Those Tele Guys

Please join us as we host our first-ever session of telemark therapy. As telemark skiers, we standout against everybody else and are sometimes scrutinized for being different. Our motives are questioned while our equipment is ridiculed, and while this is all in jest (most of the time), this can really start weighing down on the shoulders of all the telemark skiers in the world. It is for this reason that we decided to host our first therapy session, so please, join us as we look to heal the wounds inflicted on us from our friends with training heels on. 

It is time to bring out the leather and lace...

...but it is not what you think! 

In this weeks episode, Those Tele Guys talk about one of their most recent escapades into the realm of pinheads and leather boots. For the very first time, Rich and Morgan ski telemark on equipment that is older than time itself and recorded this episode to share their experience. 

Also, Those Tele Guys get together once more to record another tune for 'Songs for the Freeheeler.' Please enjoy, 'Stuck in the liftline with you.' There is also a bonus track sent to us from Ottawa, Canada from a huge fan of the show. Enjoy! 

The Mountain Safety Collective (formally known as the Mountain Sports Collective) has gone from strength to strength since its inception a few years ago and has made a concerted effort to educate, train and promote backcountry enthusiasts to stay safe in alpine environments. This year, the MSC has gone a step further by announcing their new Avalanche Training Center at Mt. Hotham. We catch up with Rolf Schonfeld, a committee member of the MSC, who has been working hard to make this crowed funded dream a reality for many BC goers. Rolf has literally grown up with skiing and is extremely passionate about spending time in the Alps. He has a wealth of knowledge from touring in alpine regions all over the world and has learned that educating people is one of the most important steps to keeping people safe in the BC. 

Congratulations Victoria, you have done it! We have made it to winter and the ski resorts have opened! It may have felt slightly different without our Melbourne friends skiing beside us, but we made the most of the limited snow conditions for the much anticipated 'Opening weekend.' Hopefully, our friends from the city will be able to join us for thousands of laps on Towers Chair in the near future. 

In this episode, we talk about a really big storm that rocked Victoria, reflect on the most recent COVID skiing rules for Victorian resorts and discuss some highlights from the opening weekend. We also bring back...SONGS FOR THE FREEHEELERS! This time we use Elvis as our inspiration. Enjoy! 

We are not sure which direction our season will head this year and we need all the advice we can get, so we travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to catch up with Taylor Johnson (a.k.a Tele Tay) to hear what it was like skiing during a Pandemic. Taylor is the store manager at the Freeheel Life, is a regular on Josh Madsen's Podcast show of the same name, and loves freeing his heels (and doing it well) at Alta ski resort. He also hosts the Lowdown, a series created by the Freeheel Life to share news and information about all the latest telemark equipment available. 

Taylor provides us with some fantastic insight on their bumper season and what snow-loving fans did to make it feel somewhat 'normal' in a world where rules change quicker than Miranda Kerr at a Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. We also talk about some gear choices, the Smelly Kneepad, and the parallels between Telemark skiing and golf. We expect that you will enjoy listening to this chat as much as we enjoyed recording it, and hopefully, our season will unfold much like theirs where everyone did what they could to allow the resorts to stay open and keep the industry alive. 

Winter is here, and so are 'Those Tele Guys!' We last graced the air a few weeks ago for our season 2 prelude and we were looking quite optimistic about the season ahead.  We had already received some big dumps, the resorts were pumping out promotional snow content and most importantly, life had gone back to some sort of 'normal' after the covid lockdowns of last year, however, this was not to last. Like Bill Murray in Ground Hog Day, Victorians have recently woken up to something all too familiar. Covid, lockdowns and facemasks are all back in the mix and are threatening our season yet again. Could this be the death of resort skiing for a second consecutive year? 

In this episode we share our thoughts for the up-and-coming season, discuss the seasonal outlook for winter and have a laugh at some of the best tourism campaigns (promotional snow) that we have recently found.

We also hear from a Falls Creek Ski Patroller (and telemark skier),  Jamie Armitage. Jamie is currently living at Falls Creek and we caught up with him to hear how the snow conditions are and what the general vibe was like after the recent lockdown news. 

It certainly has been a long time between drinks for Those Tele Guys. Morgan and Rich have been busy throughout the summer with no time to spare for recording episodes, but suddenly their perspectives on life change with the early season promotional snow. In the blink of an eye, they bust out their microphones and blow off the dust to get into the swing of things for season 2 of 'Those Tele Guys.'

In this episode, we chew the fat, become familiar with our recording equipment once again and layout our plans for the up and coming winter season.  This is merely a prelude for season 2, which will officially begin at the start of June. 

A wise telemark skier once said "all good things must come to an end" and it is time for Those Tele Guys to do the same. The sun is shining and the birds singing, so our attention has been drawn to other recreational pursuits such as mtb-ing, climbing and finishing renovations. In this episode, we review the season and look into the future for Those Tele Guys. Will we return for another season? Will you ever get to hear the subtle tones of your three favourite free heelers ever again? Your questions will be answered.

We also present one last song for the freeheelers, as well as some bonus material if you make it to the end of the episode. 

A few weeks ago, one of those tele guys managed to purchase an absolute bargain on facebook market place. A set of Line Profits mounted with our beloved 22 designs AXL. They were purchased from none other than professional mountain biker and telemark skier, Andrew Blair. Andrew has represented Australia all over the world in XC races and has won two national titles. In the off-season, he loves to earn his turns in the backcountry setting of the Main Range. We had a great time chatting about his passion for mountain biking and skiing and how it all began for him. He even shared some stories of how the two sports can be combined to make some memorable human-powered adventures. Please enjoy, a ride with Andrew Blair.

We also feature songs for the freeheelers once again, along with a new segment called "The mystery sounds of Telemark."

This is one of our favourite episodes of the season. George Turner is an avid telemark skier from Adelaide that has been in touch throughout the season. At some point, he highlighted techniques to get kids into tele, drawing from his own experience when teaching the turn to his two boys, Lenny and Albert. George sent us some photos of his kids absolutely slaying, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to interview one or both of them and find out why they like tele so much. We ended up getting Lenny (13 years old) on for a chat and we were blown away by the enthusiasm and wisdom he presented to us. We give you Lenny Turner, the future of telemark skiing in Australia.