I’ve had this video for several years now. Just this morning, I stumbled across the file and uploaded it to Vimeo for everyone’s viewing pleasure. I got it about 4 years ago from the crew at The Piton, but nobody has officially claimed it so the telemarker-turned-AT skier will continue to live on in anonymity.
Check out his hilarious video as he tells his tale of telemark addiction, faceplants and then his eventual discovery of randonee, alpine touring or AT skiing (however you refer to it).
A/T Anonymous: A Tale of a Telemarker Turned A/T Skier from Jason Mitchell on Vimeo.
After all this time, maybe the dude will come out of the tele closet and reveal himself to the world.
11 Comments
That’s some funny stuff.
Mr. Anonymous is Rich Steele (posts on TTips and TGR as steeleman): http://www.tahoebackcountry.net/
“Oh! oh! oh!”
@Colin… thanks for unmasking AT Anonymous… It’s almost like unmasking a Mexican Luchador. Nachoooooooooooooo!
A classic!
“That breakable crust stuff, It’ll get you every time. It’s not meant for Telemark, stuff will make Donald Rumsfeld cry.” Truer words have never been spoken. I’m not sure I’m ready to turn my back on my free heel, “brethren” just yet. I’ll just call myself a weekend Tele powder skier, influenced by weekday resort carving Alpine turns. That was 10 minutes of cracking me up funny. Thanks.
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It appears that you just sucked at telemarking. Waaaaaaa!
It appears from this video that Telemarking can be dangerous if the snow in any thing but perfect. When the condition get rowdy. it’s easy to lose control with a “freeheel”. Rule #1 in the BC is “Don’t get hurt.”
I am happy happy happy happy happy happy to rip on telemarking, however, I am of the somewhat firm in the belief that if you are going to go to the exceptional trouble to produce and post a video such as this, that perhaps your opinion might carry some added weight and of course humor, if you were actually good at it. A bad tele-er deciding to give up the sport, and then mock it – that’s just embarrassing.
Aslas… I agree with you. But, I believe the author was likely a solid tele skier, who enjoyed exaggerating the pitfalls of free heel skiing. I have many solid tele skier friends who face plant in variable snow while I blast right through it. Even the best tele skiers will have the tele gods whap them in the face when the conditions are just right.