Dickie Hall - American Telemark Ski Pioneer & Founder of N.A.T.O | Episode 195

Dickie Hall played a pivotal role in reviving the Telemark turn, alongside many others, beginning in the 1970s. While he introduced the turn across the United States and later Europe, his influence on Telemark skiing in New England remains undeniable.

He was the founder and director of the North American Telemark Organization (N.A.T.O.) from 1975 to 2015, running a yearly schedule of workshops, camps, expeditions, and instructor and guide training programs. By his own estimate, he taught over 40,000 Telemark skiers and trained 1,000 instructors and guides worldwide.

Hall's career began in the early 1970s on the Killington Ski Patrol, followed by teaching Nordic skiing at nearby Mountain Meadows. He later established Trailhead Telemark and Backcountry Ski Center in Stockbridge. By the time he moved on from Trailhead, he had become Chief Examiner and Certification Chairman for PSIA-E Nordic. In the late '70s, he received an offer he couldn't refuse, an opportunity to start America's first alpine-based Telemark ski school at Mad River Glen.

Over the course of his career, he produced five films on Telemark and backcountry skiing, consulted and trained staff for the nation's leading outdoor schools, and served as an adjunct professor of ski mountaineering for the University of Alaska's Wilderness Studies program.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to have this conversation and document some of the incredible stories and history of Telemark skiing.

Please welcome to the podcast, Dickie Hall.

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