Josh Madsen: When Regular Skiing is Too Wussy

Josh Madsen is so good at skiing, he had to make it harder. So he started telemarking. Oh pardon us; you might not know what telemarking is. Telemarking is skiing with burlier cross-country bindings (basically you’re doing deep-knee lunges all day). Madsen’s so good now, Scarpa pays him.

I first saw Josh Madsen destroy the hill when we worked as junior instructors at Brighton Ski Resort. Even when he was a sophomore in high school, Josh was incorporating freeride tricks into normal terrain features. Before anyone was grabbing their skis, Madsen was spinning 360s in the Rock Garden. And bigger terrain? Josh was stomping front flips off bigger features.

Madsen’s taken his proficiency of the mountain to the park. He’s working on rodeos 720s, misties—even landing switch. He’s even killing it on rails in and out of the park.

Madsen still shreds every second he gets, but now he owns and operates FreeheelLife.com. So next time you start to diss all the hippies that telemark, remember: Josh Madsen could kick you into next winter with his super-strong-telemark-enhanced-Robocop legs.

Gear Review: Free-Your-Heel Edition

If you’re a hippy telemarker, or if you know a hippy telemarker, you’ve probably heard them rave about how pure the sport is.

“Free your heels, and your soul will follow, man,” They’ll tell you, brushing a blonde dreadlock out of their face.

They’ll also probably go on to tell you about how rad (or groovy) their Scarpa T1s are. See, the T1s have been the gold standard in performance tele boots since the Grateful Dead were touring. And Scarpa's still improving on the perfection that is the T1

This telemark boot has all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a high-end alpine boot. This year’s model feature an Intuition foam liner, so you can get a super-custom fit right out of the box. The T1 also has a four-buckle system to keep you on your game whether you’re skinning up a peak or you’re billy-goating it down a couloir in the Alps.

Aside from the T1’s functionality, it looks badass. Literally like someone watched all the super-evil robots in Terminator and made a ski boot out of it.

This Scarpa boot may spawn a new breed of telemarker: the telemarker sent from the future to free the heels of the alpine skiers of the world.

Gear Review: Nixon 51-30

Paul Rodriguez rides for Nixon. Which means he probably has 10,000 watches. And you know what one he’s been rocking lately? The 51-30. His is diamond encrusted though. But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. We got your back.

If you’ve never seen the 51-30, you’re in for a surprise. It’s burly. Picture wearing Escalade rims on your wrist.

This watch is bomber. It’s waterproof down to like 6,000 feet. So if you’re raising the Titanic any time soon, you should be fine.

Old people will probably like this watch. Why? The numbers are huge. You’ll have your granny pulling on your arm all through dinner to see your fancy contraption.

Oh. If the 51-30 is too much for you to handle, the watch has a cousin: The 4220. Think of the 51-30 as a 7th grader.

A 7th grader with a beard.

Scope these watches out. The holidays are coming up, so keep it locked on Remember Delaware to bring you the goods.

Gear Review: Dalbello Krypton Pro ID.

As the Joker once said “Those toys. Where does he get all those wonderful toys?” Joker was referring to the Caped Crusader — not a 25-year-old skier named Tanner Hall, of course. But really. What does Tanner ride? Let’s start at the most important part of Tanner’s setup: his boots.

Whether T-Hall’s earning medals in the pipe or Bio-900-ing off backcountry cliffs, his boots matter. He needs the right flex, pinpoint edge control, and most importantly, bangin’ style. It’s probably why he’s been riding Dalbello Kryptons forever.

Dalbello’s sole aim is to make ski boots, well, less ski boot-y. And they start at the shell of the boot. The Krypton Pro has a three-piece design that makes it super-g stiff or nose-butter soft (and anywhere in between).

The next big thing on the boot is the ID liner. The liner has like 6 trillion heat-moldable foam cells per inch so you’re ready to shred with a dialed out-of-the-box feel. The liner is also lighter and warmer than anything out there.

Last the best of all the game: The Krypton’s buckle placements are more logical than any other boot on the planet. First of all there’s only three micro-adjust buckles. But Dalbello put them in smarter places, like right at the pivot point of your foot, so your heel stays hella planted.

Try ‘em out. One of our expert test shredders compared the Kryptons to his old boots.
“Night and day, man. It’s like driving a minivan then hopping in a Ferrari.”

There you have it. If you don’t want to get caught in a minivan this season, talk to Delaware.

Believe the Hype

If you’ve ever read a ski magazine in the last 12 years, you should’ve heard of Tanner Hall. Shoot, between Tanner’s independent ski company, Armada, his huge Red Bull contract, and another ginormous Oakley contract (with a signature goggle), and his film company, it’s safe to say Tanner has the world of skiing on lockdown.

Pretty much any contest Tanner even enters is a battle for second place. Remember X games ’08? Tanner was neck and neck with Simon Dumont. Dumont boosted higher than Hall, and many argued that Dumont won… Nope. Dumont couldn’t boost and spin both ways in the pipe. Another silver for Dumont, more gold for Hall. But the pipe isn’t the only place where Tanner’s killing it.

T-Hall’s making the illest ski movies in the business now. He’s been cranking out the flicks for three years actually. Hall might not have the budget to take a film crew to ski in Turkmenistan, but Tanner’s trademark is progressive riding, both in and out of bounds. And that goes a long way. It’s all in the skis though — right?

Of course not. But if you asked Tanner he’d probably tell you his gear helps him give ‘er on the hill. It’s probably 97.6% natural talent, but the gear’s gotta help though. For starters, Tanner rides some of the best skis in the biz. And His Dalbello boots are arguably the raddest boots ever created by humans. And, of course, Oakley throws anything and every piece of newfangled eyewear and ski fashion his way.

He’s got the technology behind him too. In fact, the Armada team dispatches a fleet of ski techs and tuners to every event — Tanner’s tech spent 3 weeks testing and retesting wax combinations for the ’08 X Games. The time spent was worth its weight in gold.

All the T-Hall hype aside, there’s something bigger Tanner’s contributed than Gorilla Style, a penchant for weed, and clothes big enough to fit the U.S. Women’s Mogul Team. Tanner has single handedly rekindled the sport of skiing. There were other pioneers, but before the rise of Hall, skiing was primarily a bunch of chumps sliding around in fluorescent jumpsuits. Check out Tanner’s new movie, The Massive, and try to talk trash on skiers. Try it.