The Freeheel Life Podcast Josh Madsen

On this week's podcast I sit down for a conversation with the founding members of Midwest Telefest that included the owners, employees, and friends of Life Tools Adventure Outfitters. The Co-op turned outdoor shop was a hub for Telemark equipment in the Green Bay, WI area for many years and helped bring awareness to the great Telemark turn. 
Midwest Telefest info: midwesttelefest.org
 

Today’s guest has been in the Snowsports industry for nearly 30 years. He has worked in various retail positions along with working as a rep for such brands as Karhu, Dynafit, and more. We had a great discussion about where Telemark has been and where it’s headed, where specialty retail might be going in the future, shifts in manufacturing, and why Telemark skiers are so passionate. I’m psyched to call him a friend and was really excited about this conversation we had recently.
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Newsroom & Notes:
Current Boots - what’s up - will do video soon. YouTube Black Members LIVE w/ Craig Dostie THIS TUESDAY 1/30/24 at 5pm MST  We are open today and still have SOME appointments THROUGH SATURDAY so be sure to book those on the service section of the website. NO MORE SERVICE DROP OFFS UNTIL FEB. 16TH. YOU CAN HEAD TO 7EVEN SKIS FOR MOUNTS UNTIL I GET BACK. https://www.7evenskis.com/ BOOK SERVICE AT FREEHEEL LIFE: https://www.freeheellife.com/pages/telemark-ski-binding-service The week of February 5th-14th the brick and mortar shop will be closed. Midwest TeleFest  WORLD TELEMARK DAY 2024 Meetup Locations: https://www.freeheellife.com/pages/stores-events-locator Check out my website and online store: https://www.freeheellife.com/ Here is my latest free technique video for you to check out:https://youtu.be/SIs3qT4E2VY Latest Member Video: https://youtu.be/qPo98GcI_pE Check out my website and online store: https://www.freeheellife.com/ Our weekly e-mail newsletter is a great way to stay in contact with all of our content, events, product launches, etc. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/FHLMailingList

Andy Jacobsen has been a friend of mine for 20+ years and is a Telemark skier that I’ve always respected for his great style, backcountry proficiency, and determined and skillful competition skiing.
He was always a top performer in the early Telemark Freeski competitions during the early to mid-2000s and graced the big screen not only in the early Toughguy Production movies, but also as one of the original Powderwhore crew during the 10 years that Powderwhore was producing movies. 
We had a great discussion about Telemark competition and film history, his inspirations early on as a young Telemark skier, and his experiences and life lessons along the way.
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Drew Nylen lives in northern British Columbia, on the Alaskan border, in a town of 300 people. His interest for Telemark skiing began in his youth when he started working at his local gear shop and was able to get his first freeheel setup. He’s an ACMG apprentice ski guide who will be taking his full ski exam in April. His extensive guiding has taken him to the Arctic, including: Baffin Island, Greenland, and more. Currently he’s working as an avalanche forecaster and field technician for Avalanche Canada.
Find Drew Online:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/drewnylen
Guiding Services: https://yamnuska.com/
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Here is our latest technique video for you to check out: https://youtu.be/WOu6G2-nKGs
Check out our website and online store: https://www.freeheellife.com/
Our weekly e-mail newsletter is a great way to stay in contact with all of our content, events, product launches, etc. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/FHLMailingList
#telemark #spreadtelemark #freeheellife #skiing

World Telemark Day Celebrates 10 Years For Telemark skiers from around the world the 1st Saturday in March is a special day, it’s always World Telemark Day (WTD). This international celebration takes place this 2023-24 winter season on Saturday March 2nd, 2024 and marks one decade since its inception. “As a Telemark skier myself I saw how great the energy at Telemark gatherings always was,” said WTD Founder Josh Madsen. “So I created a de-centralized event for everyone around the world, every year, that both the individual and groups can celebrate at the same time.” That’s what sets World Telemark Day apart from a normal organized event at a specific location, because it can happen any place you want! Whether you are the only Telemark skier at your local ski area or live in an area where you can meet-up with a group of other like-minded freeheelers WTD is for everyone.
How Can You Participate? 
Go Telemark skiing! You can make it a day at the resort or a day in the backcountry — you choose. 2. Connect with people on social media using the hashtags #WorldTelemarkDay & #SpreadTelemark - this is a great way to share where you are making the best turn on snow with participants worldwide. 3. Set-up a group meetup at the hill for your local Telemark community to ski together for a few runs and take a group photo. 4. Rolling solo? No problem. World Telemark Day is still for you. Connect with other Telemark skiers via social media that are celebrating the same thing on the same day. 5. Use the high resolution WTD logo to make your own digital flyers, merch, etc.  
Want To Take it To The Next Level?
For those individuals or groups looking to use World Telemark Day to help build their own event and grow their local Telemark scene here are some ideas:
Contact the marketing department at your local ski area. Contacts for the marketing department can generally be found on the ski area website or visit their office. Ask them if they would like to help get the word out via their channels and make it into an annual calendar item.  Feel free to use this press release along with the high resolution logo that you can download at: https://www.freeheellife.com/pages/world-telemark-day for any promotion. Create your own WTD merchandise with the logo and use it as a fundraiser for your local Telemark club, kids program, etc.     “World Telemark Day is for everyone,” says Josh Madsen. “I can’t think of a better day to share the turn with first-timers, old friends, and your local community. It’s your day to make it what you want and share it with the world.”
#ProtectorsOfTheTurn #SpreadTelemark #FreeheelLife #Telemark #TelemarkSkiing #TelemarkSki #Skiing #Ski 
Join our YouTube channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9tPPZqLPCw2q4-tu9q3Ynw/join
Here is our latest technique video for you to check out: https://youtu.be/WOu6G2-nKGs
Check out our website and online store: https://www.freeheellife.com/
Our weekly e-mail newsletter is a great way to stay in contact with all of our content, events, product launches, etc.
You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/FHLMailingList
#telemark #spreadtelemark #freeheellife #skiing

The other day I had the opportunity to teach a friend how to Telemark ski for the first time. I absolutely love sharing the turn with my friends but it’s been awhile since I’ve gone out with someone that has never made drop-knee turns before and starting from scratch. It reminded me of of things that I wanted to share with you as we head into this holiday season.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SEEING ME DO A TELEMARK TECHNIQUE BREAKDOWN of this you can become a Blue or Black-Level Member of my YouTube channel and listen to the commentary as we watch me breakdown skiing with my friend. 
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So I’m calling this podcast GIVING THE GIFT OF TELEMARK | Your Guide To Sharing The Turn 
And I put together a pretty simple list of some of key points that I remembered while I was sharing Telemark with my friend along with some new things I learned from this particular experience. 
Assess the level of your friend or family member before you hit the hill Make sure they have gear that is going to help them enjoy the experience. Match it correctly to the person if possible. The very first run let them warm up with some P-turns to understand the skis, what it feels like to have a free heel, and what the boots feel like. Start on some flat snow to do a couple of things: Teach them how to step-in and fasten their bindings properly. Then show them the basic shape of the Telemark stance. Then have them practice doing one Telemark stance to another — keeping in mind the distance of the feet apart and heel to toe.  Identify some very beginner terrain - slopes that are wide open and have less people on them. No Poles - ditch them or have them or hold them out like a tray in front of them on the down hill side of the slope Have them traverse the slope holding the shape of a Telemark stance. Learn balance, foot distance, etc. STOP ONCE YOU GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SLOPE or DETERMINED STOPPING POINT. Once they have a stable stance — move from stopping at the end of the traverse and have them come into a snow plow position and use that as the transition to turn their skis to go the other direction. ONCE THEY COME ACROSS THE FALL LINE have them drop into a Telemark stance again and continue to traverse to the other side. If they can get the hang of the snow plow transition — have them try coming fully parallel at the end of the traverse and then using a parallel turn instead to make the transition. Slowly work out the parallel at the end of the traverse moving towards a Telemark stance into a Telemark stance Sign-up for the mailing list: https://bit.ly/FHLMailingList
 
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