO clinic will probably emphasize more of the backcountry aspects of telemark which is a whole set of skills in itself. On the other hand, they will be limited in some of the more downhill aspects of telemark skiing due to the thin snowpack at Whitegrass.

I would go to T-Line if you are more interested in perfecting the technical aspects of your turn and NATO if I were more interested in polishing up my backcountry skills.

Either way, you will have fun.

Does anyone know how these clinics work - do they break you out into smaller groups to get lessons? I'd love to get some instruction on how to ski bumps and/or glades... or maybe I should just worry about learning the basics first, haha

FWIW - I'll be there wearing a blue jacket and gray helmet.

They break up the students into groups based on levels. Probably not more than 4-5 per group. If your level is high enough then its quite possible you could end up on Off The Wall or The Drop where there may be some bumps. I doubt they will take you over there if they don't think your level is high but will instead work on the skills you need to develop to be able to handle more difficult terrain. Alot depends on how good the snow is on Sunday on those trails and in the glades.

How long have you been telemark skiing?

OTW will indeed provide those wishing to learn tele-bumps with the perfect opportunity. As for The Drop, I imagine the right side is getting bumped up a fair amount also. I'll be the one in an instructor's jacket and a silver Giro helmet with red Spy goggles. I'll also be the one laying on the ground most of the day.....

I had to bail out of this clinic... sick better half and kids with lots of transportation needs today. Anyone want to file an after-action report? Should I put this workshop on the to-do list or keep overpressuring my forward ski, skidding out my turns and skiing in the backseat like I do alpine style? On second thought nevermind. I think I know the answer.

The clinic went awesome. It was my first time ever on tele's and I loved it! Timberline's Nordic program is full of top-notch (PSIS Lvl 3's and Examiner's) insructors and some of us students were lucky enough to be in groups that had a 1:1 ratio with them. By the end of the day I was making OK turns down Salamander and even a few of the more mellow Blue runs. I was going to ski them again today, but the powder was too sweet to go out with my limited tele skills.

Also, talking with Annie (the Nordic director) on Saturday, she wasn't expecting to have many show up. Talking with her on Sunday afternoon she was astonished by just how many came out. She then told me that so many people were there because they heard about from a site called "DC.com or something??". I said you must mean DCSKI.com and she said "Oh yeah, that's the one that everyone was talking about".... So good job everyone!! This site is doing an awesome job at getting the word out and even supporting local areas!!! Heck, there were 5 people alone from our ski house there. Should have been 6 but a certain someone decided not to show this weekend (Cough Cough Jimmy Cough Cough).

I have posted 2 sets of photos, and have tried to include everyone who showed up. In advance, I apologize if I have skipped anyone, or only included one or two photos of some participants.

Every effort was made, but it's getting late - and work is on the table. Either way, I hope you enjoy the 65+ photos broken down into two groups.

Oh... yeah: you still want to see them?
Go to: www.visitcanaan.com and LOOK for "Photo Coverage".

Thanks for attending, tele on, and keep your eyes open for the next Telemark Workshop.

Jimmy??? Hope to see you there too (the next time).

Cheers!

Awesome shots Vic. Too bad you caught me in the early part of the day when I was just figuring the balance thing out. Had you found me in the afternoon then you could have got some better shots of me gettin' my tele on.....

I also enjoyed my class. Shelley and Tom are excellent instructors and keyed in on some issues in my technique that need to be fixed if I want to move to the next level.

I know Abe follows this forum. He was in our class and I saw alot of improvement in his skiing by the end of the day.

We should all try and meet for a run or two this weekend so we can connect faces to names. I'll be there Saturday and Sunday.

Yes, the workshop was excellent - and thanks for the compliment Tom! I went up to Massanutten yesterday to try to practice some of the tips I picked up this weekend and definitely feel like it has already improved my skiing. I think the biggest thing for me was learning to wait longer to transition the lead foot - it definitely makes my turns much smoother.

I'll be up at Snowshoe this coming weekend... but will hopefully return to Canaan Valley sometime in early Feb. - it would be great to meet up for a few turns then!

Thanks David!

I have to admit:
Many of you were so light and fast on your feet - I didn't get a chance to get a single photo. <smile>
Keep up the great work.

Yeah, Vic you must have missed me because I haven't seen a single picture of myself! Speaking on behalf of T-Line, we would like to thank all the participants we had last Sunday. There will be two more clinics this year (Feb and March), including our Telefest weekend in March. We would love to see you again, or any other time for that matter. If we aren't giving lessons we'd love to ski with you.

Adam from Winchester eh?? I know you... Goodluck on your PSIA exam this weekend!

Thanks David. I'm more worried about possible weather between Cumberland and Granstville. Hey, if you run into Gene and Terri G. this weekend ask them to burn some Moe for me. I'll be back at T-Line the first weekend in Feb.