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Telemark Skiing with Champions

Yesterday I went to a telemark skiing clinic for women at Mount Sunapee Resort in southern New Hampshire. A yoga teacher had mentioned the clinic to me some weeks ago when we made small-talk about skiing and she mentioned she did telemark skiing, evoking instant jealousy as well as guilt about my telemark skis and boots that have sat unused in our storage room for two years. And then she mentioned that she learned to tele at this all-woman’s clinic last year, and it was a super beneficial experience that was well-worth the pricey fee, and that each participant received a goody bag full of swag. I’m a sucker for swag.

So, since Mr. P was spending the weekend doing database stuff, I drove to Sunapee early yesterday morning, watching the temperature reading on the Jetta sink from 11 degrees to 0. Christ it was cold. As I rushed to the lodge from the parking lot with all my gear, I neglected to put on my mittens and my hands promptly became achingly numb. I arrived at the clinic at precisely 9am and was greeted effusively by Heather, a two-time telemark champion and one of the most likable persons I’ve ever met. She pressed the goody bag into my thawing hands and after introductions we were off: 13 women, Heather, and another accomplished telemark skier named Tory. We took the lift up and then were given individual skills tests. Having no idea how to telemark, I simply skied down alpine style. My lack of tele turning didn’t phase them; they seemed pleased that I and everyone else simply stayed upright.

Two other women at the clinic had never been on telemark skis before. One was a seasoned Alpine skier, the other an avowed snowboarder. Us along with two other women who wanted to work on the basics went with Tory, who began drilling us on stance. It took about two hours for me to finally get my body in a position that Tory was happy with: “Yes, that’s IT! Meredith that is AWESOME!” But until then, it was a long, frustrating two hours.

My Fellow Telemark Newbies

As the Alpine skiers roared passed us and I struggled to keep my front leg lunged and my back heel raised and stable, I wondered what the hell I was doing there. Telemark is for people who’ve been alpine skiing their whole lives and are so bored with it that they need a new challenge. And the telemark stance, with its staggered legs, bent knees, and pure physicality, is a fucking challenge and a half.  I thought yoga and general fitness would make me immune to the infamous rigors of tele turns, but after each drill, I converged with the newbies to complain that my thighs were burning.

It was a little discouraging. I’d occasionally be able to eek out a solid telemark turn, but most of the time I’d be struggling to keep my front leg in front of me, stable and bent at a painful 90 degrees. Me and the other beginners felt like we were making some progress just before lunch. We had great hopes for the afternoon, when we’d swap instructors and go out with Heather. But we went on steeper terrain, making it impossible for me to maintain the tele stance without regressing to Alpine turns to avoid wiping out. And my thighs, if I haven’t mentioned, were simply screaming.

By the time the trails closed at 4pm, I hadn’t managed to do any sort of skiing resembling telemark. But, as I told a sympathetic Heather, “I know how to do it, even if I can’t do it. Yet.”  She urged me to use my telemark skies when I go downhill skiing, to stick mostly to Alpine and then bust out the tele turns when I feel ready. Overall, I think I got a lot out of the day. And it’s not everyday that I have a champion telemark skier following me down a mountain, yelling “Push the bush!” as a bawdy reminder to keep my hips jutted forward.

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