G’paw’s trip out east

I had a wonderful time out east… there were cheers, tears, and old friends waiting for me. It was good to be back.  

First, I would like to thank Nathan, Keith, Sarah, and all the other US Telemark supporters for their outstanding work and leadership in hosting the Gore Mountain Tele extravaganza weekend. Even with the usual first event of the season hiccups, the event was run first class. Two days of racing, supported by a top alpine program, it’s hard to beat that to kick off the season.

As with many Telemark events, one of the highlights happened to be off the hill. Crashing with local US Telemark athlete, Norm Miller, was killer. As Devon and Maria described it “It’s a Mcmansion  Gpaw!”  

Monday, after the two days of racing, I made my way over to New Hampshire to visit the 7 time National Telemark Champion Chris Rice… And guess what?  He has not changed a bit. He insisted I compete in his local cross country race series on Tuesday, and of course, he had the fastest time of the day, smoking me, and all the rest of the college and masters skaters. Afterwards, we sat around and told stories of old friends, past trips, and of course by gone race days… I believe he has 13 world cup podiums.

It seems that Telemark Racing is thriving on the east coast these days and that is a good thing thank you very much. I will see everyone at Eldora, CO in just a few weeks for the 2019 US Telemark National Championships.

G-paw (Joel Nylander)

Editor’s note: I met Joel in 2003 and he was known as G’pa to all the racers then. He has been involved with USTSA since 1990 as a competitor, team member, race organizer and mentor.