The Skippy Report

Gravity/Gary Denton discusses the evolution of his Telemark skiing experience that has led him to developing a highly adaptable, modular, and releasable Telemark binding. We delve into his binding development story, from idea, to production, to testing , and now wanting to bring it to market.  I hope you enjoy this super interesting conversation with a person who is on the cutting edge of new Telemark binding development.

Erik and I didn't get to talk about all we needed to in the last episode of last season, so we decided, he and I would discuss gear and trends for the upcoming season. I hope you learn something from this episode, I learned a lot. Thanks to Erik for spending the time to share his knowledge about gear, his insight into trends, and what will could be coming this season and in the not so far future.  Make sure to support your local tele shop and most especially patronize Erik and his shop Telemarkdown.com. Enjoy and thanks for listening!

My guest on this episode is Erik Fey, one half of The Fey Brothers and owner of Telemarkdown. Erik shares how he got into Telemark skiing, an awesome, "Uncle story", you know how those stories unfold! Erik shares multiple Telemark tales as well as how and why he got into Telemark retail.  This is part one of two, as Erik had so many stories that we really didn't get to the main retail story, as well as trends and gear, content for part two. 

J.T. shares his Telemark Tale as well as his personal ski backstory in this episode.  I first became aware of J.T., back in the day when he was a featured Telemark athlete in Tough Guy Productions as well as Powdwerwhore Productions and have followed his career through Telemark Skier Magazine, and Vertical Integration.  I don't want to give much away, as I don't want to spoil any of J.T.'s stories, but I do know you will enjoy them as much as I did. Enjoy!

I talk with Anthony Hunter of Canberra, Australia in this episode. Anthony teaches me about the skiing environs of Southeastern Australia as well as sharing his rude introduction to skiing as a youngster. Anthony shares his skiing backstory which includes being an OG Telemark skier, skiing on 200+ cm skis with flimsy "boots". He also shares some of his global ski escapades; skiing in Kashmir, Ski mounainteering in various countries, early Tele-skiing in Australia, AND guiding on the Haute Route, just to name a few.  Enjoy!

Jed has a very inspirational story about recovering from a life threatening incident to returning to living a normal life but to racing on the World Cup Telemark circuit.  Jed also shares his Telemark Tale about growing up in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire and learning to ski before he could really walk, and growing up in a Telemark family. Enjoy!

Helen Burkart shares her Telemark Tale in this episode of "The Women in Telemark Skiing" series. I became aware of Helen through Instagram, this past winter, and what she was doing, at Belleayre Ski Resort in New York State. Helen Lives and works in the Catskills of New York, however she hails from the Lake Tahoe area of California, growing up and skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort, most of her life. This past winter was Helen's second full year skiing on Telemark gear and is loving it so much that she wants to give back and share the excitement of the new set of skills that some good friends have helped her develop, by hosting Telemark meet-ups at Belleayre Mountain, most importantly, Helen is encouraging women to join her and her crew to ski together and have fun!  This was a fun episode, I hope you enjoy it! 

Wow! This will be one of my all-time favourite interviews.  I had the opportunity to sit down with Gary McGuffin, of The McGuffins paddling duo fame.  Gary is a Canadian paddling Legend, photographer, Telemark skier, Nature Conservator, and well-known author. Gary shares his Telemark/Nordic tale, from a very young age to today. As well, he chronicles how growing up in rural Southwestern Ontario and summering in Northern Ontario informed his choices later in life, schooling, activities, and the meeting with Joanie, his lifelong partner, while attending Seneca College and how they made a life of adventure together. They live just outside of Searchmont, Ontario where they continue to be very active in the paddling scene, and very importantly with land/shoreline conservancy of the Lake Superior environs.  Gary and Joanie are founding members of The Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy. He shares why this Conservancy is so important to he and Joanie as well as to other Canadians. I hope you enjoy this episode, which is hopefully only the first of a few more.

Sophie Studd, a level 4 Telemark Instructor and examiner and Alpine Instructor with The Australian Professional Ski Instructors shares her Telemark tale with us. She also shares her backstory of how a Brit ends up teaching skiing and living Down Under, as well as being part of the flight crew for an airway that specializes in flying Scientists in and out of The Antarctic. We may also geek out on Telemark ski instruction and biomechanics in this episode, no surprise there.  Enjoy!

Meet Robin and Enn, owners and hosts of Bellevue Valley Lodge in Searchmont, Ontario, in this episode.  Bellevue Valley Lodge is the premiere backcountry ski destination here in Northern Ontario, Canada.  Listen to Robin and Enn's backstory and Telemark Tale in this episode.  Learn about the allure of the North and why people fall in love with this year round playground destination. Enjoy!