Growing New Telemark Skiers - Spreading the Word Posted on Apr 3rd, 2008
One of the big challenges facing the sport of telemark skiing is how to get young people involved. Norman Thibault, a Telemark Level III instructor from CANSI Quebec has found a way to do this. Norman and two others formed a non-profit organization called "Telemark Laurentides" as member of Telemark Quebec.
Here's the story in Norman's words:
For the last few years we gathered telemark boots, skis and bindings and concentrated on activities for kids and their parents, and for teenagers. We have more than 40 pairs of boots (Garmont Telesaurus-Teledactyl and Scarpa T2), 12 pairs of skis and bindings for kids (primary school), 12 pairs of skis and bindings for teenagers and adults. We scrounged from stores, companies and friends to complete our pool of equipment. Depending on the activity, we can count on about 10 volunteers.
For the last two years we have held 8 introduction to telemark sessions on Sundays, for kids and their parents. This program is run in collaboration with Mont-Blanc and the Municipality of Saint-Faustin-Lac-Carré. We do this community program on a volunteer base for our friends and neighbours. Also, for a forth year this year, working with the the Laurentian School Board and Augustin Norbert-Morin High school, we introduced more then 200 teenagers to telemark skiing. We have taught around 600 kids and teenagers since the organization was founded.
We never received a grant or a subsidy - we used to make pocket money by selling glasses of wine at our parties but we stopped that, realizing that we were the ones buying the most! This year, the instructors instructing the students from the High School were paid by the school board. We're already booked for next season with the high school skiing program: it's a success!!
At Telemark Laurentides, we have solved a part of the problem of insurance by using the Municipality's or the School board's insurance coverage and by using our individual CANSI certification. But as we start getting the kids and teenagers into racing, we need certifications and insurance programs that cover our activities and our members accordingly.
Norman's passion for telemark skiing is infectious, and through his efforts, the next generation of telemark skiers is well established in Quebec.
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