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Rauris

The Telemark Lark…

Telemark-Lark

I hadn’t touched a set of Telemark skis since my trip to Greenland in April 2014, so it was with a little trepidation that I once again ventured to Rauris in Austria, for the Army Telemark Championships.  You expect snow when you go skiing (after all it is a tad useful), but when I touched sown in Salzburg it was 17C.  Though the highest peaks were clad In white, the valleys were almost tropical.  Higher in the mountains the view was the same as heavy rain had poured for 24 hours.  It wasn’t the start I’d hoped for…

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Going back to basics…

No matter how experienced we might think we are, at times it is vitally important we go back to basics. When I say that I mean learning once again the simple elements to the skills we have. As a speaker these could be in planning or delivery, and as a skier it could be in position and weights. Recently in Austria I skied on new ski’s and bindings, which brought new and testing sensations to my injured feet. At 42 I found it hard to adapt to my new kit, and soon realised that I needed to go back to basics…Read More »Going back to basics…

Making assumptions…

A few years ago on the slopes above Meribel I bumped into some of the RAF Telemark Ski Team.  They asked me if I had a light, I said no, but offered them a hip-flask full of Whisky.  One of them was a medical officer and noticed my shortened fingers. She asked “are you badly injured?” I explained my situation and within minutes I was having tea with a Major and stood surrounded by people shaking their heads in disbelief.  “You can’t ski telemark without toes!” they said.  It sounded like the same voices that said I’d never climb again after suffering severe frostbite. It was the start of a relationship that has seen me ski with the Army Telemark Ski Association, the GB Telemark Team, lecture at Sandhurst and the Royal Citadel in England, and Rauris in Austria.Read More »Making assumptions…