Why I Tele

A Brown Guy Perspective

Editor's note: The plural in Telemark Voices at long last becomes apt - I am honored to have my first outside contribution from Rajkeshwar Tulsie, giving his perspective on inclusion in free-heel skiing. I'll let him take it from here. Thank you so much Rajkeshwar!

-Jack O'Brien

Before we get into all that, who am I? Well, you don’t know me and you might

never know me because I am not a pro athlete or an activist or anyone significant to the

world of telemark. I am Rajkeshwar Tulsie, but people call me Roger. The views

expressed in this article are my own and do not represent anyone or any organization

that I am or am not affiliated with. I was given an opportunity and so I took it. Also, I am

not a writer, so have your opinions. I don’t really care.

I am a brown guy as in I am of East Indian descent with some ancestors

somewhere coming from some part of India, but very far removed thanks to

colonialism. Calm down, it’s not that kind of article. I call myself Brown Guy On Teles

because back in 2008 at the Bear-Trap Telemark Festival held on March 8th and 9th at

Manning Park, BC some guy was surprised to see what he couldn’t find the words to

explain. Me, a brown guy on teles, so I said it and it stuck. My crazy friends with the

Canadian Ski Patrol System, Great Vancouver Zone, convinced me to join the

competition on the second day and I am glad I did. I came in 1st place and still have the metal to prove it. It was a huge confidence booster for me who always felt a little out of

place both as a brown guy and telemark skier.

We moved to Canada in 1991 coming from a warm tropical part of the world to a

place that had winter and snow. I was twelve. Living in North Vancouver, you wouldn’t

think that but the first time I saw snowfall it was magical. You will see that word again.

My parents were always adventurous but not always by choice. They have their own

crazy stories to tell. That sense of adventure carried over to my brother and I, so we

were always exploring and trying new things. My parents did what they could with what

we could afford and enabled us to learn and grow. Thinking back now, that was also

magical in its own way.

I learned to ski at age fifteen at Mount Seymour, my local mountain. I was never

good at it and felt out of place. Also it was expensive so we could only go a few times a

year. At age eighteen with my first real job and some money in my pocket, I decided that

I would learn to snowboard. My coworkers all got into it as well, talking about it all

summer and taking a lesson with me once winter came.

Snowboarding ignited a love for sliding on snow that I never felt before. I

committed to snowboarding and started to become more confident on the slopes. I

started to feel like I could be in this space although I still felt like an outsider. I was so

committed to snowboarding that I would go to Whistler and ride Blackcomb all day with

my buddy Pete and then drive back to North Van, zip up Seymour for the last couple

hours of night skiing before going home. Pete got me out exploring the backcountry

and we started touring. He was always on teles. I could not afford all the gear so I

would rent snowshoes and avi gear from a local shop and snowshoe up behind

everyone, then switch my gear and snowboard down. It was not efficient or light, but I

had a blast. Pete was kind enough to wait for me and not make me feel like I was

holding anyone back. Some of our other friends were on telemark gear as well so

naturally I saw that as the way forward if this was something I truly wanted to do.

Going deep into the mountains, away from the crowds to these beautiful places,

it was magical. Thanks to the kindness of friends, I was able to afford a telemark setup

and start down the path. My first setup was 190cm K2 Heli Stinx with

Superloop bindings and Garmont Libero boots that were way too small for me, but I

crammed my feet in them anyway. At this point I was getting an early bird season pass

at Mount Seymour every winter and had a 79 Rabbit with winter tires and lived in a 350

sq. ft. basement suite in Deep Cove at the bottom of the mountain. I was up there

almost every night falling on my butt over and over again. As a regular stance

snowboarder, I figured out the right turn pretty quick, but the left took a long time to get.

I was that goofy guy flailing all over the place with a weighted down backpack, night

skiing at Seymour in all weather and snow conditions. I knew if I wanted to go

backcountry touring on teles I had to be able to handle everything mother nature could

throw at me.

I stayed dedicated to telemark and found myself riding free heel more and more,

and snowboarding less and less. Eventually I gave away the snowboard and committed

fully. The feeling of the telemark turn was magical. There is that word again. After

investing in different gear over the next few years, and traveling around a bit more,

including living in Alberta for a couple of years with weekend trips to the Rockies, my

confidence grew. I started to stick out and not because I was brown. I felt different, but

not excluded. At least not excluded as a telemark skier. I started to build a network of

friends thanks to telemark and a community which made me feel less and less like an

outsider even though I didn’t look like everyone else.

Saying there is a lack of diversity in the snow sports industry is kind of a joke. It’s

just stating the obvious and even though there are many out there now that are leading

the way towards change for the better, there is still a huge gap. I never used to think

about how it affected me, but I think that is why I tele. It makes me feel different but not

in a lesser way, in a superior way. A way I have not felt for most of my life.

In the last couple of years, thanks to the hard work of others to help educate me

unknowingly, I have started to shift my thinking. I realized that feeling of being superior

was great for my ego and confidence, but was not doing anything to help others like me.

I started to think about kids and even adults that look like me feeling out of place in

these spaces. I started to think about how little I was doing to encourage and enable

others like me to be out in these spaces.

This year I got a job as a ski instructor at Mount Seymour and have enjoyed

teaching others while sharing my excitement and love for the outdoors. I am also

volunteering with Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports to help increase my knowledge and

experience so I can try to make a difference in the adaptive space as well. Neither of

which I can do on teles for now, but one day maybe. It hasn’t been the best winter for all

of this, but I remain dedicated. I am nobody special and I am not doing anything

extraordinary, but if you read this I hope it will make you think about what you are doing

to help encourage and enable others like you to be out in these spaces. Now I see a

path forward for myself that includes others like me. A path that includes community

and diversity, all while still being just a brown guy on teles.