Free-heeling it

Top telemark skiers descend on Whitefish for national championships this weekend

Telemark skiers are a tight-knit bunch, bound together by something that really isn't there at all: a heel piece.

Free-heel skiers are a lot unto themselves, known to travel long distances to sleep on a friend's couch and race on blue ice with nothing but their toes attaching their bodies to their skis. Perhaps it's the telemark style, the "free your heel, the rest will follow" mentality, that makes them such a close-knit bunch.

Brian Hunsperger is one such example. Hunsperger, 33, has lived in his car the last two years, traveling from race to race and hoping to earn a spot on the U.S. National Telemark Team.

He'll get his shot this weekend, as Big Mountain plays host to the U.S. National Telemark Championships Friday through Sunday.

He's among about 50 of the top telemark skiers from around the nation (and one from Denmark) who will compete in three disciplines: the classic, the sprint classic and the giant slalom.

The classic is the signature event of telemark ski racing. It involves racing through a long series of gates, launching over jumps and skating on a short Nordic course. Race times average about three minutes. A minimum distance of 30 meters must be cleared on the jump or the skier is penalized.

"People are throwing up … or trying not to … at the finish line," Hunsperger said. "It's a grueling race, having to skate after running gates."

The giant slalom is a speed event with a mandatory jumping section. Racers are judged as they pass through the gates and on the jump for both the distance of the jump and the style of their landing. Each racer takes two runs. Race times average around one minute 30 seconds.

In the sprint classic, skiers navigate gates and are judged on the elements of their turns. The course moves into a jump where racers are judged for distance and style of landing. A banked 360-degree turn followed by a skate section completes the race. Each racer takes two runs. Race times average about one minute.

There also will be a citizen's race for local amateurs who want to compete against each other in each of the disciplines. (Sign-up is each morning of the race at the Big Mountain information center.)

This weekend's race is the second time Big Mountain has been the host of the U.S. Nationals. They were last held here in 1998. The year-end race is important for racers hoping to gain a spot on the U.S. team.

Local skiers on the U.S. team are Heidi Fehlhaber, David Hobbs, Eric Lamb, Glenn Gustafson, Neil Persons and team captain Tim Heitz.

The team is beset with injuries. In addition to Heitz's season-ending leg injury in January, Persons is unable to race and Gustafson broke his kneecap two weeks ago while training on Big Mountain.

Gustafson was the local, odds-on favorite in the national race, having taken two top finishes at World Cup races in Europe earlier this year.

Other local racers include Carrie Johnson, Kelsey Schmid-Somer, Tony Troiano and Willy Hobbs.

Although Gustafson is out of the picture for this week's race, former world champion Reid Sabin of Whitefish will compete this weekend, and there will be a strong contingent of younger skiers nipping at his heels.

Brett Stein of Massachusetts took fifth in a world junior championship last year in Europe and will challenge the older skiers this weekend.

"He has a real chance this weekend, especially if it stays icy," Heitz said.

David Hobbs, 17, is another top young racer and Troiano also will be in the hunt for a podium finish, Heitz said.

Sabin, who now owns a Nordic ski lodge near Whitefish, is not relinquishing the reins of champion just yet. "I'll always try to win," he said, "but there are some really good young skiers I'd put my money on if I were a betting man."

Drew Hauser, 16, of Silverthorne, Colo., is another young racer to watch, says Jef Elliott, a Columbia Falls native who retired from international telemark ski racing last year but will compete this weekend.

"These young guys are going to be absolutely dynamite," Elliott said. "They're not little kids; they're grown boys who show no fear."

In the women's competition, Fehlhaber of Whitefish just finished her first year on the U.S. team and capped the season last weekend in the World Cup finals.

Fehlhaber will face off against Johnson, Schmid-Somer and Annie Edwards, an 18-year old from Salt Lake City who was skiing strong in training Wednesday.

Edwards has been telemark ski racing since she was 11 and is eyeing a win this weekend after finishing ninth in World Cup standings this year. "I'm hoping to make a podium finish in at least one event," she said.

NOW THAT he's injured, Heitz is focusing on helping run the event this weekend.

On Wednesday he was skiing around the course on one ski, measuring distances and recommending gate placement. He's disappointed to miss the national race, but he's got plenty of years left in him, barring further injury. It was Gustafson being injured, though, that really disappointed Heitz, because Gustafson, Heitz, Elliott and Persons traveled to Europe in 1995 to compete in the World Championships.

"Other than getting hurt, this has been the best year I've had," Heitz said. "Gustafson has been a real leader for us, and has been

working hard. We were all looking toward him this year."

Although racers compete hard on the course, the bonds run deep among these free-heel racers.

That's what lured Hunsperger to Whitefish in the first place.

"Most of the reason we do this, and spend all our money on this, is because everybody supports everybody," Hunsperger said. "There are no big heads in this sport."

Sabin agrees. He's looked down from the top spot on the podium more than once, and knows what it takes to get there; hard work and lots of training. Still, he said, "I'm definitely going to have fun this weekend. That's what it's all about."

About telemark skiing

Telemark skiing is a ski turn where skiers extend one ski in front of the other, which allows for a controlled turn with free-heel equipment. Although the telemark turn has been in use for hundreds of years since its development in the community of Telemark, Norway, the sport has grown in popularity over the last 15 years with the advent of better equipment.

Men's A Team:

Glenn Gustafson, Whitefish

Matt Beedle, Boulder, Colo.

Neil Persons, Whitefish

Peter McMahon, Whitefish

Eric Lamb, Whitefish

Brett Stein, Wayland, Mass.

Brandon Moon, Sandpoint, Idaho

Matt Macartney, Bellevue, Wash.

Women's A Team:

Carrie Johnson, Whitefish

Anne Edwards, Salt Lake City

Heidi Fehlhaber, Whitefish

Men's B Team:

Drew Hauser, Silverthorne, Colo.

David Hobbs, Whitefish

Tim Heitz, Whitefish

Women's B Team:

Suzanne Pattinson, Spokane

Teal Bosworth, Logan, Utah