Day 4 Thursday

The Thursday Was The Final Day Of The Freeheeler Campus With A Very Broad Theme: ‘Advanced Freeheel And

Tele For Kids’. Wide-Ranging To Say The Least And An Excellent Day Because Of That! Again We Managed To Squeeze In 2 Session In The Morning, The First Presented By Ian Johnson Of BASI Looking At Advanced Telemark Skiing And The Relationship And Timing Of Edge Change With Lead Change; Focusing On Pulling Or Pushing The Lead Change Depending On Type Of Terrain And Turn Required Whilst Performing An Effective Edge Change. As Such Ian’s Session Very Much Picked Up From Where John Eames’ Session Finished And Very Much Focussed On Some Of The Skills To Take A Developing Telemark Skier Into The 4 ‘Strands’ Of Piste Performance (Speed), Steeps, Variable Snows / Off-Piste And Bump/Mogul Skiing.

We Will Have More Details And Content Here Soon!

Watch This Space ….

As A Complete Contrast Lena Attorresi Talked About Introducing Telemark To Kids! Lena Has Been Developing Her ‘Tele For Kids’ System For A Number Of Years And, As A Way Of Overcoming One Of The Main Practical Issues In Introducing Telemark To Children, She Is Actively Building Up A Stock Of Kids-Sized Boots And Skis – Not Easy To Come By!? Fun, Activity And Play Are All Part Of The Mixture For Kids – These Are Some Of The Activities And Salient Points That Lena Talked About And Demonstrated – And, As Adults, It Was Great To Try These And Be A ‘Kid’ Again! J

• Ski In A Tele Squat Then Very High For The Lead Change – To Get Weight On Both Skis
• A ‘Tele Shuffle Through The Turn – Keep It Going Right Around The Turn So Turning Is Done Without Thinking About It!
• Emphasise Being 2-Footed When Telemark Skiing
• Emphasise Skiing With An Upright Torso – Ski Proud!
• Tele To End Of The Turn Then Lift New Lead Ski Through The Lead Change Whilst Standing On The New Inner Ski – Really Gets The Weight On The Rear Ski.
• Activities Without Arms E.G. Hands Behind Back, Hands On Head, Hands On Hip, Pole Across The Skier’s Back And Through Elbows, Etc – For Still And More Upright Upper Torso
• Kids Need To Be Alpine Parallel Skiers Before Trying Telemark!
• Reasonable To Teach Telemark From 6 To 12 Years
• 3 Pin Bindings Are Best For Kids And Relatively Long Skis
• Be Strict With Parents! Stop Them Interfering … Just Like Interfering & Badl           Y-Behaved Parents At School Football Matches!?
• Lots Of Fun!
• But Also Be Firm/Strict With The Kids During Activities And When Judging Performance.

In The Afternoon Peter Kollar From Slovakia, Along With His Daughter, Ema, As Photographer And Demonstrator, Took Us Off-Piste. The Afternoon Developed Nicely From A Fairly Structured And Informative Approach With Reminders About The Essentials Of Equipment And Some Considerations About Adaptations Of Ski Performance In Variable Snow. We Also Had Mention Of Safety Factors And Avalanche Conditions (Fortunately Risk Levels Were Very Low During The Week!) And Also Different Approaches To Skiing Different Snow Types. As The Afternoon Progressed We Became More Ambitions, And Also Found Some Areas Of Untracked Snow. Excitement Levels Rose, Everyone Found Their Own Fresh Tracks And Loud ‘Whoops’ And ‘Hollerings’ Soon Broke Out As The Fun Grew! J These Were Some Of Peter’s ‘Top Tips’:

• Let The More Experienced And Skilled Skier Go First.
• Watch How That Skier Skis, Look At The Tracks, Learning About The Snow And Slope Before Your Turn.
• Ski One After The Other, Not All At Once – Give Other Skiers Plenty Of Space
• Stop Where It Is Safe To Do So
• Avoid Doing Big Turns, Focus On Continual Leg Movement From Tele Turn To Tele Turn.
• When Starting Anew Run, Do Just 3 Or 4 Turns, Stop And Review What You Did, The Snow, Slope, Etc. Make Appropriate Adjustments Before Continuing.
• Try To Keep The Body Still Or Firm – Core Strength Is Essential!
• Any Problems – Try Going Lower In The Turn.
• More Rotational Separation As The Slope Gets Steeper
• In Spring Conditions Seek Out The Sun-Warmed Slopes And Avoid The Shaded – And Very Icy! – Slopes.

SUMMARY, ‘WRAP-UP; & FINAL WORDS

We Finished On Thursday Afternoon At The Tuxerfernerhaus For A Final Get-Together, Chat And A Chance To Compare Impressions, Thoughts And Ideas For Future Freeheeler Campus Events. Overall Everyone Was Very Positive About The 4 Days, The Main Comments Being:

• Great Inclusive Atmosphere To The Whole Event; People Were Respectful And Open To New/Different Ideas And Approaches.
• English Was The Spoken Language For The Event (Ideal For Me!) But There Was General Agreement That This Worked Well.
• Everyone Was Keen To Do It Again!
• There Was Request To Share The Notes That Anyone Might Have About Their Own Or Others Workshops
• Bullet Points On A Paper Handout For Each Workshop Would Be Useful.
• Have A Separate WhatsApp Group For Campus Presenters And Attenders Only.
• More Skiing / Less Talking As A Good Guideline For Future Events
• Encourage Different Topics Next Time.
• Invite Finns, French, Etc. In General Finding Contacts And Links In Those Countries Not Represented This Time. Please Send In Any Contacts You Know As Soon As Convenient So We Can Spread The Word More!
• Organise Group Emails/Messages To Coordinate And Share Travel Info, Car Sharing, Etc.
• Maybe The Campus Should Be At The End Of Season? More Professionals Are Available Then Whereas Many Are Preparing And Training With Their Own National Organisations At The Start Of The Season?

Some Of The Feedback We Have Had:

1. “Campus Worked Really Well, Both In Content And Atmosphere. Sharing Ideas – Some Of Them Challenging – Within In A Really Inclusive Setting Was Illuminating.“
2. “Campus Was A Very Good Experience And I Would Attend It Next Year Again… The Different Nations Approaches Were Interesting To See And Experience… A Perfect Possibility To Exchange Knowledge Specific In Telemarking… The Concept Seems To Me Perfect And Should Not Be Changed… Go Ahead Planning The Second Tele Campus In 2023… It Will Be Even A Bigger Success…”
3. “The Atmosphere Was Outstanding. We Liked It A Lot. The Event Was Well Organised And A Good Start For A ‘First Timer’. Keep Up The Good Work And See You Soon.”
4. As Said Congrat To You (John) And Richard For What You Did And Are Doing.

We Were All Very Grateful For The Help And Support Of The ‘Hintertuxer Gletscher’ Company And Also The Tourismus Tux.At And Also The Help From The FIS Telemark Race Organisers. The Outcome Was That Campus Attendees And Presenters Were Included In The Deal With Half-Board Accommodation, Ski Pass And Lunchtime Meal Vouchers In Return For Assistance With Race Preparation, Race Monitoring And Also Clearing Up After The Race Days. Future Campus Events Will Need To Be Set Up In A More Commercially Self-Sustaining Way But It Was So Good To Have The Support Mentioned Here For This Inaugural Event.

For Planning And Organising The Event We Are Very Grateful To Richard Schuerf And Alex Bittner Of Https://Www.Freeheeler.Eu And 7tm Bindings And Also John Eames Of ‘The Off-Piste And Telemark Ski Company’ And Also As Representative Of And Telemark Trainer For The British Association Of Snowsports Instructors.

Most Of The Presenters And Attendees Of The Campus Stayed On For The European Freeheeler Opening Weekend, Making The Most Of The Full Week Of Telemark Events, Activities, Equipment Testing, Attending Some Of The Workshops (For Me It Was Freestyle On Freeheel Skis – A Real Adventure And Challenge! J) And Also Running Some Of The Workshops Over The Weekend.

I Think Everyone Involved Left Hintertux At The End Of The Week Full Of Freeheel Spirit And Passion And ‘Stoked’ For The Season Ahead, Having Shared And Learnt A Lot About Freeheel Skiing And, Of Course!, Having Really Enjoyed The Skiing, The Activities And Being A Part Of This Unique And Inclusive Telemark Community.

John Eames, Jan., 2023