BREAKING NEWS

Team GB have now got sponsor support.  Following our endeavour at the Ski Show in Oct we are pleased to announce we have teamed up with the following excellent companies:

GM Military Sales who are providing the Team with a top-of-the-range Chevrolet Captiva which will get the Team places it probably couldn’t have gone before!

		Enchanted Holidays who are giving the Team crucial financial support for the 2008/09 season.
		Meteor Meet and Greet Parking who have given the Team the fantastic offer of free parking at any airport served by them thus giving the Team essential savings and making us all smile a lot
		Snokart who have have supplied the 10 Team members with brilliant, innovative skibag/travel systems meaning that airlines can’t get too stuffy over weight issues and we look utterly cool ploughing our way through the airport crowds!

		Team Fusion who are sponsoring the Team's racesuits - without them we'd be naked... brrrrrr!
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		Zygo Communications who are helping the Team keep in touch with eachother, and home, whilst they are away for free.  Hurrah!

Thanks also go to Mountain Sun Ltd for great deals on accommodation in La Plagne, Tignes and the Dolomiti.

And thanks to Helen and the gang at Alpine Ethos who have quality ski chalets in the French Alps and will be putting the team up at the beginning of February in Meribel during training.

Nov 08

November saw the team head over to Austria to train on the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier near Kaprun; we based ourselves in Lofer at the British Olympic Association Lodge, a fantastic place with great staff who looked after our every need, including bandages and sterets for the ailing team captain that spent much time on the deck during skate training around the roads of Lofer!  We were joined by the French Telemark Team who were in good spirits as they always are.  We started training at about 8.30am each day which meant we took breakfast at the ungodly hour of 6am before pushing out of the door around 6.45am.  The team were able to cope admirably with the early starts less fore the youngster Bennett who barely made the breakfast call and was spotted each morning attempting to shovel all manner of food stuffs into his squirrelesque cheeks!

After a cold spell, and in for the first couple of days, the glacier was in very good condition, the sun was high in the sky which made for some good training; as for all except Bennett and me this was the first foray onto snow since selection in May I decided to go easy on the guys.  We started with some basic technique training to blow out the cobwebs before venturing into gate training.  On the third day the piste was plastered with about 20cm of new snow which made the side slip an epic, ably assisted by Les Francais to prepare the course we eventually began - sadly the conditions took their toll on Adrian Pery who having caught an outside edge cascaded through the gate which resulted in an epic 2 hr evac off the mountain.  Thanksfully Adrian didn't cause an avalanche with his blood curdling cries, which were wholly acceptable given the exposure of the situation - Adrian was driven to Zell AM See hospital where he was met half way to get sedated before receiving surgical intervention that evening to rod and pin his tib and fib.  He won't be skiing this season, but he assures me that it'll take more than a broken leg to get rid of him!

The remainder of the trip was significantly less eventful than the first week with some great skiing on the final day.  We have a couple of weeks now before our first competition in Les Houches, France on the world cup.  Look out for us if you are near there between 10 and 14 Dec and then Thyon, Switzerland between 16 - 18 Dec.

Sep - Oct 08

Team GB have been ever busy with preparing for the season ahead.  More physical testing took place in Blandford Forum (thanks to QMSI at the Blandford Camp Gym for the use of the facilities) which resulted in some very stiff bodies the following day.  Great weather blessed the weekend and the team were able to do the test outdoors.  Much thanks must go to our entrusted helpers from Bangor University; Becki Law (Physiology), Stephanie O'Connell and Lauren Mawn (Psychology) who all put aside their MSc studies and took the long drive from Bangor down south.  The team gained much from their expertise and I hope that we shall see the fruits of their labours on the score sheets this season.

Each individual in the team has been responsible for maintaining their own personal fitness which is no mean feat when most are working full time in busy jobs.  I am absolutely delighted as their team captain at the appraoch and professional attitude they have displayed prior to the coming events; financing their own way and finding the time to dedicate to training and exercise is not easy at the best of times.  The team took a stand at the Metro Ski and Board Show in Olympia for a week – we made some very fruitful contacts with many people from the skiing industry and shall use these to forge our way forward in the future.  Many thanks to those that have bent over to support us and we hope that our relationship will continue to grow in the years to come.

Team GB Telemarkers in the South West

Team GB spent the weekend (15 - 17 Aug) in the beautiful South West of England.  Plagued by not so good weather the weekend originally planned gave way to some exciting events.  Learning how to surf on Fri afternoon in Newquay was fun if not immensely tiring - Andrew Clarke sporting a board the size of the QE2 was less than impressed at the amount of gun power required to manoeuvre the 9ft beast into position.  Mark Perkins displayed evidence of a mis-spent youth or far too much spare time by standing on his first wave – poser!  Chris ‘Young as they Come’ Wotton tried to outrun his grey locks with a stunning head stand at the end of his wave – only it was at about 300 mph and he almost broke his neck!  For a moment there was some controversy as the World Wildlife Foundation arrived amidst rumours that a beleaguered sperm whale was trying desperately to get out to sea from Fistral beach.  However they soon disappeared when they quickly realised it was actually a Rick Whaller look-alike on a surf board!

Fri night we sought refuge in the bustling night life of Newquay – stag and hen parties aplenty the team were undeterred from their primary aim – food and lots of it.  Mark Perkins displayed his knowledge of haute-cuisine, whilst being singularly unimpressed with Moules Mariniere, Cornish stylee!  Whilst Chris Wotton was educated of the pitfalls associated with carbonated drinks and red wine, the RAF just nodded!

Saturday morning Pat Mitchell and Dave Munro were at a loss, being from the RAF they were not as ‘at home’ with the water as the steely eyed dealers of death Commando brethren.  Joined that morning by a rather late Paul Treanor the Team headed to Pentire Head for a 3-and-a-half hour epic coasteering.  What an epic morning with washing machine like swells which almost robbed Chris Wotton of a backside during a particularly hazardous departure from a particularly swollen sea. Dave Munro weighing in at a mere 6 stone wet through had similar issues, choosing to ride the ‘machine’ twice before being plucked to safety.  There were some decent displays of acrobatics amongst some shoddy leaps of faith from pretty high cliff tops – comments of ‘I just hit the bottom’ after one of the leaps from about 45ft was uncalled for amongst the remaining jumpers.  The adventure concluded with a short scale up a very vertical wall – of which none of us succeeded, before a short jaunt through the caves to deposit us on Crantock beach – just in time for Chris Wotton to pluck some mussels from the beach’s main drainage channel for his dutiful Wife to steam...Poor Mel.

That afternoon we braved the sea squalls to get pulled around by power kites.  Due to the strong gusts of wind we only managed to get 2 of the kites out – the other two would have resulted in a death for sure.  Dave Munro and Andrew Clarke both came a cropper with the first 1.2m kite when they got a tad too cocky with the acrobatics and realised quite quickly that these kites can dump you quite hard onto your arse.  We all tried the 1.4m kite and hope that the opportunity to try these kites whilst on skis in Eastern Europe materialises in the Winter.

We were quickly on the road back to Chris’s for a sumptuous feast.  The ladies (Mel and Alice) had been left to deal with the boys and Kitty and Violet which they did all in their stride.  The BBQ was delicious, even if those that ventured anywhere near Wotton’s coal-tastic inferno got 3^rd degree burns – it was all worth it.

Thanks go to the Ladies – in mammoth sized portions...Well done.  Sam Starkie and the Vertical Descents team for fitting us in at last minute www.verticaldescents.com

Look forward to reading all about the next team building extravaganza scheduled to take place in the Lake District 20/21 September.

July 08

The New Team GB Telemark Logo

June 08

CONFIRMED British Team Sponsor - GM Motors

Team Captain Andrew Clarke is pleased to announce a partnership with GM Motors.  Paul Phillips acting on behalf of GM Military Sales is pleased to be associated with both the British Army and British National Telemark Teams.  GM will donate a Chrysler for the duration of the Telemark World Cup which will include pivotal support to the British Army Telemark Championships to be held in Austria in 09.  Keep an eye out for the flashy motor marked up with decals near you.  Also look out for the existing offers of tax free and dsicounted sales to military personnel.

Continued Support from VIST (UK) and JUNKI GEAR

The British Team are once again to recieve considerable support from Junki Gear and VIST (UK).  Managing Director and Owner Andrew Phyn is pleased to once again offer his support to the team for 08/09.

Selected British Team for 08/09 World Cup and World Championships

Andrew Clarke - Team Captain

Chris Wotton - Vice Captain

Adrian Pery

Huan Davies

Mark Perkins

James Bennett

Pat Mitchell

Paul Treanor

Tim Muir

Dave Munro

Apr 08

FOR YOUR DIARY - 2008 TeamGB Selection Week dates...  24 May to 1 Jun.  See '08 Selection Details' tab for more information or click here.

Mar 08

Final World Cup standings... See www.telemarkski.org and follow links. (You'll need to use your imaginations on name spellings!)

Feb 08

Great results at the Europa Cup....  TeamGB sent 3 racers to the Europa Cup which took place on 21 and 22 Feb in Valdezcaray, Spain.  The Spanish hosts put on an excellent event and the Rioja flowed like water by night, which seemed to improve Andrew Clarke and Mark Murray's skiing the more they drank!  Clarke recorded a brilliant 10th place in the Sprint Classic on Day 1, with Murray coming in 13th and Andy Salter (who competed last year but hadn't competed this year until now) 14th.  Sadly Clarke could not build on his good start, bombing out of the course 3 from home on the second day, but Murray and Salter maintained British spirits with good finishes.  TeamGB would like to extend huge thanks to the event organisers whom they feel have set the benchmark for future World and Europa Cup events.

Team Selection....  Selection for the TeamGB 2008/09 squad will take place on a glacier somewhere in early June 2008.  Let us know via the Contact tab if you want to be a contender!

Shep the Seahat retires ...  The oldest man on the team, Dave Shepheard (b. 1906ish), has decided to call it a day.  Shep, who is one of lifes enthusiasts, has been a huge support to the team since it's revival and competed in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  We wish him well in the future and hope that he will continue to free the heel whenever the opportunity arises.