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Age:
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Years Skiing:
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Achievements:
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Favorite Areas:
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33
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31
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Recently
a father!
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In the last
few years Aspen Highlands has continued to expand
into Highlands Bowl and create accessible terrain
that you can hike to from the top of the lift.
This has created a steep powder skiing experience
in Colorado that rivals the Wasatch or Jackson
Hole and has become a favorite haunt.
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20
Questions
 Describe
your skiing background:
I grew up alpine ski racing in Vail Co. I stopped ski
racing after my senior year in high school and bought
a pair of Merrill Supercomps and 206 Evolutions and
began messing around with telemark. This was the equipment
I was on when I started teaching and coaching at CRMS
in 1996.
What was your big breakthrough or defining moment in
skiing?
1999—the year Salomon came out with the 1080 – the
twin tip that changed it all. It came with a video
of what some of those early pioneers were doing—JF
Cusson, JP Auclaur, Vinnie Dorrien and Mike Douglass.
I had never been so excited about skiing – it
was as if the sport had been reinvented. I found a
ski shop that was selling them in Aspen and threw down
500 dollars without thinking twice and went and mounted
them tele. Those were exciting years fueled by the
natal energy of trying to ski and land switch on telemark
skis.
Describe a skiing experience when things got out of
hand:
The type of ‘out of hand’ that tends to
characterize my skiing now is the result of rolling
with 20 high school students on telemark skis. Here
is one example in a nutshell: We are on the way to
the Mad River Glen Telemark Festival, driving from
the airport at night with all of our skis and equipment
bungeed to the top of the rental car, which in short
order fly off the roof and get run over by several
semis. It’s pitch black and we pull over to pick
up the molecules of ski equipment off the road. As
we do a nice driver gets out to help, but forgets to
put his e-brake on so his car roles backwards into
the highway and there we are, on coming traffic, a
car rolling backwards into it, and all of our ski stuff
scattered somewhere in between. We all managed to get
out of there, unscathed (not before slamming someone’s
hand in the door as we departed) and enjoyed Vermont’s
worst snow conditions in 20 years. Somehow we still
managed to have the time of our lives (it may have
been the novelty of skiing on moss).
Who or what inspires you?
Over the last ten years, I have been continuously inspired
by young telemark skiers that I have had the privilege
of coaching. There is so much to learn from every one
of them, and the experience has been the most fulfilling
of my entire skiing career. There is always some exciting
and refreshing way in which they drive the sport that
always keeps me learning—both about telemark
technique and about life.
How does fear affect your skiing?
Fear is a strange and good thing. The fear associated
with a technical line or a big drop, or a big hit,
is a wonderful feeling in many respects. I love the
moment you decide to commit—at times I have thrived
on that sensation although at times it has gotten me
into trouble. This is an area I have always enjoyed
pushing the boundaries of my fear. In other areas,
such as avalanche terrain, I am much more conservative.
I have a terrible fear of avalanches. I am happy letting
other people push the envelope in that area.
Ever been caught speeding or ever been arrested?
Ah, yeaaaaahhh, about that…
Are you a fan of skiing history? Explain?
Yes, in many respects. I have always been fascinated
by how the 10th Mtn. Division influenced the evolution
of the ski industry in the United States. Telemark
history also fascinates me—everything from its
origins with Sondre Norheim in Norway to its revival
in Crested Butte in the U.S. in the 70’s.
What are your future plans or goals in skiing?
I hope to continue to be able to keep up with 15 year olds. For my own skiing,
I am excited about switch landings and switch tele turns in the backcountry and
also dragging rails into the backcountry. I am hoping to be a part of youth telemarking
for a long time. We are in an exiting new era in this regard. Youth telemark
teams are beginning to emerge. This is exciting and my thoughts revolve quite
a bit around where things will go from here.
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| Age |
Years Skiing:
|
Status: |
Achievements: |
Favorite
Areas: |
| 33 |
31 |
Married |
Recently a father!
|
In the last few years Aspen Highlands
has continued to expand into Highlands Bowl and create
accessible terrain that you can hike to from the
top of the lift. This has created a steep powder
skiing experience in Colorado that rivals the Wasatch
or Jackson Hole and has become a favorite haunt.
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