British Telemark Team

Official Website of the National Telemark Team

Jasmin Taylor - Junior World Championships bronze medalist

Mar 20

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An excerpt from Jasmin Taylor’s Blog about her recent achievements at the Junior World Championships in Espot, Spain…

World Junior Championship Bronze Medalist!
— March 20, 2025

After having spent the last 5 days in Espot, (Spain) I’m very pleased to announce that I won a Bronze Medal in the Dual Sprint! The first day of racing was the Classic, the longest of the 3 disciplines. I was 3rd Junior, and 7th overall before the plenty’s were added, and after I was shifted to 4th and 9th. I felt disappointed, and kept re-playing the run again and again in my head thinking “if I had just done this..or that”. Later that day, we had a qualifying run for the coming Dual Sprint race the next day. I crashed and thought I’d blown it, turns out I was 5th Junior! They take the top 8, so I was very pleased.

 

There were 3 competitors that I took on, the first sent me through to the final/small final, so at worst I would finish 4th. Each time you race them twice, so in total the final 4 all skied 6 times. The next round of races I lost, so I knew I was competing in either 3rd or 4th position and I really wanted a medal. In the end, I won my final 2 runs and was chuffed to have won a Bronze! I have been told it’s a first for Great Britain, so I couldn’t be more pleased.

I feel like I should take this opportunity to thank my team-mate and captain, Andrew Clarke, for selecting me to be on the team. Sadly, Espot was his last world cup race and I would like to wish him all the best for the future.

The New WC Telemark Competition

Nov 5

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The Telemark Parallel Trial in Rjukan, Norway

 

SUREFOOT for surefeet

Nov 5

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Thanks to Rory Atton at SUREFOOT London for his support to the British Telemark Team. You can find Rory at:

104-106 Waterford Road (the bend at New King’s Road)
London
SW6 2EU
SUREFOOT

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Kneissl - iPhone/IPAD App

Nov 5

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Christmas is coming and we don’t want you getting fat…so buy a pair of Kneissl’s to put pay to that!

Some crazy alpine dudes doing what they do best

Nov 5

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These guys might be on reversionary kit (alpine set up) but we’ll give them some credit

Great Britain’s Telemark Elite Announced for the 2011/12 Season

Oct 15

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5 elite athletes chosen to represent Great Britain on the world stage at one of the toughest, physically demanding winter sports.

The British Telemark Ski Team today announced the 5 world-class athletes who will be competing at the 2011/12 Telemark World Cup with a further 2 athletes selected for the World Cup Development Team.

Selection took place on the Hintertux Gletscher, Austria during the second week of October. With a large turn-out the triallists were put through their skiing paces with tests to determine their ability with particular focus on the fundamentals required to be a successful World Cup telemark racer. “Conditions at Hintertux have been fantastic” said Jack Harvard-Taylor, one of the athletes selected to ski on this season’s World Cup race team which will also feature 2 new athletes to the women’s team including ex-alpine racer Jasmin Taylor who said she was delighted to have made the cut.


The 2011/12 British Telemark Squad will feature the following athletes:

World Cup Team

Andrew Clarke – Plymouth, Devon

Jack Harvard Taylor – Virginia Water, Surrey

Ian Roberts - Brighton, Sussex

Jasmin Taylor - Ipswich, Suffolk

Anna Morrissey - Beith, Ayrshire


World Cup Development Team

Hugh Long - Ontario, Canada

Colin Shepherd - Perth, Perthshire

 

Whilst previous team members, including the team’s vice-captain, unable to attend the trials it is hoped that they will trial under testing conditions during the British Championships in Rauris, Austria in January 2012. Team Captain Andrew Clarke reported that it was a good turn out but urged more telemark skiers from the UK to participate in the British Championships and unleash their potential and let the selection committee decide; participation at the British Championships is mandatory for anyone wishing to be selected to trial for the British Team.


The coming season the team will be taking part in a series of promotional events around the UK including appearances at the British Ski and Board Show at Earls Court. There is also a chance to mix with the athletes and hear from an esteemed record breaking mountaineer at the Team’s pre-season fundraiser to be held in Wimbledon on 22 Oct, more details are available from Cocktails with the British Team. There is a great prize line up from a year of free Meteor Meet and Greet Airport Parking to fabulous skiing prizes. We hope to see you there.

With an impressive last season the team hopes to build on that, with athletes breaking convincingly into the top 15. Confirmed FIS World Cup venues next season are Slovenia, Austria, Norway, USA, France and Spain. “With telemark skiing on the up this is an exciting time for the British Team as we look to introduce the sport into the Winter Olympics in the future” said Clarke who is also the FIS Telemark Chairman, “it really is exciting times”.


If you’d like more information about the team, would like to come and see us compete, or to schedule an interview, please contact the GB Telemark Communications Director Jack Harvard Taylor.

Six elite athletes chosen to represent Great Britain on the world stage at one of the toughest, physically demanding winter sports.

The British Telemark Ski Team today announced the six world-class athletes who will be competing at the 2010/11 Telemark World Cup.

Selection took place in Hintertux, Austria during the last weekend of August. With a large turn-out the participants were put through their paces navigating their way down the steep, icy terrain on the glacier. Vice Team Captain Chris Wotton said, “Despite the difficult conditions and problems with timing equipment, all the trialists performed well over the four days” With minus 15C on the glacier and high winds, participants fought hard against the elements as they battled it out for a place on the national team.

The 2010/11 British Telemark World Cup Team consists of the following six athletes:

Andrew Clarke – Plymouth, Devon
Jack Harvard Taylor – Virginia Water, Surrey


The team will be taking part in a series of promotional events around the UK. They will be promoting the sport whilst working with lead sponsor Mercedes - Benz UK before the competitive season kicks-off in January with the first World Cup event held in Germany. With an impressive last season the team hopes to build on that, with athletes achieving consistent top 25 results. Other confirmed FIS (Federation International du Ski) World Cup venues are Switzerland, Norway and Spain. “With telemark skiing on the up this is an exciting time for the British Team as we look to introduce the sport into the Winter Olympics in the future” said recently appointed FIS Telemark Chairman and British Team Captain, Andrew Clarke.


If you’d like more information about the team, or to schedule an interview, please contact Jack Harvard Taylor by email here

GB Telemark hopes Virgin Active will support the same as Esporta did

Oct 8

Posted by Skipper in Breaking News | Comments off

Virgin Active agrees to buy Esporta gyms

Virgin Active is planning to take over its rival gym chain Esporta in a move that will lead to a big increase in the number of its number of outlets.Virgin, which is majority-owned by Sir Richard Branson, is offering £77.5m for the 55 Esporta gyms, which it aims to add to its own 71 gyms across the UK.

The move will need approval from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

If passed, it will be the first major purchase since Virgin bought the Holmes Place gym chain almost five years ago.

Virgin Active also reported results for the year to the end of December.

Total revenues rose by 14% to £445.2m, while revenues from gyms open for 12 months or more increased by 9% to £416.8m.

Myra Butterworth from the Daily Telegraph writes about Telemark

Feb 25

Posted by Skipper in Uncategorized | No Comments

Telegraph writers have been testing ways of keeping fit. This week Myra Butterworth heads for the hills

Myra Butterworth

By Myra Butterworth 7:00AM GMT 14 Feb 2025

Warning: if you have weak thighs, do not try this at home – or on your skiing holiday. For this is telemarking, a powerful way to ski, whereby the boot is locked into the blade at the toe but the heel is detached. You have to work much harder to keep your balance. But being able to bend the ankles forward and rise on to the ball of the foot enables powder-junkies to create deep, carving turns in the snow just by bending the knees.

The sport originates from the Norwegian county of the same name, and was pioneered in the 19th century by Sondre Norheim, the father of modern skiing.

As you move downhill, the trick is to turn by dropping one knee into a semi-lunge position. Once mastered, it looks graceful on the slopes, like a gentle curtsey. I defy anyone who sees it not to admire the shapes it produces. The lack of support at the heel makes telemarking extremely demanding physically, a surefire way to expend countless calories – think of it like riding an elliptical trainer downhill – and acquire thighs of steel in the process.

Which is why you only see the best skiers and instructors doing it. Evidently, it was going to take more than a couple of hours of lessons with Nicolas Borrel, my ski instructor at the French resort of Sainte-Foy, to learn even the rudiments. He reckoned that a spot of telemarking would also improve my balance and pay dividends when I returned to the slopes for some normal skiing.

“Telemark is much more fluid than Alpine skiing,” he says. “It gives you much more freedom.”

Possibly too much freedom, in my case. Although I am a competent skier, my first half-hour strapped into telemarks – which are similar to Alpine skis in shape and dimension but are lighter, and have toe bindings that free your heel – saw me spending more time with my face in the snow than gliding ontop of it. Teetering on the skis in tippy-toes felt like taking your marks for a 100m sprint in high heels.

With just the balls of my feet attached to the skis, fear immediately set in. When I set off, I resorted to the classic snow- plough stop to prevent heading head-first down the mountain at 100 miles an hour. On several other occasions, my leg muscles failed to hold me in the requisite dropped-knee position and I simply toppled over. As I lay on the slopes, my legs crossed and pointing in different directions, I looked up to see more experienced telemark skiers speed past me.

Acccording to Borrell, you need to be in good shape to telemark. “It is a great workout for the thighs and the abdominals,” he says. “You need balance to be able to use the edges of your skis to find the grip in the snow. You also need to be flexible.” Before you even think of hitting the slopes, it’s important to work on your hamstrings and quads at the gym.

Gradually, I picked up the technique, and by the end of the lesson had succeeded in crafting several beautiful telemark turns.

I have definitely caught the bug. I just hope that my thighs can take it.

British Team at Olympia Ski and Snowboard Show

Oct 9

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British Telemark Team at London Olympia 2010 Ski & Snowboard Show

The Team

Between 20th and 24th October the largest consumer winter sports show in the world will be staged in the heart of London. Over the five days the show will attract in the region of 35,000 ski and snowboard enthusiasts and holiday makers from all over the UK and Europe.


The show, which has been running for many years now, has always been a great social gathering as well as a chance to check out some of next season’s new kit. One of the central attractions of the show this year will be the ‘Trespass Big Air Competition’ which hosts the London Ride – a competition where the best British riders battle it out on the 50ft kicker jump. With some good skier and borders I think it should be worth a watching.


For us it’s a great opportunity to catch-up with old ski buddies and industry workers who we don’t get to see very often. This year, Andrew Clarke the British Telemark Team Captain along with Jack Harvard-Taylor and Sarah Hannibal from the British Telemark Ski Team will be stationed at the British Ski and Snowboard stand, G64, so pop along if you want any advise on telemark skiing, resorts, equipment and a chance to win exclusive Mercedes Benz World AMG Days or Chances to telemark and socialise with British Telemark Team Athletes at World Cup events in 2011


For more information and to book tickets see the Metro Ski and Snowboard website.
So what are you waiting for – come along and get involved!

La Plagne - World Cup Finals March 2010

Oct 2

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