By admin 
Thirteen months ago, sitting at my computer on a warm Wednesday evening in June, in a quiet moment hours after my children were asleep and all our chores were finished, I wrote the first draft of this article. Even then, I knew this little project I lucked into wasn’t long for this world. And that day has come. This will be the final installment of my column here at POWDER that has been known as The Tele Dribble.
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While I long had vague dreams of being a writer, I only began writing in earnest at age 34, during my time away from work after my wife had our first child in early 2022. After being terminated from my desk job of seven years on that paternity leave, I was given a six-month severance, a stipend that allowed me to stay home with our new baby. And when he napped, I kept writing. All about free-heel skiing. I started a telemark blog. Then a few email submissions sent on a whim and prayer were inexplicably picked up. Finally, I was offered this column, and with it, a platform to cover my passion, and grow as a writer. Had all these things not coalesced when they did, I probably never would have had this opportunity.
Timing is one thing, but there’s something about luck. I’ve been fortunate to have such a supportive family; luck had it I was raised in a ski town. And considering that then POWDER gear editor Cy Whitling first offered this assignment to someone else-one Daniel Papalia, who declined and graciously passed the opportunity along to me-it seems being at the right place may be just as operative as having the right timing. And together, that’s luck.
And early in this column, luck gave way to the flailing beginnings of a writer’s journey. Nervous, inexperienced, and ill-equipped at the craft of journalism, I remember how fast my pulse beat the first time I interviewed someone for the column, a gracious and excited CJ Coccia of TELE COLO. That same excitement ballooned when my first articles were posted, when I had the surreal experience of seeing my byline for the first time.
From there I kept writing on telemark skiing; roughly constructed rambles, topics explored with thousands more words than needed, wandering essays, all pointing to something resembling obsession. While I’ve occasionally lamented to myself that I work so tirelessly for perhaps a woefully arcane topic, the fortune I’ve had to dissect the free-heel experience has been more meaningful than I could have known.
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Much of it has been unashamedly esoteric, things only a few would care to read about. But it’s also been foundational. Reading earlier articles in this series has been the kind of self-reflection I’ve needed to improve my writing. And while I hope to look back on this project as a first step that eventually led to covering broader topics, I felt then-and feel now-that telemark is eminently worthy of coverage. Skiing in this unconventional way embodies so much more than the simple activity. It is to go out on your own in the most earnest of fashions. There is no money, no fame, at times not even acceptance nor cachet from the wider culture. For me, to telemark is to endeavor truly for yourself.
Still, writing on this wonderfully esoteric topic has had a drawback. It speaks to itches scratched raw and making a passion a neurosis. While submerging my very being into telemark has been illuminating, seldom has it left my mind. Mellow runs through my neighborhood in the spring, summer, and fall under a warm sun have doubled as ruminations on anything and everything free-heel. Over three winters, I have hardly made a ski turn unconcerned with the boot and binding I might be investigating, or my technique, or the somewhat paranoid delusion that the guy who writes about telemark for POWDER better always make strong turns. I’ve chosen to take a step back from mainlining telemark not only to focus on other topics, but also because I want to return to simply enjoying free-heel skiing for its own sake.
That’s the contradiction; that singular focus can become a distraction, even a myopia. So it’s time to move on. But I surely won’t be abandoning telemark as a topic. And I hope to carry on with a free-heel mindset, both in my writing and generally-seeking the esoteric, unafraid of the subversive, and ever curious of those who forge their own path. Wherever this writing journey goes next.
But it all began here, where whatever forces at play aligned to nudge a new dad and ski town slacker toward not just writing about telemark skiing, but also something new; a second act. And hopefully something that has been-and will continue to be-meaningful.
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This is the Tele Dribble, signing off.
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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 11:09 AM.