K2 Telemark Athlete Cody Smith sat down with Kayo Ogilby of the Colorado Rocky Mountain School Telemark Team to uncover more about the program, its roots, objectives and why it works. The CRMS Telemark team has produced big name Athletes like Lorenzo Worster, Max Mancini, and others, but more importantly focuses on what Freeheel skiing is all about…Friendship and progress. Check out what Kayo had to say.

Fhl: How long have you been coaching at CRMS?
Kayo: 10 years. I am getting ooooolllldddd!!!

Fhl: What is the goal & mission of the CRMS Tele Team?
Kayo: First and foremost, to create an experience that is in line with the powerful aspects of the telemarking community – which would hopefully be defined with words like inclusive, contagious, and humble. The last thing that I would like to see is this experience create egotistical athletes who take themselves too seriously. Secondly, we hope to create outstanding all around telemark skiers – people who can rip the powder, the bumps, big mountain lines, and the park as well as enjoy and make good decisions in the backcountry.

Fhl: How big is the program?
Kayo: The program usually has about 30 students involved in it, spread among the developmental, off-piste, and competitive realms.

Fhl: How often does the team meet?
Kayo: We are on-piste two times a week, with one or two more days of on-campus rails and dry land training as well.

Fhl: Does the team focus on any particular discipline?
Kayo: Free-ride would be the operative word here. Over the years this has included bumps, park, big mountain, and backcountry.

Fhl: How do you structure the training program so that it is all-inclusive?
Kayo: Some days we divide the crew along ability or interest lines (one group in the park, one working on steep lines) and other days we make a point of all rolling together. The days that we divide into different groups we always try to make a point of hooking up at the end of the day for some bit of group ridiculousness. We also encourage all athletes to travel to all events, even if they feel like they are not ready to compete, or are injured, simply to be there for the team.

Fhl: When does the season start and stop as a team?
Kayo: CRMS has a unique schedule, which is limiting in terms of on-snow time, but powerful in terms of the complete “CRMS” experience that students leave the school with. Dry land begins in October, we are on snow after Thanksgiving, and then our competitive season comes to a screaming halt at the beginning of March, as the whole school switches gears and students are off on an intensive weeklong academic experience called interim (followed by spring break). This is always challenging from a competitive perspective because March is usually when things are really ramping up in the ski world, but I wouldn’t trade the interim experience for a million bucks (we once combined the two worlds, with wild results that almost ended us all).

Fhl: What does the schedule look like for the upcoming season?
Kayo: We are excited to hit it hard this year with the following plan: Get the team all wound up and jabbering about nothing but sick lines and powder by hosting the first stop of Falling Forward Productions’ tour of Smoke and Mirrors (many thanks to ) on Oct. 6th. Then hopefully get some of these early season ya yas out with a Thanksgiving Freeride camp in Utah. In terms of competitions we will look into the Snowmass big mountain series, possibly a Slopestyle that Josh Madsen is involved with at Brighton, and then look at the possibility of flying east for the NET festival or west for the Reno/Tahoe event.

Fhl: How has the program evolved?
Kayo: In the last 10 years the program has essentially evolved parallel with the evolution of Freeride skiing. About 8 years ago we made a transition away from chasing gates and began hitting the bumps hard. We followed the Rocky Mountain Telemark Series around until it folded and began going to Red Bull Mogul Manias in Vail. Somewhere in there Salomon came out with the 1080 and we thought all our Christmas’s had come at once. The excitement of twin tip skis and the new direction of free ride certainly changed the way we approached our training and we found ourselves doing less and less bumps. Somewhere in there the USTSA Big Mountain series cropped up and big mountain became a large part of what we did. Two or three years ago we expanded the program to include developmental, intermediate and off-piste aspects that are independent of the competitive piece.

Fhl: If you could choose one word to best describe the team/program, what would it be?
Kayo: Powerful. Maybe Soulful. Sophomoric? Hilarious. Certainly Absurd. Also Contagious. Thought Provoking? I guess that’s two words. Probably Dangerous. I don’t know… is there a word that encompasses all those things? Epic. Maybe that’s it. It has been an Epic ride.