CRMS Telemark Team

And so it begins...

2011-10-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

As I write this post, we are four days away from dryland training season... we will enter the pain cave on Monday Oct 17th!

Here is the schedule:

Week of Monday Oct 17
Monday: No Dryland.
Tuesday: Aerobic Base: Homies Trail Run and Hex Jumps
Wednesday: Meghan Detering and "Plio X"
Thursday: Off
Friday: Speedball and Cross-Fit
Week of Monday Oct 24:
Monday: Team Meeting
Tuesday: Warm up run, Aspen Extreme Workout!
Wednesday: Expected Snow and Rain: Yoga and Telemark Technique
Thursday: Sweet Hill Time Trial!
Friday: Abs and Speedball.
Week of Monday Oct 31:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday: Oystermeister Climb
Friday:
Week of Monday Nov 7:
Monday: Medals Testing 1
Tuesday: Black Diamond Fit and Order Session at Bristlecone Mtn Sports.
Wednesday:Medals Testing 2
Thursday:
Friday:
Week of Monday Nov 14:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday: Red Hill Time Trial!
Friday: Off

California!

2011-03-07T20:16:00.002-08:00

Laughs and durs, four feet of sick pow, trains, anyone want a Cliff Bar?, cute girls, impressive soap selections, tramps, hobos, and bums, sushi, cow guts, new friends, amazing comp runs, boxers and coon tails, apples to apples, librarians getting busted, butterflies, sassy train attendants, 480 volts, pickles, gua-ca-mole-e, and a gorgeous BIG BLUE lake.

The CRMS Telemark Team finally made the trip, as a whole team, to Alpine Meadows California for the Alpine Meadows Big Mountain Telemark Championships. Below is the epic story told through the eyes of everyone on the team, starting with Peter Madigan's video of the adventure:

California Day 1. Wednesday Feb 23rd. The Train.

Thorne Warner Writes:
There is something about trains that is almost surreal. They are one
of those things that in a society where it's all hustle and bussle,
stop go, stop go they have managed to retain a relaxing and calm,
steady yet not rushed feeling. That was one of the nice things about
taking a train out to california. On a team with 13 people, usually 2
bags per person, not counting carry-ons or all the the ski gear, being
rushed is a hassle, not to mention being on time and organized.
Arriving at the train station we get the fat boy unpacked, our
mountain of gear taking up a sizable portion of the area. Looking
around, the same look is in everyones eye. An intensity created by
being supercharged with excitement and readiness to tear up the
mountain and competition along with its 10 feet (and growing) of new
snow. The train ride is completely hassle free, no luggage to worry
about, big comfortable seats, outlets in the walls for the ultimate
movie marathon experience and an entire team of excited telemark
skiers. At first you can hardly feel the train moving and you get a
sense of floating along with the scenery gliding by. After the first
movie or two you decide its time to stand up and take a walk or
explore a little bit, getting your train legs is not as easy as it
sounds. Despite the feeling of a lack of motion when you are sitting
down, walking down the isle is a test of endurance and agility as you
sway back and forth in an almost drunk swagger. Be it relaxing
watching a movie in your seat, sitting with a cup of coffe watching
the view in the lounge car, curling up and distorting yourself trying
to get a few winks or having dinner and playing apples to apples with
the team, the train is always good. All you need to remember is sit
back, relax and enjoy the ride, and hopefully you'll have the added
benefit of one of the best, powder-full skiing weekends of your life
just waiting for you around the bend.

California Day 3. Friday Feb 25th:

Cormac McGeough writes:
The storm raged through Friday, dumping absurd amounts of cold light snow (up to 4 feet in some areas) with winds up to 100 miles per hour. Alpine Meadows and Squaw shut down so we went to Homewood, a smaller more mild ski resort with cheaper lift tickets.
It had snowed so much the lower degree slopes with all that snow made it almost impossible to make tele turns, let alone keep your tips up. The steepest run that was open was the main run, which was around 30 degrees. The lift was extremely slow, and after the steeper part, went on a flat for about 500 ft. The only thing keeping us warm from the fierce winds was skiing down the mountain. We met up with Luke lubechenco (?), Will Cardamone, and Jake Sakson, along with at least 15 other atheletes competing in the competition. We lapped the hill until 3:30, when we all left with our homestays.

Kelsey Freeman writes:
You never know when you’re going to wake up to the biggest powder day of your life. For some of us, that day just might have been Friday of our trip to California. As we were leaving, we of course were ecstatic to hear that it had snowed seven feet in Tahoe. Then you can imagine our excitement when it dumped two more feet overnight. That morning I rolled out of bed, peered out the window, and all I could think was “it’s gonna be a good day.” And of course it was. Since Alpine Meadows was closed (due to the loads of fluffy pow), we took off to Homewood, another nearby resort. While it didn’t necessarily have the steeps, it certainly had the powder (about waist-deep)! The rest of the comp seemed to have the same idea, so we got to mix it up and ski with plenty of other fellow telers. In the afternoon we found a run that was steep enough not to get stuck, and we lapped it for the rest of the day. For me, it was such a blast to ski with some of the best tele skiers around, and we certainly couldn’t have asked for a better day for it!

Kayo, Meghan, and Cormac ridin' it old school at Homewood.

Kelsey Freeman digging out of the goods at Homewood

The Homewood Playground

California Day 3. Saturday Feb 26th. Prelims.

Kelsey Bohanon Writes:
After the traumatizing experience of ripping my binding out of my brand new ski the previous day, I was back on the mountain on competition day, thanks to the generosity and handiwork of Luke, who fixed up his skis for me to use. We had gotten up early and were on the lifts early, headed up to the venue to get a inspection run in before showtime. Unfortunately, getting to the venue involved at least 7 minutes of sidestepping, but fortunately we were all tough enough to handle it. By 9:30 that morning, the team was standing at the top of the venue looking down at a fun, featured, powdery run with lake Tahoe on our right and some of the best tele skiers in the world on our left.

As we all dropped in to scout our lines, Charlie Crocket started the day off right by tumbling at the top and causing a small avalanche that took out Peter and carried the both of them halfway down the run along with most of the fresh snow on the venue. We giggled into our jackets as the rest of the competitors watched the mess of Tele team puffy, sticks, and coon tail in shock from the sidelines. Much to my dismay, I missed the Junior runs as I was heading back up to the top for my run.

I was greeted at the top by the intimidatingly good female skiers that made up the rest of women's category. Turning 18 was not good for competitions. I was first. I buckled my boots and gave the starter a nod and soon could hear her voice rising up from the speakers at the bottom. "Judges ready, skier ready, 3, 2, 1..." I dropped into the steep, skied out top section. I was unstable. Just keep moving! I told myself. So I did. With the help of a few butt checks I made it shakily down the venue and off a small air at the bottom. Not my best run.

Hanging out at the bottom with the team, I watched the rest of the girls ski incredible lines and watched the men's category. Charlie flew off a cliff near the bottom, almost stuck the landing, but ended up face-planting and came though the finish grinning, with snow filling his gaper gap. Luke and Peter both hit the same upper cliff and both crashed heavily upon landing. Peter was able to save himself in time, but Luke tumbled down some rocks and pulled up his sleeve at the bottom to reveal a bloody gash on his elbow. We also had a great time watching some of our old pals and top-notch huckers like Jake Sakson, Will Cardamone, and Luke Lubchenco ski unbelievable lines.
As the day progressed, Peter, Luke, Charlie and I dreaded the second run that the announcers assured us we would have to take, but were saved by the impeding dusk. The juniors did get a second run in and all crushed it. Weaver, Thorne, and Kelsey all dropped cliffs and everyone skied beautifully! We were able to get one more lap in as a team with my local host family who took us to a wonderful run that was still covered in fresh powder.
At the meeting that night we were all psyched to find out that despite their crashes, the men of the team made it to finals. Luke, Peter, and Charlie would all be skiing and the infamous Buttress the next day!

California Day 4. Sunday Feb 27th. Finals.

Charlie Boyne Writes:
“You should do it naked” I heard my coach say jokingly on the lift up. I put on a pensive face to get some laughs and ended up thinking about it in reality. I carried the joke on too far- as I usually do. “Yeah!” I exclaim. “Yeah! Gnar points!” “I'd carry your stuff down for you,” my coach replied. That's when it hit me. I had opened my big mouth once again and agreed to doing something stupid. I had taken a joke and made it real. A habit that I, in disagreement with my body's aspiration for general well-being, hope to never lose. Some of the best moments of my life have been because I did something that no one actually wanted me to do- like skiing naked in my final run in the the telemark competition on Alpine Meadows.

We did the long traverse to the venue and Kayo asked us what we were thinking. “I'm thinkin' about dropping in on skiers left inside the cliffs and billy-goating down hitting as many cliffs as I can,” said Peter. “I'm thinkin' about hitting that big drop on skier's left in the cliffs and then that other big drop at the bottom of the run,” said Luke. Kayo looked at me. The venue scared me. I was in with the big boys. In my last two competitions I got dead last- no joke, the idea of making it past preliminaries was just a joke to me, but here I was- joke come real. “I'm debating between the full monty or a little mystery,” I said. Kayo laughed. He, like me, was just stoked that I was standing there. I wanted to not take the run as a joke- I wanted to really compete. But a mixture of the timidness and the self-obligation to get some laughs out of it persuaded me to take the other run. I rationalized it like this: cliffs and me are not friends, but my turns are solid, and when I try, I can get the speed the the judges want to see. If I traverse out of the cliffs into the open part of the venue and just throw down the best turns I can, I'll score the better than I would for leaving the mountain in an ambulance having tomahawked down a cliff face. Plus, I can be naked.

I chose the leave the boxers on- I'm 18 and can now get charged as an adult. As an added bit of excitement, I realized I was wearing one of my favorite pairs. I took off my clothes and the other competitors started staring. I don't know if it's because I looked good or if I looked stupid. I ski with sticks and a fake raccoon tail hanging on my helmet- I like to think it's because I looked good standing there with my sticks, my boots, my helmet, my gloves, and my bib tucked into my boxers- ready to charge, but it's probably the latter.

Luke went first. I was next. He disappeared out of site and I knew that the only way to follow up Luke Falcone is to ski naked. It was the only thing going through my head. The lady asked for bib 82. “Right here,” I said. “What's your name?” “Charlie Boyne.” “Crocket!” yelled Kayo. The lady looked confused. “Charlie Crocket!” repeated Kayo. The lady talked into the walkie talkie “Charlie Crocket Boyne bib 82 skiers far left... 3....2...........1................. dropping” My heart dropped before I did. It sank and I traversed over, it sank deeper and I kept traversing. The butterflies were going crazy. I fell. The judges couldn't see me yet but I was naked, face down, in California powder. The butterflies disappeared and the rest is a blur. I skied into the finishing zone and looked up. It was over. It was epic and it was over.

It was an awkward 15 minutes waiting for Kayo to come down with my clothes, I stood with the audience. I was trying to ignore the fact that I was wearing my boxers, I was hoping no one noticed the holes in them (they are my lucky boxers, all lucky boxers have holes, but these holes are big ones). Someone once said- “you never realize they're the glory days until they're over”, but this day I realized.

Luke Falcone Writes:

When Jake Sakson says something your about to ski is intimidating, it probably means its one of the dumber things you've ever lined up. When Jake Sakson says, "this is one of the most intimidating lines I've come across since Alaska," you turn around and go home to your mom.

This was how he chose to describe Alpine Meadow's run, The Buttress. Somehow, someway, I find myself peering down "the most intimidating thing since Alaska."

As I sit atop the Buttress, with a naked Charlie, a goPro-ed Peter, and a rallying Kayo, I can only think of how this all came into play. Upon returning our bibs (thinking that surely the 3 of us have no chance of moving beyond the preliminary round due to a series of unfortunate crashes) I over hear a judge say that they are taking the top 25. Out of curiosity I check the roster... next thing I know; I've hiked for over a half an hour, nearly fell off a cornice, almost missed the venue (which I have not scouted), watched a competitor narrowly dodge death after breaking a binding at the top of the run, forgotten my line and am now standing next to a hairy naked dude. Right.

At this point, while Charlie is undressing, Peter and I decide we ought to go scout. We approach the drop in, only to realize it is in fact a drop off. The first and only thing we can see is the judges stand and the rest of our team partying at the bottom. In between us and them, there is, from what we remember, which isn't much, a large number of gnarly, boney cliffs with very little snow coverage. Right.

I'm the first of our boys to drop in. I hurried to the bottom, simply because I knew what insanity was yet to come. As I unclip from my skis, I hear; "Skier: Charlie "Crocket" Boyne...dropping." I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Slowly but surely, the crowd shifted from quite murmurs, to pointing and giggling, to full on hooting and hollering. 1000 point bonus for Crocket. By the time we found Charlie a coat, Peter was already silhouetted at the top. If you haven't watched Peter's video yet, scroll up and do so now. He skied one of the sickest lines of the day. Like better than you could have, because he's got a goPro.

Next time though, I think we should just go to Snowmass... so... yeah.

Williams Huck Fest 2011

2011-03-07T20:16:00.001-08:00

Coming Soon!

VMS - CRMS Telemark Extravaganza 2011

2011-03-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

The Vail Mountain School and CRMS Telemark Teams united in Aspen again this year for another weekend of Telemarking together, competition, and general shenanagins.

The weekend began on Friday at Aspen Highlands where we divided up into two groups for the morning: those who wanted to schralp Highlands Bowl, and those who were not quite ready for Highlands Bowl.

Due to his knee injury CRMS Telemark Team athlete Adam Hobby graciously volunteered to give the non-bowl group a tour of the lower part of the mountain, which at first appeared that he would be taking one for the team, until it became evident that this entire group was made out girls from VMS...BROWNCHICKENBROWNCOW...who's your daddy?

The other group marched up the bowl ridge in howling winds and sub-zero temps. It was not unlike an Everest Expedition, and a RAW introduction to the bowl to some of the newer members of the VMS team. It was great to see CRMS students so comfortable in such conditions, and willing to help at the drop of hat (including Charlie Boyne removing his coon-tail from his helmet and stuffing it around the face of one particularly cold and whiney VMS student who was complaining about his face freezing off..."Here, wear this"!) Everyone made the summit, however, and the powder turns down through the North Woods revitalized peoples spirits and blew people minds.

VMS/CRMS Highlands Bowl Summit Team!

In the afternoon we BBQed at the bottom of Scarletts and held an informal bump competition between the two schools. Riley Ebel from VMS managed to win the entire comp AGAIN this year. Here are the results:

Women:
Riley Ebel 84
Ellen Edgerton 71
Kelsey B. 70.5
Maggie Sherman 68.5
Sydney Idzikowski 68
Emily Bandoni 65.5
Nicole Byrne 64.5
Maddi Conlin 64.5
Sierra Brill 63
Hannah Horne 53
Kelsey Freeman 52.5
Monika Gehl 48.5
Kendall Peck 43.5
Kelsey Samuels 33.5

Men:
Luke Falcone 81.5
Addison Baker 73.5
Peter Madigan 71.5
Marshall Thompson 70
Austin Cerny 70
Tanner Shelden 69
Brandon Rosenbach 64
Ian Reid 62
Cormack McGeough 62.5
Josh Rosenbach 62.5
Charlie Boyne 60
Claire Jaicks 58.5
Weaver Froelicher 58
Jack Geddes 57
Andy Wright 50.5
Lucien Blakemore 44.5
Drew Verratti 44
Christain Bohren 43
Craig Tietbohl 40
Avery Hynes 27.5

BBQ at the bottom of Scarletts

That night we held a square dance in the barn to live music provided by Josh Carter, Kayo, Connor Meyers, Shannon Meyer, Leah Linse, and Calleigh Smith. Josh's wife Mallory called dance. The CRMS Telemark team was well trained in square dancing from a run through of it on dryland the day before. At the end of the dance we tried to morph it into an electronic dance, with a bit of success for a while.

On Sunday both teams hit Snowmass, where we attempted to hold the first annual dual big mountain competition, where teams of two were going to compete on the Hanging Valley Headwall and be judged on syncronicity as well as the full array of big mountain competition criteria. The visibility did not cooperate however, and so we just had to ski powder. Sometimes it is hard being a Telemark skier.

At the end of the day Lucien Blakemore crashed and had his arm skied over, resulting in a wicked wound, to which his response was: "this is going to be such a sick scar!". We all visited him in the clinic until we were finally kicked out.

Mid-Winter Dryland: Hill-bounding and Pond Skimming

2011-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

Hill-bounding/sledding relays were a quick way to find ourselves in the hurt locker during a mid-winter melt in Carbondale. Each team did four reps, followed by a slushy run.

The upside of the melt was the goose poop filled melt pond at the bottom. This was a prime coaching moment to teach pond skimming by giving an outstanding example of technique.

Highlands Bowl and Powder

2011-01-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

We hooked up with Will Cardemone and Chris Erickson yesterday for an epic day in Highlands Bowl. Lucien Blackestone, in year two of skiing, celebrated his first bowl lap and everyone schralped powder lines down the North Woods. We ended the day with a righteous line down the Wall, where Hannah Horn turned everyone's head, topped by gnarly lines down the P-shoots with a Tele-Belly slide into the base area.

See it all through Peter Madigan's eyes:

Charlie Boyne: Native Materials

2011-01-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

"I only feel right if I am using local, native sources for my Telemark Equipment"

The 4th Annual Red Hill Time Trial becomes Stage 1 of the Oystermeister Challenge

2010-11-20T10:06:00.001-08:00

Light snow a few days before added some mud, light snow, and ice to parts of the Red Hill Time Trial course this year. That didn't stop 59 competetors from coming out, on the last Friday before Thanksgiving Break, to compete in the first stage of the first innagural Oystermeister Challenge, also known in some circles as the Tour de CRMS.

What is the Oystermeister, you might ask? It is a series of competitions, throughout the academic year at CRMS, that are either long standing traditional events, or fairly new events, that are part of the soul of CRMS. Standings across all six events will be recorded to establish the king and queen of CRMS sports, in student and faculty divisions.

The Headmeister Challenge...

FURTHERMORE, there is a challenge within the challenge: The Headmeister challenge! As a fundraiser, faculty have pledged a donation of $200 to the three philanthropic student clubs for any male student that beats headmaster Jeff Leahy in overall standings, and other $200 for any female student that beats Amanda Leahy in overall standings.

We were thrilled to see so many people come out for stage 1, the Red Hill Time Trial.
The rest of the stages are:
2. A CRMS Climbing Comp
3. The CRMS Rat Race (Nordic race at Spring Gulch)
4. The February Plunge (a swim race)
5. The Sweet Hill Time Trial (Bike race from CRMS up to Dry Park)
6 The Crystal River Races (Kayak downriver race).

Week 3 of Dryland: Medals Testing and... BOWLING!

2010-11-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

We got after it hard Monday and Tuesday with Medals Testing (results coming soon). Hex jumps, push ups, sit ups, and box jumps on Monday, and the 440 and the Mile on Tuesday. The Alpine Team joined us for both days, and both crews got after it hard, especially in the box jumps, 440, and mile.

We ended the week with some critical cross training at El Jebowl where we pounded several baskets of fries and gave the gutters a good work out, (with the exception of high rollers Meghan Detering and Luke Falcone).

"That is one sexy crew"

"That's a good unicorn"

"I know, another gutter ball. Just hide your eyes"

"I may be wearing a dress, but let me ask you this: "Who's your daddy?""

"I may not be able to read, but let me tell you what the score board says right now... S-T-R-I-K-E!"

"Ohhhhhh, it's so cute when you knock all the pins down!"

"This ball is going right for the gutter"

"Um, Meghan, do you have a costume I can borrow?"

"He can't also be good at bowling, can he? CAN HE?"

"Why are the pins on the roof?"

"...and so the frog said to the bananna, where did you get that suit?..."

"Fear the Komono"

"Let me show you how we did it back in the 80s"

"Jedi's don't need to see to bowl"

The 2010 Dryland Season is Underway!

2010-11-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

After graduating many seniors last season, this season's telemark team is a smaller, yet still mighty crew. But have no fear, we're as ridiculous as always. The first week or so of dryland involved about as many students as coaches, as a handful of the boys finished out their soccer season and Luke and Kelsey B were still busy crushing it in the Colorado High School Mountain Bike League. This allowed for the remaining few of us to pursue some new activities, such as enjoying a late season mountain bike ride at the base of Mt. Sopris on the Prince Creek Trails.

Just another day of dryland training in beautiful Carbondale, CO (Prince Creek)

Many of our afternoons have been spent alongside the alpine and snowboard teams. They have joined us for plyometric circuits, trail runs, and our favorite field game-- speedball. This cross of soccer/ultimate/football is back in full force this season, completely destroying each and every one of us from the all the sprinting involved.

Cormac (in red)works on perfecting his squat technique during tri-team tabata (plyometric circuits)

Another day not to be forgotten: The Marion Gulch Mud Fest! I guess next time we'll know... when Kayo and Meghan have to ask themselves, "hmm, will it be too muddy up there today?"... the answer is YES. But great fun comes out of running on a trail that: A.) Just witnessed 2+ days of rain and snow, B.) Is often muddy anyways, C.) contains hidden creeks under the snow, and D.) After said weather, just got stomped on by the cows coming out of the high country. What resulted was one of the muddiest drylands in history. Some got to partially practice ski technique on the slick downhill sections, shoes were suctioned off by mud on the way back down for others. But we did get in a good run and a leg-burning-backward walking-tuck-positioned hill workout, complete with a few burr bouquet fights. We returned to the fatboy covered in mud and "velcroed" with burrs. What a day!
*On a side note, another highlight of the day occurred as Meghan, our school librarian, was quoted out of context during a break, exclaiming, "No, I can't read!" In trying to explain that she indeed does work all day in the library, as opposed to reading books, browsing facebook, etc., she singlehandedly subjected herself to jokes about literacy-- for the rest of the season.

A few weeks into the season, looking to switch it up a bit... we hit the pool! For waterpolo! In AWESOME hats! The Glenwood Rec Center set us up with three lanes and the official water polo headgear. Man, did we look good. A few of the students in CRMS' swimming active and teacher Erik Skeaff joined us for a competitive game. This was new territory for the tele team. Though not all are expert swimmers, we did get a great workout and are proud to report that no one drowned. After the game a quick spa session was in store, with a hot tub and water slide sesh. Most everyone on the team came up with a new, creative way to descend the water slide-- unfortunately all were vetoed by the lifeguard. Hey, at least we tried...

Charlie and Lucien

Cormac under pressure from Robinson, as Kayo and JT look on

Kayo charges Luke as he tries to pass off the ball

Charlie jumps up to defend the goal

Kayo, just tall enough to ride the slide

Feet first only, Luke!

Kayo shares deep thoughts on life, love, and trash bag sledding

CRMS/VMS Tele Weekend Extravaganza!

2010-02-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend we re-wrote the record books in tele team history—largest student tele posse amassed on one mountain-- 60 students ripping on telemark skis!!! We invited the Vail Mountain School Telemark Team to join us for a weekend packed with a Highland bowl hike, mogul competition, high stakes broomball tournament, and sprint classic race at Sunlight Mtn. Also, born from the weekend were: potential longest human GS course known to man, a new standard in being ejected from the rappleche (banked turn) in sprint classic, hardest digger in front of a judging panel, most competitions completed with a tree branch as a pole, best shirtless run with a backpack in competition, a potential romance or two, and some new friendships.

The fun began on Friday at Highlands. We amassed in the morning for introductions and an explanation of the day. We were psyched for the opportunity to share some turns with not only VMS, but friends in our CRMS instructional tele groups as well. We soon broke into groups based on ability and desired terrain selection and hit it hard skiing all over the mountain in the morning. Some focused on bumps, others perfected their turns on groomers, and the hard-chargers decided to test their legs (and lungs) in the bowl.

It was exciting to share and show off our mountain to a new crew. Going up the lift, one of the VMSers kept asking, “Is that the bowl?” Nope. You see it at the top, and you’ll know when you see it. “Wow! Sweet!” As we got off the lift at the top of Loge Peak, it loomed before us. An impressive site even to those who have seen it a thousand times before. Today, flanked in blue sky and with fresh snow, recent enough to see each individual track on some aspects. With such a large group, we decided to forgo the first ten minutes of the cat and do the whole hike. What ensued was a surprisingly quick hike for such a large group on a gorgeous, bluebird day. No complaints from this crowd, as we all knew of the prize that lay ahead.

Gearin’ up and strippin’ down

Oh yeah!

Peter eyes the snowfield as others delayer

The VMS ladies begin the journey

Aisha falls into rhythm

JJ Worley and Peyton Heitzman admire the scenery

Meghan gives it her game face

The ladies, killin’ it!

Kelsey Bohanon proudly displays her hard work

with a well-executed snot-rocket

VMS all smiles!

Hannah Horn cools off before the final ascent

Woohoo!

The final push!

Grady and Aisha chill at the top

VMS coach Mike and his athletes

The crew at the summit with Pyramid Peak

and the Maroon Bells in the background

Charlie Boyne puts on his skis in front of

Mt. Hayden and the Five Fingers Ridge

We chose a continuous line in the G zone, straight down from the peak. The VMS crew charged! They set out in a tight pack—we were impressed! CRMS wasn’t far behind, either, as all of us yelped at the pure sickness of skiing chopped up pow in the bowl in a group of 23 young freeheelers.

VMS skiers charge the bowl

Grady Lenkin with a picture-perfect turn

After a quick lunch we regrouped for a mogul competition on Scarlett’s. Coaches from both teams judged all athletes on technique, continuity, and overall impression. Great skiing from everyone! In the end, sweet potato fry bribes to coaches at lunch ended up not actually being the deciding factor of the results. Female VMS skier Riley Evel emerged victorious with her consistent, energetic, beautiful skiing. Luke Falcone got huge props from the judges for his back flip but was unable to keep it together further down the course. Peter Madigan also skied impressively (bare-chested with a backpack) but amassed an ungodly amount of negative points for spraying the judges. Most impressive, however, were the efforts of our newer skiers, who showed determination and moments of brilliance on a long bump run.

Here’s Peter’s take on the afternoon:

Nom. Nom. Nom. Nom. Nom.

I scarfed down the over-priced lunch from the Merry-Go-Round Lodge and ate up a few assorted mushed snacks I found in my backpack, absolutely psyched for the FIRST ANNUAL CRMS VMS BUMP COMPETITION AT ASPEN HIGHLANDS. Well maybe not absolutely psyched. My legs ached from hiking and skiing the bowl, trying to keep up with the ripper VMS team and, to put it blatantly, who ever wants to ski bumps? The venue loomed over us as we ate, making me savor every deep-fried bite of chicken and every moment I wasn't using my legs.

I rode up the lift to the top of the venue with a few bits of my not-quite-finished lunch in my jacket. Rumors were spreading about the activities in store that night: butter churning, underwater-basket weaving, and sled building, to name a few. Once I got to the top for the pre-run, I could already feel my legs burning. I stopped part-way down to check out the jump and to see if the landing was fixable. Luke, Kayo, and I got to work digging and kicking out the moguls in the way. Then the shenanigans began.

Shirtless skiers, twisty-twisty-spreads, and cra-azy backflips, along with some gnarly bump lines, filled the rest of the day. Then the two teams put aside their differences and formed the world's biggest telemark human slalom ever attempted. All-in-all, a pretty sweet day.

Juan Pablo presides over the judges booth

Coach Dan Pittz looking for the perfect run

Former tele teamer Steve Roh holds court in the finish

Bump comp winner, Riley (left) and more of her VMS crew

Sunny and Jae Young enjoy the bump comp.

Below, Yang gets in on the action

Lynn and Bru make it out for the big event!

The best comic relief of the day belonged to VMS skier Nicole, when she caught an edge right in front of the judges. She augured into the snow pretty hard with this show-stopping move, but was a great sport and able to laugh it off! Finally, we finished off the day by amassing all 60 students and coaches for a human GS course that stretched from the Merry-Go-Round restaurant at mid-mountain all the way down to the bottom of the hill. Great practice for Saturday’s sprint classic!

The crowd gathers for the start of the human GS

Peter Madigan improvises for aerodynamics in the course

The day didn’t end there, however. After a quick dinner in the Bar Fork, VMS presented a summer program they have developed involving travel and service work. We then piled into Fat Boys (our busses, not a fat student, as a VMSer thought!) and hit the Carbondale ice rink for a huge broomball tournament, bonfire, and smores. (As Peter hinted at, we hadn’t previously told VMS what the evening’s activity was going to be). VMS then slept in our gym and joined us for the sprint classic on Saturday.

SUNLIGHT SPRINT CLASSIC!

Saturday morning seemed to arrive too soon for many! We were a tired crew after all of Friday’s excitement, but pulled it together for a strong showing at the Sunlight Mtn. Sprint Classic race. Wait, what’s sprint classic again? It’s a unique telemark event that is the only tele event to have a world cup circuit. It consists of a giant slalom course with a jump mid course, a 180 banked turn near the end, and an uphill skating section. Racers are required to clear a certain point off the jump and land in the telemark position, or they accrue 2 second penalties for both failing to clear the distance and for failing to land in the telemark turn. Athletes also accumulate 2 second penalties for every gate they do not telemark turn around.

The following is Luke Falcone's perspective on the day:

Spandex...check. Gates...check. Jump...check. Reipeløkke...what?

Along with our new VMS buddies the crew took on a Classic race. We may not have been decked out in the full gear some of the other racers were pulling off, but we were able pull out some pretty impressive results. Beyond a few scary moments (umm Peyton catching air off the turn... or Charlie and Gandalf) we had a lot of fun. For many of us this was our first introduction to this traditional event. Personally, I was a little intimidated. We all woke up, bright eyed and bushy tailed, to a blue bird day. All just ecstatic about our early start of course. Showed up on the venue only to see some National Team members absolutely slaying the course, launching probly the most ridiculous airs I have ever seen. These guys are nuts. The CRMS crew held their own, even in a field so strong, and had a great day in the sun. I think we all prefer the steeps to the gates, but no complaints here. It was great meeting up with so many people passionate about the sport and hanging out with the huge (and talented) VMS crew.

The coaches were incredibly impressed with the team’s effort today and the overall comfort every athlete showed in the course. This is certainly a discipline in which we don’t often train. Luke missed the podium by four hundredths of a second in his age division and Gracyn placed third in the older women’s division. The team also convinced Meghan to race. As an ex-alpine racer she had quite a competitive advantage and ended up posting the fastest women’s time of the day.

A huge thanks to all the athletes and coaches from both teams for making this such an unforgettable weekend! The CRMS athletes were gracious hosts and VMS went out of their way to make the trip and approached the weekend with full enthusiasm! Hopefully this is the beginning of a new telemark team tradition!

A pretty mellow scene at the start

Peter visualizing his run… or maybe sleeping?

Jared Carlson… the finish line so close!

Luke Falcone styles the rappleche

Peter polling hard for the finish

Kelsey Bohanon starting to feel the leg burn about now

Aisha eyes the last few turning gates

Kelsey Freebird gets some sprint air!

Hannah lines up the jump

Meghan proves flair can be fast

Gracyn looking smooth

Weaver and Charlie put the “team” in

tele team and finish together

Weaver arcin’ it

Charlie, aka Gandolf, shredding through the Shire….

…distinguishable by his friend “Woody Allen”

Juan P comin’ in hot!

Peyton and JJ enjoy the spectator scene

Thorne shows nice technique in the gates

Meghan and Gracyn share the podium

RESULTS:

Athlete, Time (Place)

Women’s Age 13-17 Division

Riley Evel (VMS) 3:08.06 (1)

Nicole Byrne (VMS) 3:33.86 (5)

Sydney Idzikowski (VMS) 3:41.15 (6)

Elizabeth Graves (VMS) 3:49.81 (7)
Emily Vandoni (VMS) 3:50.49 (8)

Ellen Edgerton (VMS) 3:50.85 (9)

Kelsey Bohanon 3:52.97 (10)

Aisha Weinhold 3:54.37 (11)

JJ Worley 4:06.48 (12)

Sierra Brill (VMS) 4:07.38 (13)

Rebecca Wirth (VMS) 4:08.34 (14)

Hannah Horn 4:24.06 (15)

Peyton Heitzman DNF (shortcut over rappleche didn’t work out)

Kelsey Freeman DSQ (outsmarted timing system)

Women’s 18-45 (Cougars) Division

Meghan Detering (CRMS) 2:59.68 (1)

Ellie Knust (VMS) 3:37.33 (2)

Gracyn Overstreet (CRMS) 4:30.87 (3)

Men’s Age 13-17 Division

Jordan Goldstein (VMS) 2:43.88 (2)

Luke Falcone 2:46.56 (4)

Peter Madigan 3:03.02 (6)

Grady Lenkin 3:23.54 (7)

Simon Knobel (VMS) 3:26.65 (8)

Jared Carlson 3:34.35 (9)

Marshall Thompson (VMS) 3:34.88 (10)

Ian Reed (VMS) 3:40.14 (11)

Charlie Boyne 3:44.71 (12)

Thorne Warner 3:49.41 (13)

Tanner Shelden (VMS) 3:57.50 (14)

Andrew Wright (VMS) 3:58.38 (15)

Drew Verratti (VMS) 4:01.23 (16)

Chase Hansen (VMS) 4:01.38 (17)

Weaver Froelicher 4:10.41 (18)

Connor Peck (VMS) 4:14.73 (19)

Men’s Age 18-45 Division

Juan Pablo Alcocer 4:43.06 (7)

Silverton!

2010-01-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

Some kind of Telemark Team adventure every season is a MUST. The last two years it has be the Salomon Extreme Freeride Series in Taos. At other times it has been Telemare Extreme Freeride Nationals in Crested Butte. Going farther back it has been USTSA Extremes in Jackson Hole Wyoming, or the year we did a competitive Telemark interim to compete big mountain in Utah and then fly to the Mad River Glen Telemark Festival in Vermont.

This year that adventure was to be California but it fell through due to the high price of the comp. To replace it we thought we would pave some new terrane and put together an epic adventure that was non-competitive. The result: Take the crew to Silverton during the guided skiing season and snow camp the night before. This would provide the ultimate big mountain skiing experience while also giving the team a window into backcountry skiing techniques and avalanche awareness in a controlled setting.

We began preparing at the beginning of the week with an intro to why Avalanches occur and what to do if you are caught in one on Monday. On Tuesday we spent the day working on steep skiing skills at Highlands. Wednesday was an avalanche recovery demo by Meghan and myself and then time to pack and prepare, and Thursday was more steep skiing skills and a beacon recovery contest. Working with the guides at Silverton will provide the window into avalanche minimization, terraine choice, and group management in the backcountry.

Of the Week Leading to Silverton Aisha Says:
href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1SOQN5NW2VQ/S1OnB7qTllI/AAAAAAAAGEU/Wf4jbZnsPCA/s1600-h/DSC_0034.JPG">
"Wow...I sure hope that we dont get caught in any avanlanches!
For the last couple days we have been learning everything about avalanches from the hoars that live in them to how to use a beacon to find our friends. We started off watching Meghan and Kayo find our long-time pal “Larry” who was unfortunate enough to be buried in the CRMS soccer field under a freak avalanche from Red Hill. Luckily, we were able to find him quickly and in style (as always).

Besides the soccer field drills, weve have some on mountain training too. On Tuesday we shredded the gnar gnar and on Thursday we were fortunate enough to do some more avalanche training along with some CRAZY skiing. My group definitly found our avalanche victim first!

Peter Madigan, JJ Whorley, and Kelsey Lewis pinpoint their victim.

Kelsey Bohannon, Peyton Heitzman, and Juan Pablo Alcozer racing against the clock.

Hannah Horn searching for a signal.

We are all SUPER stoked to ski Silverton though. Very few of us have ever done anything like this before so we'll all just jump in with both feet and hope for the best. But I dont know if were more excited about sleeping in a snow cave or the actual skiing..."

Friday 1/15/10 Kayo Writes:
"The adventure begins Friday morning. We all meet in the Barfork at 8, eat breakfast, pack lunches, pack the bus and Suburban, drop Amelie off at school, and head to Hell Roaring Ranch for firewood. I manage to immediately get the bus stuck in driveway. As most of the crew works on getting the bus unstuck, the crew in the Suburban chops firewood. When we get back down to the bus, it is still deeply stuck so I take the suburban back up to the ranch to get a chain. As I get in to come back to the bus, the suburban won't start. Oh man... is this trip going to be a disaster? We spend another 20 minutes trouble shooting this with my dad. He quickly improvises by poring gas directly in the carberator to give it a bit of fuel to get started and we finally get it going. At the crack of 10:30 we leave the ranch, Silverton bound!"

Red Mountain Pass... the final stretch.

Kelsey Freeman Writes:
"If getting a fatboy stuck in a snow bank was a fun experience, we could tell this was going to be a fun trip. After a four hour long bus ride, in which everyone slept in various positions, played all kinds of music from bluegrass to hiphop, and did homework quietly (hmm... not really), we found ourselves a spot to build our snow city.

A local fur trapper.

Charlie Boyne prepares for battle.

Can I kick it...YES YOU CAN

The plan was to build a snow trench that would fit all 19 of us, and much to my surprise, it actually worked. Our “Hilton Inn” was about five feet tall with skis, poles and tarps for a roof.

"We shall build here."

Laying out the foundation.

The Living Room and Kitchen

Packing the foundation of the Chalet.

Since the snow pack is thin and we can't just did in, we begin to pile.

Gracyn Overstreet digging in.

Kelsey Bohannon using a Jedi Mind trick to keep a sugar snow block from disintigrating.

Finished Pile! We line up to make sure it will sleep 20.

Excavating the center in the last light.

After construction, we had time to snuggle up by our fire and eat some dinner. Of course, we had intense rounds of the frog game, telephone, and a particularly heated game of mafia.

Kelsey Lewis and Kelsey Bohannon serving up some mean burritos.

ORMS!

CRMS!

The Theory of Relativity?

When it came time to load up all of our warm layers and inhabit the snow cave, everyone seemed fairly excited. Contrary to what we might have imagined, it looked like we were actually going to be warm. And the tea candles that we arranged along the walls added heat as well as a decorative ambionce. So we snuggled up in our sleeping bags, ready to shred some gnarliness in the morning."

Thorne Warner, Kelsey Lewis, and Adam Hobby hunkered in "the south end" of the Chalet.

A view of the rest of the cave. The walls are lit up with tea candles, which would also raise the ambient temp. The roof consists of ski beams, ski pole cross hatches, and a tarp cover.

Saturday 1/16 Kayo writes:
Out of fear of my watch freezing, I kept it on my wrist rather than hanging it from the top of the snow cave and as a result I never heard the 6 AM alarm Saturday morning. We all got 45 minutes of extra sleep as a result and at 6:45 we scrambled out of the cave, broke down camp and bought the two bakeries in Silverton out of all breakfast burritos and baked goods and proceeded up to the base of Silverton mountain.

For many, this adventure would serve as an introduction to big mountain and steep skiing so we divided up the crew into two groups: a less experienced crew and a more experienced crew. Sadly, two folks had to drop out at that point: Adam Hobby's subluxed knee had given out for a third time as we tried to get the bus unstuck at the ranch, and Jared Carlson who had begun feeling sick the night before. Both were great sports and hunkered into the bus and the base yurt for the day.

For the experienced crew the day would revolve around one big hike to get out to terrain that had yet to see ski tracks. Basically we would hike into terrain that normally only gets acessed by heli drop. To get their we hiked about 15 minutes up the main peak above the chair and droppped into a south/east facing coular called disaster. Dropping into what would by far be the most technical terrain of the day opened some eyes and raised some hairs. The crew, which consited of Kelsey Bohanon, Kelsey Lewis, Aisha Weinhold, Luke Falcone, Peter Madigan, Thorne Warner, Meghan Detering and myself, skiied the mostly still frozen, just starting to corn, “hasn't snowed for a month” rocked pocked coular with remarkable style. It was fantastic to see people dialing in the upper body position and putting all the hop turn drills to work.

Thorne Warner buckling his seatbelt.

Nothing like warming up on the most technical terrain of the day. Aisha Weinhold navigating "Disaster" in fine form...

...and is all smiles as her adrenaline subsides at the bottom.

Did I mention that it was bluebird and HOT? At the bottom of the bowl we stripped down (some of us all the way) to prepare for the two hour hike up the the other side.

Peter Madigan in his ascent attire.

Kelsey Bohannon prepares for the 2 hour climb.

Our ascent began in the trees, wove through a stunning bowl and up on to a windblown ridge for the final push. Aisha said this would be the first Telemark ascent of Everest, and we dubbed each aspect of the climb with Everest land marks.

The Khumbu Ice Fall

The Hillary Step

The summit ridge.

Leaving Base Camp 4

The Final Push

We topped out at about 13,500 feet, snacked in the sun, ate the Beanie Weanies that Dan had surrupticiously put in my pack, and then traversed an upper bowl into a lovely fall-line that had seen no tracks.

Aisha Weinhold, Kelsey Lewis, and peaks of the San Juans make up Luke Falcone's view.

"I knew my pack felt heavy"

Processed chicken and beef parts always taste better when eaten off a sunscreen bottle at 13,500'.

You know you've come to the right place when your guide looks like this.

BD would be proud.

For some, this would serve as Intro to Untracked Powder 101 and we began to drop into the gladed gully one at a time. This was it. This is why we ski, why we hike. The snow, although somewhat tricky as month old snow is prone to be, was mostly like BUTTER. After everyone had schralped the upper glade we enjoyed some gladed trees down to the bottom of the bowl.

Peter Madigan busts out the bag-pipes.

Kelsey Lewis finds the perfect venue for 182 Verdicts.

Face Shots for Aisha Weinhold

Peter Madigan busting out some Beanie Weanie powered turns.

Luke Falcone leaving his fat skied, raised tip signature on the slope.

Kelsey Bohannon milking the last few turns into the valley bottom.

Meghan Detering using the trees to get back to her ski racing roots.

Our group finished the day with one last painful lap up the chair and then down one of the avalanche gullies. By that time we could hardly stand up.

The hike and ski in the background. Left to Right: Luke Falcone, our guide John, Kelsey Bohannon, Peter Madigan, Thorne Warner, Aisha Weinhold, Kelsey Lewis, Aisha Weinhold, Kelsey Lewis, Meghan Detering.

Kelsey Bohannon about to get her tongue frozen to some RAW IRON.

Of her first big mountain skiing adventure JJ Worley Says:
"Looking over the edge of our fist run at Silverston sent a shot of addreneline through my viens. Just like jumping off the divingboard for the first time, you had to commit to the run. Once we dropped in, there was no turning back. Although the snow was maybe not what you would call “prime conditions,” I can say that skiing at Silverton was some of the best skiing I have ever had; certainly it was the most challenging. Looking back up at the run with my legs burning and my entire body aching from numerous crashes, I was super excited to have made it down the rocky, bumpy, and choppy slopes of Silverton (how ever ungracefully)."

Kelsey Freeman inspects a new world record packing job.

The CREW.

CRMS Telemark Crushes the Red Hill Time Trial!

2009-11-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

The dryland season came to an end with the 3rd annual Red Hill Time Trial. It was a beautiful bluebird day with a winter chill in the air and snow on the north facing slopes... the perfect setting to step into the hurt locker and get fired up for the winter season.

The men's record of 20.02 was CRUSHED by 2 and 1/2 minutes this year by Luke Falcone!

On the women's front, Aisha Weinhold snuck ahead of record holder Jacklyn LaRoche to take this years women's title.

Across the board the Telemark team gave it their all and ended the dryland season in flying colors.

2009 Results:

Luke Falcone, Telemark 17:30
Max Stevens, Alpine Coach, 18:16
Gus Griffin, Nordic 18:30
Peter Madigan, Telemark 21:09
Ludwig Ragnarsson 21:52
Joy 22:53
Charlie Boyne, Telemark 23:08
Sam Kaufman, Nordic 23:28
Grady Lenkin, Telemark 23:44
Aisha Weinhold, Telemark 23:51
acqueline Larouche, Alpine 24:00
Middle Schooler (Sorry I forgot her name) 24:33
Meghan Detering, Telemark Coach 25:57
Florentina Arthuber, Alpine 26:00
Kelsey Freeman, Telemark 26:05
JJ Whorley, Telemark 27:07
Sam Bell, Alpine 27:34
Peyton Heitzman, Telemark 30:11
Catherine Masters, Alpine 31:07
Emily Bartlomiejczuk, Nordic 31:22
Lilly Reed, Alpine 31:22
Mima Strong, Nordic 31:46
Maggie Devany, Nordic 31:46
Aubrey Mason, Alpine 34:06
Tamsin Pargiter, Nordic 34:18
Michaela Craig, Nordic 34:20
Julia Williams, Alpine 35:04
Coleman Spence, Nordic 36:42

Foam and Plastic are the New Powder

2009-11-17T13:16:00.002-08:00

This year we thought we would take a different approach to preseason training by taking advantage of the aerial facility in Copper.

The crew getting an introduction to the facility.

Woodward combines trampolines, ramps, and foampits as a venue to learn the aerial aspects of skiing in a benign way.

Escaping the pits of dispair.

It was a skiers equivalent of Disnyland, and the excitement of the crew was tremendous as we made the transition from skiing Copper Mountain to Woodward.

Getting a feel for skiing on carpet.

Luke Falcone about to drop in on the big ramp.

Unfortunately the day would not finish with out tradgedy. It was heartbreaking to see one of the most enthusiastic members of the team, Evan Marcus, dislokate his knee, and in doing so tear almost every ligament, on a trampoline.

Medals Testing!

2009-11-17T13:16:00.001-08:00

Medals Testing is a fitness test and set of criteria set by the US Ski team that allows athletes to monitor growth in fitness and also simply creates a couple days of great work outs.

The test includes:
40 yards sprint (100% = 4.4 sec)
440 (100% = 1 min)
Mile (100% = 6 mins)
Hex Jumps
Box Jumps ( 100% = 110 in 90 seconds )
Sit Ups (100%=65 in 60 seconds)
Push Ups (100% = 90 before breaking rythm)

Previous CRMS Telemark Team Records:
40
440
Mile
Hex Jumps: Men 17.19 sec, Jake Sakson, Women, 21.43, Meghan Detering
Box Jumps : Men 83, Jake Sakson, Women, 57, Meghan Detering
Sit Ups
Push Ups

2009 Results (new records are indicated in pink):

40
Luke Falcone
Kelsey Bohannon
Kelsey Freeman
Weaver Frelicher
Kelsey Lewis
Even Marcus
Aisha Weinhold
Juan Pablo Alcocer
JJ Worley
Charlie Boyne
Peton Heitzman
Peter Madigan
Gracyn Overstreet
Adam Hobby
Hannah Horn
Thorne Warner
Jared Carlson
Grady Lenkin
Meghan Detering

440
Luke Falcone
Kelsey Bohannon
Kelsey Freeman
Weaver Frelicher
Kelsey Lewis
Even Marcus
Aisha Weinhold
Juan Pablo Alcocer
JJ Worley
Charlie Boyne
Peton Heitzman
Peter Madigan
Gracyn Overstreet
Adam Hobby
Hannah Horn
Thorne Warner
Jared Carlson
Grady Lenkin
Meghan Detering

Mile
Luke Falcone
Kelsey Bohannon
Kelsey Freeman
Weaver Frelicher
Kelsey Lewis
Even Marcus
Aisha Weinhold
Juan Pablo Alcocer
JJ Worley
Charlie Boyne
Peton Heitzman
Peter Madigan
Gracyn Overstreet
Adam Hobby
Hannah Horn
Thorne Warner
Jared Carlson
Grady Lenkin
Meghan Detering

Hex Jumps
Luke Falcone 17.56
Kelsey Freeman 26.62
Weaver Froelicher 22.20
Even Marcus 18.56
Aisha Weinhold 20.27
JJ Worley 27.11
Charlie Boyne 17.00
Peton Heitzman 20.10
Peter Madigan 16.47
Adam Hobby 18.97
Jared Carlson 18.17
Grady Lenkin 18.40
Meghan Detering 19.18

Box Jumps
Luke Falcone 83 (tie for record)
Kelsey Freeman 38
Weaver Frelicher 46
Even Marcus 56
Aisha Weinhold 56
Charlie Boyne 60
Peyton Heitzman 30
Peter Madigan 75
Adam Hobby 50
Jared Carlson 61
Grady Lenkin 50
Meghan Detering 68

Sit Ups
Luke Falcone 55
Kelsey Freeman 39
Even Marcus 39
Aisha Weinhold 38
JJ Worley 41
Grady Lenkin 42
Meghan Detering 41

Push Ups
Luke Falcone 30
Kelsey Freeman 21
Even Marcus 27
Aisha Weinhold 10
JJ Worley 40
Charlie Boyne 40
Peyton Heitzman 23
Peter Madigan 41
Jared Carlson 17
Grady Lenkin 55
Meghan Detering 34

2009-11-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Tabata!!!!
(and other visits to the Pain Cave from Week 2 of dryland)

The tabata is a new form of torture that Meghan introduced to the telemark team last season. She learned the work-out her senior year at Bowdoin College from hockey coach Terry Meagher and her own personal telemark consultant, Matt O'Donnell. Simply put, the tabata is brutal. It hits balance, aerobic, and strength conditioning all at once. It might be the fastest route to the pain cave known to man.

The camera can barely capture Aisha's blazing speed at box jumps

Let's paint the scene here for a minute: a large group, spread all over the fitness room, throwing balls against the wall, slamming them into the floor, lunging, doing push-ups, crunches on a bigger ball, balanced squats on a half-ball, and the dreaded box jumps and burpees. Burpees are the demise of us all. They're where the telemark athlete's legs go to die. Laying on the floor on your stomach, jumping as high in the air as possilbe, then hitting the deck only to repeat it all over again. As a team, we've been know to look like we're collectively performing different actions of a simple machine. But on a personal level, it's much more complicated. You start to feel it in the first few sets. Eventually twenty seconds seems like an eternity, but then ten seconds becomes the blink of an eye. It's all about digging deep and not giving up, making the most of the last few reps of every set, as MC Hammer or some bluegrass version of an Ozzy Osbourne song blares in the background. (Different students come up w/ the tabata playlist each week!) All the while, the fitness room gets a little bit warmer and a little bit stinkier with each new exercise.

Tele Team alums Dillon Smith and Sam Stevens show their

love for tabata (and each other) with buddy lunges

But, the telemark team is killing it! We perform 8 different movements at separate stations. Each person stays at a station for 4-8 sets and does 20 seconds on, 10 seconds resting for each movement. We started week 1 with 4 sets and hit 6 sets this week. We'll do one more week of 6 before finishing the dryland season with 8. It's always great to have just finished the first day of it (4 sets), barely being able to stand up, and then hear, "Congratulations! By the end of dryland, you'll do that-- but double!!!" Oh yea, and there's a good chance you'll be sore for the next few days. The tabata is the ultimate sufferfest, but we love it!

In other news this week: SNOW! Lots of it. Probably 5 inches on the ground Tuesday, making for a lovely, wintry, aerobic romp around tick ridge, followed by push-up pyramids in the silent auction tent, and Grady's Abs of Steel work-out in the library. Don't worry, everyone passed the ab test at the end. Kayo dropped a book on everyone's chest and they all bounced a foot in air! We rounded out the week with an equipment fitting session at Bristlecone and game of ultimate in the snow with the alpine team. Our group was bit larger this week, but we're anxiously awaiting the return of our soccer players once their season is over.

Alumni Fueling the Fire...

2009-10-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

There are CRMS Telemark Team Alumns out there killing it is so many passionate ways. Here a few on the immediate radar:

Luke Lubchenko, along with help from Nick Malik, Sam Stevens, and Dylan Smith, have started Fort Lewis college's first ever Telemark Club. Rumor has it that 80 people showed interest in signing up. Check them out on Facebook: Fort Lewis Pinheads Telemark Club

Max Mancini is featured again this year in Warren Miller's 60th aniversary movie Dynasty. Also check out a stunning recent article on Max:

http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/news/story?id=4527311

In the article is his remarkable recovery from his tragic car accident as well as the story of him starting Life Turns (a program to provide kids -- orphans, cancer patients and paraplegics, among others a week of skiing in Crested Butte).

Nick DeVore continues to make tremendous wakes in the global Telemark world. He is featured again this year in Powder Whore's Flakes (Just got the Telemark Team copy in the mail, we'll be watching it soon!), as well as Sweetgrass Productions movie Signatures.

Jake Sakson makes his debut in the ski movie world in both of these films as well, and he has created quite a buzz as the "New Up and Comer" in the professional Telemark world. We'll be throwing our popcorn at the screen and cheering him on as watch these new flicks as a team.

Thanks to all these folks for fueling the fire on the front lines, but also heartfelt vibes to the hordes of CRMS Telemark Team alumns out there using artistry in Telemark skiing as an analogy for living outstanding, deliberate, and passionate lives.

Waiting for Snow

2009-10-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

Charinne Contouris coping with balance and pain at the same time.

If you are mentally suffering because you can't yet ski, you might as well physically suffer as well. Thus the invention of DRYLAND TRAINING.

We have just successfully navigated the first week. People are feeling muscles they didn't know existed as we tackled our first runs and plyos.

Weaver Froelicher mid burpee.

It was a quiet week due to the fact that the SOCCER TEAM ROCKED THE HOUSE this year and extended their season by getting into the State Tournement.

The play and the climbing team also claimed some of our members (for noble reasons).

The small crew that came out suffered in good humor and it feels good to have Telemark on the mind.

Abs of Steel.

And so it begins...

2009-10-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

There is snow on Sopris, frost on the grass in the mornings the leaves have changed and dryland begins on Monday...

Welcome to the 2009-2010 Telemark Season!

Welcome, also, to the CRMS Telemark Team Blog. There is two years of archived stories, travel, adventures, competition results, dryland results and more...all of which can be accessed through the Blog Archive.

Our Dryland Schedule and Competition Schedule can also be accessed through Important Links in the right hand side bar.

From the Land of the Rising Sun

2009-03-26T16:54:00.000-07:00

Alumni Jake Sakson just returned from a trip to Japan to film with Sweetgrass Productions. He is now in Alaska competing in Telemark Freesking Worlds. Below are several journal entries from his Japan adventure.

March 9th 5:30am
Just made it through security destination the Island of Hokkaido in Japan. Hard for me to believe I'm actually going. Keep thinking something is going to go wrong - too good to be true. Can't really tell if I'm dreaming; but then again I'm sleep deprived.

March 11th 11:00pm
I'm the only person on a gi -normous bus and I've been sleeping. Its pretty tiring running around an airport with two 50 pound bags, barely making your bus, trying to find an ATM and holding your pee. Well at least I'm on the bus now but I just hope I haven't missed my stop. First time I've seen snow covered roads in months and it is absolutely puking out; its hard not to be happy even though I have no idea where I am about to end up. (I did make it...)

March 13th
I dug a really big hole today. And filmed skiing at night. Nick Waggoner really takes ski filming to the next level. Its not just about capturing the skier instead each shot is a carefully thought out piece of art.March 17th
Great day of skiing, blower pow. Finally got enough snow to cover up the rain crust and the opportunity to leave the house and ski some lines.

March 19th
Don't think I have spent this many days inside and not skiing all season. But what can we do, low clouds, warm weather and rain. The powder got shot fast. The best option is to head to a new zone at a higher elevation and further north. The mountains up here are wild, not exactly what you expect when you think about Japan - jagged faces, tall and steep. Now we just need a little love from the weather. And so the waiting begins.

March 24th
Right when we were beginning to think that out trip was going to only consist of Onsen (a hot spring bath house) and amazing hospitality (would have still been a great trip if that was the case). The pelting rain turned to snow and the skiing got deep for the last day of my trip

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March 26th 5:31pm
Seattle: flights are canceled to Denver. But thats ok, unknowingly I booked one flight that went Tokyo - Seattle - Denver. And my flight the next day went Denver - Seattle - Anchorage. I am headed to Girdwood for the World Telemark Championships and then two weeks of skiing and filming in Valdez. Luckily I got rescued from a 24hr stay in the Airport by some extended family and the journey continues. Flights have been getting canceled to Anchorage because of too much snow, so maybe I won't make it out tomorrow but I say - Let it Snow!

I took these pictures off of sweetgrassproductions.wordpress.com

CRMS Telemark in XSport International

2009-03-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

Luke Lubchenko wrote a great article on the CRMS Telemark Team for the online magazine XSport International. Sam Stevens is also featured in the same edition for his downhill mountain biking.

Check it out!

USASA Slopestyle

2009-03-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

My camera was giving me trouble today, so I wasn't able to do justice to the superb CRMS Telemark Team showing against an alpine and snowboard field at the USASA Slopestyle at the end of February in Snowmass. Although we got off to a rocky start with most of the crew showing up too late to get properly registered, we were able to get most people into the event and the day ended in heroic fashion. Below are a few shots and results from the event.

Peter Madigan was one of several people on the team that came out to enjoy the bluebird conditions and support the crew competing.

Luke Lubchenko, mid 720 over the judges, and on his way to a second place finish in the men's open field.

Dillon Smith on his way to stomping his second corked 9. Two clean runs, both culminating in corked 9s, put him in first place in the mens open class.

Luke Lubchenko sending skis everywhich way mid 3 off the second table.

Dillon Smith, mid switch unatural 5 (I think)

Adam Hobby and Thorne Warner have hit their first season on the Telemark Team hard. They have continually supplimented what we can accomplish during the week with weekend and break seshions, often in the park perfecting rails and tables. As a result, they have made huge strides this year. Unfortunately Thorn was sick for this comp, but Adam put together 2 clean runs in his first slopestyle comp.

Adam and the tail tap picknick table gap.

Salomon Extreme Freeride Championships Taos New Mexico

2009-03-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

After the usual chaos of getting packed, classes covered, homework done, and tying four million loose ends together, 19 students and three coaches met at 5:45 A.M. Wednesday morning and we hit the road for Taos.

"That there is the best frozen cheeseburger I carry in the store"

Spring is in the air and roads were clear. After a few caffeine and junk food stops, we made it to the Sand Dunes, because our craving for a backcountry experience where you can ski down and hike back up without having to put skins on had gotten the best of us again. We loaded up our skis and boots on packs and began the trek up the tallest dune.

Thorn Warner and Adam Hobby on the summit ridge

Luke Lubchenko, anticipating some sweet sand freshies.

Brooke Lederer, one step at a time on the final ascent.

The sand was warmer this year and a bit slower, but that didn’t stop people from getting gnarly. We lapped a couple of runs of the top dune, skiing and then “skinning” back up without skins and then traversed over to a couple other steep sections on the way down.

Juan Pable Alcocer gets his first taste of San Luis Valley Sand. So good when it hits the lips.

Meghan Detering lets 'er rip.

Hayen Kennedy... Sand People genes run deep in his blood.

Liza Cochran contemplates the zen beauty of it all on the skin track back up.

Adam Hobby stretches it out on the slip face of the tallest dune.

Brooke Lederer, already putting her game face on for Taos.

Walking the earth...

Dillon Smith kickin' up some sand rooster tail.

We rolled into Taos around 5:30, checked into the Super 8, and the competitors headed up to the competitors meeting and registration up at the mountain. We rolled into the meeting at 6:30, in perfect timing to jump in the food line, and registration line just as the meeting was beginning.

Prelims this year would be held on Kachina Peak rather than the West Basin.

Lots of warnings in the safety briefing of firm conditions. The word from Jake and Amon, who had skied today, was that conditions were super hard and challenging. Taos hadn’t seen snow for a couple of weeks, and warm weather had taken their 120 inch base down to 75.

Liza Cochran stops after phase one of the hike up to Kachina Peak, about a 1 and 1/2 mile hike, not unlike Highlands Bowl.

Kelsey Bohanon's first big mountain comp... the monster hike, hard conditions, and intimidating venue seemed to spawn thoughts of "what the hell have I got my self into..." which were followed by wide eyed excitement after wreaking havoc on the women's Alpine field and moving into the semi finals in first place.

Luke Lubchenko enjoys the bluebird morning hike up to the summit of Kachina.

A south facing grassy traverse with the competition venue in the background.

The final ascent up to the starting zone on top of Kachina peak is reminiscent of Highlands Bowl.

Kelsey Lewis enjoys the by she earned with a 4th place finish last year as she gets to enjoy the spring conditions and chill in the finish during the prelims on day one.

Wind-scoured, bullet proof conditions make for some additional butterflies during the prelims. Brooke and Kelsey's decision to ski fast and clean lines sat well with the judges.

Brooke celebrates a solid, stand-up run, which would advance her to the semi finals in 2nd place.

Kelsey Bohanon moves with the wind in her first big mountain comp ever.

Deserving smiles in the finish seem to forshadow her advancement to the semi-finals in first place. CRMS Telemark women wrecked havoc on the alpine field today.

Noah Johns charges some monster air on the upper part of the course which gets the crowd fired up. Unfortunately the snow gave way under him on his landing, resulting in a head over heals tumble, which prevented him from advancing to the finals.

Luke Lubchenko, fresh from a 6th place finish in the men's division in Alpine Meadows California, on his way to a clean finish that would advance him to the semifinals.

The crowd goes wild as Sam Stevens shows Taos what clean Telemark skiing looks like.

Unfortunately Sam took a monster beater in the finish zone, preventing him from moving beyond the prelims, but we got it on camera, which makes it well worth the pain. Sam's skiing, in his final competition of his senior year, was a tribute to his movement and comitment over the last 4 years.

Nick Malik finishes a beautiful run. He took off out of the start like a bandit, laying down beautiful, monster GS turns. Nick's skiing has taken quantum leaps this year as a result of his relentless and passionate pursuit of snow and the Telemark turn.

Alumni Jake Sakson charges the bottom of the venue. Jake had a couple of unlucky crashes up high, but he was in good spirits at the bottom with a "that's the way it goes some times" attitude.

Hayden Kennedy: "The Peoles Run"
Above: Hayden launches into the stratosphere on the upper part of the venue.
The Judges were hard on Hayden's run, most likely because of the fact that he blew through the finish zone and out onto the public run, but Hayden skied the run of the day by threading the needle through a rock band that looked un-skiable from the finish zone. People were out of their seats and cheering and sputtering spittle encrusted statements about the fact that he was on Telemark skis.
Below: Hayden skis the unskiable.

Day 2:
8-10 inches of snow fall overnight, and Saturday looked like this:
...definate weather day. The competition was bumped to Sunday, and we skied absurd powder lines off the West Basin all morning. Not a soul, other than the CRMS Telemark Team, was out tracking up these lines, and we had fresh tracks on every shot we traversed to. It was a morning that will live long and large in the annals of Telemark Team powder days.

Most of the team packed up and made the trip back to CRMS that afternoon to get back for interim and a handful of people, including those who qualified, stayed for semi-finals and finals on Sunday. We made sure to pay proper tribute to the UFO Highway on the way home.

Brian Butcher, eyes peeled.

Gracyn Overstreet and Noah Johns with make extraterrestrial contact.

Extraplanetary love.

Peyton Heitzman in the zone.

Rift Valley sunset.

Trying to catch a bubble pop on film attempt 392

We met some good folks along the way.

Day 3: The Return of the Telemark Jedi
More pictures and story soon coming to theater near you.

2009 Results : Junior Women : Extreme Freeride Championship at Taos

Finish	Bib	First Name	Last Name	City	ST
1	127	Chysanthe	Demas
2	18	Brooke	Lederer
3	92	Carmen	Fregulia	Graeagle	CA
4	28	Kelsey	Lewis	Basalt	CO

Colorado Freeride Championships

2009-03-01T08:16:00.000-08:00

Another new chapter unfolded Friday and Saturday, as the CRMS Telemark Team pursued the Colorado Freeride Championships in Snowmass. This is a big-mountain event with a large cash purse that draws a wide range of professional skiers and talented snowboarders and skiers. It has been attended by the occasional Telemark skiers such as Nick DeVore, Amy Cardemone, and Jake Sakson, who have all respectively held down impressive finishes in the event. This year we decided to enter a significant amount of the team. We were a bit nervous about how well that would be received, but the energy was positive and people were excited to see a strong Telemark showing. This was promising, and we are excited to pursue this further in years to come.

Preliminaries were held Friday on The Wall. The field of skiers was about 110 strong, and blowing snow and socked in conditions slowed the competition down from the beginning.

Brook Lederer was our sole female Telemarker, and as she left the start zone a light pocket of sun broke out on the run. She put together a GREAT, fast, aggressive run, which marked her first big-mountain competition run ever, and even her cartwheeling crash seemed to add to the aggression and hard charging nature of her run.

The first of the men was Peter Madigan, who had also chosen a line through the Hurricane Alley area. He stood up the entire thing, and put together an incredibly solid and clean first big mountain competition line.

Alpine Meadows: A First Installment

2009-02-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

At the end of February 2009 Jake Sakson and Luke Lubchenko journeyed to Alpine Meadows California to compete in the Telemark Freeskiing Championships. Below is the first installment of their journey:

A diet of breakfast burritos, gummy worms and Mate, 500 miles of Nevada public education via billboards finally arrived us in Alpine Meadows California. Although I must admit the journey was enjoyable in itself: Hours and hours of music, from Bill Monroe to Immortal Technique sure makes the time fly by. We missed all of the state signs on the way here but we knew we were in Nevada when in trying to find the bathrooms in a gas station we found ourselves overwhelmed by slot machines. The Prius killed it by the way, it sure feels good when it only costs $13.00 to fill up the tank. We stayed at Josh Madson's house, he left as soon as we got there, (I don't think we had built up a smell by then...) but his roommates cooked us dinner. Driving on one straight road all day was fun, but when the road started heading up and turning it sure felt good. I can't say I have been subject to greater hospitality then we experienced upon our arrival. Cookies and crab cakes for dinner and very fluffy beds...

Mate seshing

A little billboard wisdom

Nothing like a little gambling on a bathroom stop!

413 more miles on the same road

Check out the massive wind generators in the background

We skied Alpine Meadows today, and it was a cool resort for sure. Visibility was low and winds high so most of the lifts were not open. Although runs were short we had a good chance to get a feel for the mashed potato type snow typical of the Sierra's. We found a few small airs to hit and practiced some of our landings. I definitely crashed a lot today (Luke can say the same for sure...)but all in all it was a good day. The comp was not as big as we expected, only 40 competitors total but the venue looks really fun and seems bound to be a good time. Luke decided to make the move up and compete men's tomorrow. Because of fresh snow there will be visual inspection only tomorrow which is going to lead to some interesting strategy in order to lay down a solid line as well as ski safely without knowledge of the snow condition. The plan is two runs tommorrow and then Superfinals on Sunday weather permitting. We are currently comfortably situated in a house with about a third of the field. The butterflies can't help but build....The Evan Phelps Telly Hostel

Socked in on day one

Kickoff Meeting

Eating lunch and probably getting a little JT wisdom

A New Chapter Unfolds...

2009-02-11T15:16:00.003-08:00

Undaunted by the cancellation of the Sprint Classic in Steamboat Springs, we charted new territory and had an epic day last Saturday that began with breakfast at the Red Rock Diner, then a Big Mountain Training Camp and mock competition, followed by a pizza dinner at Kayo's and topped off with and epic night of dancing to the Infamous String Dusters. The only way to try to capture the day is to break it down...

Breakfast:
The Red Rock Diner, which is owned by Bob Olenick, was an appropriate place to start the day because of the rich CRMS and skiing legacy. We relaxed and loaded up on carbs for the day...

Steep Skiing Camp:
We headed to Snowmass to simulate a day in the life of competing in a Big Mountain Event. We headed up to the Wall and began with an inspection run. We followed competition protocal so that new folks could get a feel for what it is like to pick out competition lines. We followed this with a competition, where Kayo, Liza, and Joan Sundeen judged Overall, Control, and Continuity. In classic form I somehow screwed up charging the video cameras, so we have no footage to show for the entire day.
The experience proved to be eye opening and productive for new and experienced skiers alike, as it demonstrated and reinforced the challenges of finding and sticking to a line, and getting down extreme terrain in control.

Dinner:
The mock competition was followed up by a leasurely lunch at A Taste Of Philly and then a pizza dinner at Kayo's.

HRSB and The Infamous String Dusters!
The whole team closed down the day by going to The Infamous String Dusters Concert in Glenwood Springs. The Telemark Team staked out some territory in the back of the room by taking over "The Corall", a fenced in elevated seating area.
After the Hell Roaring String Band opened up (and made sure to dedicate Don't Stop Believing to the Telemark Team), the team cleared out the chairs and got ready to get down to the String Dusters.
The String Dusters absolutely tore the house down and the CRMS Telemark Team was with them every step of the way, bumping and grinding in the back of the room. The String Dusters were amped to have such good energy in the room, which was a sold out crowd, and they gave several shout outs to "The Crew in the Corall".
Toward the end of the show the team formed a dance train down the isle and up to the front of the stage, and drove the energy up in the room another notch. The String Dusters responded in kind and put together an unbelievable end of the set and encore. By the end of the night we were all dripping sweat and exstatic. Truly a new chapter had been written in the annals of the CRMS Telemark Team, one that reconfirmed the energy and passion of CRMS students.

Williams!

2009-02-11T15:16:00.001-08:00

Noah Johns Stretches it out.

Williams Peak has become our venue for trying out on snow what we have been working on at the pool. For people who are new to air, this is the perfect venue for learning 360's. We build a 3-4 kicker on the road, and make it about 20 feet wide so that people can keep landing in fresh powder.
For more experienced skiers a big ramp up in the meadow allows plenty of room to stretch it out and work on new material.
This year deep snow and bluebird conditions added up to a perfect day.

Gracyn Overstreet after reentry.

Grady Lenkin looking for the landing

Jared Carlson getting the spin on

Thorn Warner, demonstrating how to lead with you head.

Sooooooooooo Extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmeeeeee!

Peyton Heitzman pulling the trigger

A Noah/Hayden double back flip to close out the day.

Cosmic Race

2009-01-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

Nick Malik has paved some new ground as being the first CRMS Telemark Team athlete to marry the worlds of backcountry racing with downhill Telemark Events. In addition to competing in the Big Mountain arena, he will also compete in at least two backcountry events, including the Sunlight Cosmic Race and the 24 Hours of Sunlight. The following is an excerpt from his experience in the Cosmic Race last Sunday:

"COSMIC is a ski mountaineering race series that kicked off the tour at Sunlight on the 18th of January.

The race started at the base of Sunlight at the lodge. We skinned up Sun King under the lift to the top of the mountain and skied down the 52 degree "Heathen", which is the steepest ski run in Colorado.

The next lap would lap would follow this same ascent route. As I began my second ascent, my skins were iced up and they were only attached at the tips and tails. About 2/3 of the way up my tail clips fell off and i could not re-attach them. I boot packed the rest of the way to the summit.

The second descent was down Defiance to Lower Defiance. Lower Defiance goes below the base and is not serviced by a lift. From the bottom of the second descent there were 30 switch backs up to the bottom of Defiance where the course went out of bounds traversing 2 miles around the mountain to the summit.

In this backcountry traverse there was a steep bootpack section followed by more skinning to the top for the third and final descent on The Heathen. At the bottom of Lower Defiance my skins still failed to stick to my skis and I had to boot pack up the 30 switchbacks.

I did not continue the race after that point. I was one of four CRMS students competing in the race division and the only one to finish was Rob Devney in the mens race division at just over 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Off-Piste coach Sarah Selling also finished the race course in the womens heavy metal division. Most CRMS students competed in the junior recreational division which is an ascension from the bottom to the top and then another half lap, about half the length of the race course.

I competed in the Mens Heavy Metal division. The Heavy Metal division is new this year, it replaced the telemark division and includes telemark, splitboards, and heavy AT set ups. The race division is for the ultralight dynafit racing set ups."

Park

2009-01-20T21:23:00.000-08:00

We spent Monday at the pool working on air and the plan for today was to build backcountry kickers, but we are now two weeks out from the last storm and the firm conditions suggested our time would best be spent in the park.

Luke Lubchenko reaches for some ski.

Noah Johns orbits the Colorado Rail in the Snowmass Park

Hayden Kennedy over table two of three.

Duncan Marsh owns an urban box.