thoseteleguys

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! 

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. 

What a strange season we have had Downunder. Only one out of three show hosts have managed to get some turns in, but despite this, we have managed to make a podcast that people are actually downloading. We have received emails from such people to ask questions, make suggestions and share stories, so in this episode, we do our best to answer them. What unfolds involves solving the mystery around what direction a flailing skier rotates in the Southern Hemisphere, a tale of Hannels Spur and debunking whether a Tim Tam can be slammed using various fortified wines. 

In this weeks episode, we hade a very special guest to join Those Tele Guys. Stephen Curtain is a cinematographer, director, outdoor educator and an environmental science communicator. He has travelled to many wild places with a camera in his hands to capture the beauty and share the stories found within environments that are less known to the general public. An example of such work is 'Winter Dreaming,' a film that captures the essence and characters of backcountry skiing in the Australian Alps. In more recent times, he has been working on projects to promote environmental education in areas that have been affected by climate change both in Australia and overseas. We caught up with him to talk about how he fell in love with the mountains, what it was like swinging from a helicopter and what projects he is working on in the future.  

You can find him @stephencurtain or at www.stephencurtain.com

A long, long time ago in the early days of the Australian winter season, a fan wrote a letter to us asking a bunch of questions about how to get into telemark skiing. We decided to make an episode about it and attempt to answer said questions to the best of our ability. Our answers may not resemble everyone's pathway to enlightenment, but they do provide information as to how we came to power.

We also get a song from Ferg! Hear it here first. It will be at the top of the charts in no time!

Earlier in the season, we received a message from a telemark idol of ours all the way from the USA. He applauded our efforts with the show and suggested we interview Sven Gorham, a fellow Australian that is all about telemark skiing and eating icecream. Sven has worked extensively in the snow for the last few years, jumping countries to guide and patrol in Japan and New Zealand. We caught up with him to talk about what it's like to patrol on telemark binding, how his freeheel journey began and where his icecream obsession is taking him in the future. 

In this weeks episode, we chat to Simon from the Mountain Sports Collective. The MSC is a not-for-profit user group organisation for human-powered alpine sports in Australia, and have been providing information and resources to educate and keep BC users safe. From learning to tele ski in the BC, to getting caught in a slide, Simon's story about how the MSC came to be is interesting. 

COVID continues to dominate the Victorian headlines and hinder the Australian ski season. Regional Victorian telemark skiers have been enjoying some turns when they could but their dreams of skiing August powder have been dashed by more restrictions and park closures. What does this mean for the much anticipated Victorian BC festival? We catch up with Cam Walker to hear the latest plans to keep the stoke alive.

We also discuss port Tim-Tam slams and Mt. Thebarton, a once-thriving skiing destination situated in the heart of Adelaide. 

As outdoor educators, Those Tele Guys believe in the importance of education to enhance skills and knowledge in outdoor environments. Australia's alpine region is one of those environments and we believe one should do all they can to adequately prepare themselves for the conditions they might face. Avalanche Australia provides an avenue to do this and has been running courses to better educate people looking to move outside the resort boundaries. In this episode, we caught up with Adam West, the man behind the wheel of the organisation, to talk about the courses they provide, Australian snow conditions, BC safety and Gulmarg. 

We'll see you next week for the usual segments and shenanigans. Enjoy! 

In 2019, whilst skiing in one of Australia's fine winter storms, we bumped into Lucas, a fellow tele skier, whilst frolicking in the powder. For the rest of the season, we continued to catch up with him and learnt that he had a unique introduction into telemark skiing through the now-defunct Corryong Ski Club. We find out just how prolific the club was back in the day and ask why it no longer exists. 

We also celebrate 1000 downloads. Thanks, everyone for the support! This might not be the greatest season here, but we'll keep the podcast going regardless! 

The Victorian snowfields are filled with sadness and jealousy as the NSW resorts remain open while receiving a huge amount of snow from a rare south-easterly system. Many keen snow enthusiasts are now turning their attention to the backcountry and are looking for someone to head off with to chase some sort of winter season. For this reason, Morgs, Rich and Ferg chat about what makes the perfect partner in the backcountry. Some other strange topical items pop up throughout the show, including using a chickens ability to lay eggs as a seasonal forecast for the rest of the season. Apologies in advance for that one.

This week on the show we talk lockdowns, border closures, Epic Passes, and mountain rescues. Has the Victorian Government’s move to lock down Metropolitan Melbourne effectively crushed the hopes, dreams and business aspirations of Vail Resorts? Join us as we wildly speculate and attempt to shed some light on what is quickly becoming a dark winter.

Disclaimer: We recorded this episode on Wednesday and then the news was announced that the resorts were closing on Thursday. We did not manage to get this episode out in time, but we hope you enjoy it regardless! 

In this episode, we travel over to Everest Sports in Bright to interview Simon Head. Simon is the proud owner of the store, which sells an array of quality equipment for adventure junkies and for those looking to get into the backcountry scene. He also has a plethora of knowledge that he is willing to share for those seeking advice for adventures in Australia's alpine region. We had a great time talking to him discussing his passion for the mountains, new gear and BC awareness whilst trying to justify why we still love our 75mm gear! We are looking forward to getting back and having another yarn in the future! 

Morgan has returned to his home planet of Mt. Beauty in an attempt to rescue his friend Rich from the clutches of the vile high-pressure system parked over south-eastern Australia. Little does Morgan know that the galactic empire has secretly begun construction on a new armoured house even more powerful than the first dreaded cedar plank shack. 
When completed, this ultimate weapon will shelter rebel skiers from the rain that will spell certain doom for the small amount of snow in the Australian Alps. 

We talk to Jonathon Pollock, a climatologist from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology about the outlook for the season. Are we expecting big dumps or monsoonal rain? We try to find out...

In this episode, we call in a few telemark friends, Andy Crow and Ya Reeves, to discuss some essential items that we take in the backcountry. Everyone seems to stuff their bags with various things, some causing some serious eyebrow-raising, and we talk about a few of them.

We also hear a song for the freeheelers from Ya about the Lady Shredders. You are a Lady Shredder? This song is for you! 

Many people in the world look at telemark skiing with a certain curiosity as to how it works. Like the Jedi, much of our knowledge is a secret to the universe, but we are looking to change this. In this episode, we pull in Jonathon Frakes, former host of Beyond Belief, to help us determine whether the telemark myths you may around the resort are indeed fact or fiction. 

We also release another edition of Songs for the Freeheelers. This time it is a Johnny Cash parody. Enjoy.