https://www.wintersportsclinic.org/

I am offering a telemark clinic at the Winter Sports Clinic (April 1-6, 2018) at Snowmass, CO. For more information, or to sign up, please contact Teresa Parks at Teresa.Parks@va.gov

I am re-trained as a Medic.

No more Lightfighter.

Older than you now.

I continue on.

You are not forgotten.

V/R.–Limkin

To see my son playing chess

with my niece

has been the poetry

I have needed.

The cherry tree

regularly ravaged by magpies

somehow still has fruit.

I cast a thin netting over it

to protect what cherries remain

steadying a ladder

with both feet.

That they may ripen in peace.

For Akepa (before the start of her junior year of high school):

You should know that I have spent countless hours on social media, just like you. I have checked on my “posts,” felt buoyed when “likes” were plentiful, and diminished when they received little attention. Like you, I have tried to come up with “good” content that revealed the awesomeness of my life. And, in some cases, I have succeeded.

Take, for instance, the recent Instagram post I composed in which I can be seen swooping down in slow-motion out of the snowy trees in a deep tele stance in full battle rattle with Miike Snow’s song Genghis Khan playing in the background.

I mean, Wow, right?!

So when you suggested that we both make a pact to take a break from social media, I was admittedly reluctant.

While the benefits for you were obvious, the benefits for me were less so.

But it occurred to me that if entering this pact helped you in any way (and I believe it will!) then I should do it.

Which is what I have been doing for the last 48 hours.

And I have to admit I feel awful.

Not so much because of being away from social media, but because I have a chest cold, nasal drip, skipped lunch, and now my stomach hurts.

I’m actually hunched over while writing this. It’s that uncomfortable. :-(

But let’s get back to the benefits for you:

1. As a high school student with a solid track record of two years of rather uninterrupted social media consumption, you’ve fallen behind in the classroom. Let’s face it, you have some catching up to do. Ireland, remember?
2. Getting away from your social media accounts and severing your attachment to your “smartphone” will allow you to turn your attention to academic achievement and free up your brain to learn, which will assist with your critical reasoning, and provide you a solid foundation for the myriad challenges of adulthood that lie ahead.
3. Imagine, if you will, you’re a running back trying to gain yardage in an important football game, the biggest game of your life. (Forgive the football analogies, this is what a military career does to you.) Could you do it with a “smartphone” in your hand? The distraction of social media and a “smartphone” is akin to trying to avoid being tackled while Snapchatting and monitoring your “likes” on Instagram, etc.
4. The lesson is don’t play football while absorbed in your “smartphone.” Hee, hee!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      BUT you have taken a brave and significant FIRST STEP for which I applaud you. You–and I–are now both off social media! BRAVO FOR US!!!

Now, I would like to say that 90% of the hard work required of you is completed and you have only the 10% left. But I can’t. Because it is more like 10% is behind you and 90% is left. But at least now you have a fighting chance. I have no doubt that academic achievement of any sort would be IMPOSSIBLE were you to have retained your high levels of social media activities/distractions (and this goes for many of your peers, and probably increasingly middle-schoolers as well).

As boring as it may sound, SCHOOLWORK and READING and SYSTEMATIC STUDY will be your salvation. I have no doubt of this.

I am proud of our 2-day streak without “streaking” (If you are an old fogey like me, google “snapchat streaking” for edification and befuddlement), and I hope that this streak continues to grow! Let’s see how much we can accomplish over the months ahead without all the distractions of “managing” a cyber-existence and reality. (Not to mention, it’s nice to be more present for those around us,and more present in our own lives, right?)

After all, what is more precious than the sanctity and health of our own thoughts and awareness, free of constant intrusions in the forms of bells, whistles, and noxious flashings of light?

En davant, Neboda!!! Courage!!! You can do it!!!

Uncle

(Please like and share :-D )

Hiking a mountain acequia at 9500′ in northern New Mexico…in slippers! Brrrr! July 13, 2017

It would be a stretch to say my garden is thriving. But I can say that efforts to care for my garden–the watering, the weeding, the nurturing of sprouts–relaxes me, and promotes in me a sense of calm and peace. And with a little luck, there will be healthy things to eat. Thanks and appreciation for Not Forgotten Outreach of Taos and Jon Turner for the inspiration and example. What is more beautiful than transforming swords into ploughshares?

Ready to depart Canyon Estates and make the long journey north. From L to R: Alex, Jonah, Alexia, Chuck, Brant

The 7th Annual Skywalk, as in year’s past, kicked off with an olive and cheese platter at the Parq Central Hotel rooftop lounge at 5pm on Friday, May 12. The next morning, the group reconvened at the Canyon Estates trailhead (6,600ft) at 6am in Tijeras to begin the initial climb up to South Peak (9,800ft) with the goal of reaching Placitas by evening– approximately 25 miles away.

Brant McGee on South Peak. At 18, Brant served as a combat medic with an infantry company in Vietnam. Upon returning to the States, Brant applied for and was awarded conscientious objector status, one of only a handful of recorded uncontested cases resulting in an honorable separation. In the background is the rocky western face of Sandia Crest, the halfway point to Placitas.

Chuck Hosking on South Peak. Chuck Hosking has been an anti-war activist and social justice activist all of his life. He rejects consumerism and materialism in favor of living his religious values and serving others. He disavows waste and provides for his meals by collecting by hand the foodstuffs discarded by institutions, supermarkets, bakeries, etc. He donates much of his earned income to those less fortunate than himself, and purposely earns below the taxable level of income in order to avoid contributing to war and military spending. A one-speed bicycle is his preferred and only form of transportation.

The weather was sunny and warm. Participants were soon in shorts and T-shirts. However, as the group descended from South Peak to continue their journey north along the Sandia Crest Trail, they came upon a patch of snow, the last reminder of winter on South Peak.

A break on the trail. From L to R: Brant McGee, Chuck Hosking, Jonah Drift Thompson

Jonah Drift Thompson, 17, ski patroller and aspiring wildland firefighter, looks back at South Peak

Alex ‘Tele’ Limkin, former Army captain, with trail running partner and patrol dog, AB

As the party descended into Placitas, they were met with sprawling expansive views to the east.

A brief rest on the last leg down to Tunnel Springs. Chuck Hosking and Brant McGee.

Tunnel Springs, Placitas

The group arrived in Tunnel Springs after approximately 13 hours on the trail. They retired to the Kaktus Brewery in Bernalillo for elk sausage pizza, frito pies and cold beverages; there were no leftovers.

The next Skywalk will be Saturday, May 12, 2018. To be added to the listserv for this event, please send an email with “SKYWALK” as subject to alimkin(at)hotmail.com.

Alex ‘Tele’ Limkin served under Colonel Ted Westhusing in Iraq. Since returning home, he has retrained as a medical first responder and works as a ski patroller in northern New Mexico.

This post is to express my gratitude and appreciation for the assistance and support of the Veterans Administration. Thanks to the VA, I have been able to pursue a second life as a telemark instructor and medical first responder. I have also the VA to thank for patching me up as needed and getting me back on the slopes. Telemark does not come without its share of spills, tumbles, and injuries.

An active life in the peace, stillness, quiet, grandeur and beauty of the mountains is the best therapy and medicine that I have discovered. A three year self-study followed by a three year apprenticeship with the Sangre Academy of Telemark and Nature have been transformative and uplifting to say the least. I am honored and blessed to recognize my sensei, below, whose mentorship and guidance and friendship have been instrumental to my progress and evolution.

I am also excited at the prospect of sharing the pursuit of telemark with fellow veterans at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic starting in March 2018. If you are interested, please contact Teresa Parks at teresa.parks@va.gov for more information and to sign up for next year’s clinic, which I will be teaching. Fellow instructors taking part are Navy veteran and big mountain huckster Stephen Eytel, and telemark champion and founder of Telemark Freeride Camps, Jake Sakson.

I’m also looking forward to the prospect of being the oldest veteran to compete at the Free Heel Life Cup at Grand Targhee in 2018 (at the age of 45).

I am stoked to continue this journey, stoked for my second chance at life, and stoked to share my stoke. In furtherance of stoke, here’s a recent crotchcam training video featuring The Donkeys’ Lower the Heavens.

Drop knees not bombs.

Alex ‘Tele’ Limkin

As Mark Twain once remarked, the reports of the death of telemark are greatly exaggerated. Telemark is in fact alive and well. But is it for everyone? I would say no. Like any challenging physical endeavor, it is not for the timid or the easily dissuaded. Advancing in this discipline, like any martial art, demands rare levels of commitment and devotion.

If your primary concern is “efficiency of movement,” then conform to the conventional norm that is parallel skiing. After all, the fixed heel turn is powerful and readily learned. It is percussive, strong, easily replicated. But if your primary concern is sensation and fluidity, if you value the aesthetic qualities of being low and close to the snow, free your heel and ski for real. Fixed heel turns, certainly as practiced by top athletes, may be faster, but they are not the song—the deluge of notes—that is telemark. Locked heel turns cannot begin to match the panache, style, soulfulness, and freedom of tele-riding. (And what exactly do you achieve by getting to the bottom of the hill faster, anyway, other than abbreviating your joy?)

In his presumptive article announcing the death of telemark (RIP: Telemark, Powder Magazine, February 2017), Hans Ludwig reveals he is out of touch with the evolution and progression of telemark. He cites the lack of “tele specific” skis as proof of telemark’s decline, not realizing that dramatic advances in tele boots and bindings in the last decade have allowed us to adapt any ski to our purpose. Current teleriders, backed by burly bindings and beefy boots, are on everything from 4FRNT Devastators to Volkl Ones.

He is also far off the mark in his perception that telemark equipment suffers from a fatal lack of innovation, further begging the question of why he is offering commentary on tele gear in the first place. Binding manufacturers such as Bishop, 22 Designs, M-Equipment, and Rottefella continue to refine, improve and innovate in such areas as decreasing weight, increasing strength, and even, in the instance of M-Equipment’s Meidjo, allowing for both a free heel and fixed heel function. The latest development from Bishop Bindings, known as the BMF, will be both 75mm and NTN compatible, and is expected to have unsurpassed durability and strength to power even the most aggressive riders.

Additionally, with regard to boots, there are numerous 4-buckle options from Crispi, Scarpa, and Scott to take on the steep and deep. Think that the steep and savage is just for fixed heelers? Have a look at footage from big mountain telemark competitions such as the Free Heel Life Cup help annually at Grand Targhee.

Telerider: Stephen Eytel   Photo: Bjorn Bauer

Could there be more books on telemark? Certainly. More telemark schools? Yes. These things would certainly help promote telemark and make it more accessible.

The reality is the greatest challenge to getting into telemark is the gear. Yes, it is scary to scissor your legs, pushing one foot out in front of the other to turn, and yes, you will fall. Multiple times. But the physical challenges involved in learning are dwarfed by the challenges of locating equipment and knowing what equipment to get in the first place. Tele gear is not obtainable at your local sporting goods store or even neighborhood ski shop. Major resorts in North America commonly do not carry even a single item of telemark equipment. And you can forget about rentals.

But is telemark dead? You know it’s not. It may be dead to you. Because you don’t know much about it. Because you are in a comfort zone with your locked heels. Because you don’t know anyone that drops the knee. Because you’re not curious enough to find out more. Because you tried it once and found it too hard, too challenging, too difficult. But difficult is a far cry from impossible. After all, you learned to ski and to ski well. You learned to snowboard and to snowboard well. So why stop there?

Despite what Hans says, the sun has not set on telemark. Maybe you don’t know a telerider. But you see us on the mountain. We stop and rest sometimes. We’re easy to spot with our broken bindings. Chat us up. Don’t worry about seeming ignorant. What’s ignorant is believing telemark dead when you see us shredding past, dropping bombs for knees. Talk to us if you’re not sufficiently terrorized. Then get on Craigslist and Ebay. Look at some YouTube videos. Check out Free Heel Life, Telemark Down, Jake Sakson’s Telemark Freeride Camps. Find some beater equipment for $50 at a ski swap. And start dropping knees. Get low. Touch the snow. Play. Find some powder. Do a tele press. Jump off stuff.

Grow stoke on your windowsill and put some panache in your diet.

This is how telemark never dies.

Alex ‘Tele’ Limkin is an Army veteran, ski patroller and telemark instructor at Sipapu, New Mexico, one of the only tele patrols in North America. Stephen Eytel is a Navy veteran, big mountain telerider from Breckenridge, CO, and Bishop Bindings Badassador.

(This article was submitted to Powder Magazine for publication on 3/20/17.)