Last Saturday, March 26th, just two days before his 60th birthday, the man behind the world famous Telemarktips.com, Mitch Weber, passed away. He leaves behind his wife Laurie, daughter Allison, son Neil, and step-son Jt, plus close friends like Big Tim, Mitch’s “manager” and countless friends and friendships made through the online community he created through its associated forum.

Mitch burst onto the ski scene in 1998 with Telemarktips. The world wide web was still in it’s infancy, but it was already past the budding shoots stage and was ready to leaf. Mitch picked up the remains of a budding tele-centric forum, Telemarque.com while the Terminator whipped the imaginations of American backcountry skiers into a telemark fever. Mitch came along and added just the right twist to stirring the telemark potion and in short order the ski industry was in a lather over all things telemark and then some.

This was pre-Facebook and YouTube but not before iPods and cheap video cameras. Mitch got a high-end one and used it to show how his friend Big Tim could rip, and then BT would take the camera while Mitch set forth to interview every important personality in the world of telemark. He knew how to tee people up, how to get them to share more intel than they planned to, and build a relationship while the camera on BT’s shoulder recorded it all.

He was gregarious, and disarmingly charming, sometimes to a fault. Mitch would be the first to tell you he wasn’t perfect and I remember roaring with laughter as we both recalled the time he was adamantly demanding that the media and manufacturers at an industry meeting NOT adopt the term “free heel skiing” to promote the backcountry ski industry. He was quite insistent, going so far as to pound the table with his fists so that nearby drinks were knocked over. Everyone in the room was aghast. What few understood was that Mitch was all about telemark and he didn’t want to see his vision of promoting telemark skiing — in or out of bounds — with confusing, backcountryesque terminology. Looking back we both agreed it was hilarious; nobody was willing to pound back, and frankly, none of us had half the wit he did. I’m laughing about it right now, and hopefully, so are you, and so is he.

It is clear why Telemarktips was so successful in the rear view mirror. In many ways it was the perfect storm of contributions in electronic technology and growth in the sport of telemarking vis-a-vis advances in materials from plastic telemark boots to shaped and then phat skis. Forums became places where like minded people could mingle remotely. Although those elements contributed to the explosion of interest, there was another ingredient that few other forums had — Mitch’s love of people and his passion for tele and his natural ability to host a party. He knew how to stir the pot of passionate opinions like an artist adds color to a canvas. He knew when to interject with a moderators voice, and when to encourage others to speak up and offer their point of view.

He shared with me once that he modeled Telemarktips after talk radio, where he would determine the subject for the day, and then let the listeners fill in the blanks and provide the entertainment. It was genius.

He did something many have tried since but few have succeeded, he built a community. The outpouring of testimonials to this effect in the wake of his death are undeniable, and obviously genuine. And so, even though there are much bigger places for people to congregate and share their life and opinions on the world wide web these days, nobody really wants to, because really, we just want to hang out at our favorite place, which for a long time and for a lot of people was Mitch’s Bar – Telemarktips.com.

As the web grew up and alternative places for others to get in on this phenomenon of connecting virtually spread across civilization it seemed like interest in telemark began to wane, and perhaps coincidentally it appeared Mitch’s energy did too.

A lot of folks wondered what happened to Mitch as his involvement progressively ceased, and then, three years ago the site itself crashed, and disappeared from the web.

Understandably, some thought Mitch had just burnt out and moved on to other passions, but sadly now, we know the truth. Mitch was sick, real sick. He had cancer, and it was bad. He courageously pursued and excruciatingly endured all of the treatments modern medicine had to offer because he was willing to do anything, go through anything, in order to be there as long as he could for his beloved family.

At the time, I shared my hope that he just needed to rest up a bit and he’d be back in some form or another. But when cancer takes control, well, sometimes you can’t bounce back.

I count myself lucky on two counts, to turn our once very competitive relationship into a friendship, and to have hung out and skied with Mitch on many occasions. My only regret is not making the time to hang with Mitch one more time before I couldn’t anymore. Like the Terminator he promoted so effectively, we all thought he’d be back.

To his closest family and friends, those who loved Mitch and lived with him, the collective heart of thousands of telemarkers worldwide goes out to you. Just like you, he made our lives better, and we deeply mourn his passing.

I pray that you will learn how to live with the pain of his absence and shine for him in the ways that he taught you.

Related Posts
Telemarktips.com (1998-2013): RIP
Interview with Mitch Weber
Thoughts from TTips refugees at BackcountryTalk (the consolation forum)
Mitch Weber’s contribution to telemark skiing by Cesare (on page 2)

© 2016
 

Mitch Weber’s contribution to telemark skiing

by Cesare
 
The news of Mitch Weber’s passing hit me hard today. I knew only recently that he had been battling cancer but had seen a picture somewhere in which Mitch’s face looked gaunt. I wondered what the reason could be, knowing that the answer could be devastating.

Nearly every person I have met and formed a relationship based around skiing since the year 2000 is connected to me directly through Mitch. Everyone I ski with I have met as a result of the connections that Mitch Weber forged or are people I already knew then who also knew Mitch. I know people in every corner of the world who tele because of Mitch. It would be impossible for me to imagine what my life would be if not for the many, many lifelong friends he introduced me to. Looking around at posts on Facebook and earnyourturns.com today I can see people in regions all over the globe saying exactly the same thing. Let me just tell you, Mitch Weber cares that you telemark.

Not only did he bring us together, he tolerated our misbehaviors and wielded administrative authority with a surprising light hand, only to enforce a small number of rules. Mitch was a great leader in setting a tone on the forum of welcoming, decorous, collegiality. How hard he worked to ensure that the site did not devolve into a vulgar sausage fest where women would feel uncomfortable participating. In this he was steadfast. Mitch was a friend to all and insofar as the forum was his party, he did an artful job of setting the tone and allowing people the freedom to be themselves. It was a narrow and delicate arête he strode and I don’t think he always was treated with the same grace he showed to all. The way the forum finally went the way it did was not his fault and I’ll leave it at this: we were all to blame.
But he did it, all of it, because he was a visionary.

Far beyond the niche market that we were, Mitch knew something about social media and how it could create a community of practice and an organic repository of knowledge. He knew, and eventually convinced even a miserly retrogrouch like me that if this beautiful way of skiing was going to survive, it needed a healthy and innovating industry to make the tools better and remove a lot of the obstacles to entry. He knew the industry needed to know how passionate the community was about telemark skiing and needed to hear publicly from us what we wanted. Without that, we might not have all the gear choices we have today.

I loved his interviews with industry leaders at trade shows. His infectious enthusiasm and easy manner brought out the best in his subjects and you could see that they knew they were speaking directly to us, their lifeblood. I am constantly reminded of a list Mitch made describing the community’s dream binding. At the time, maybe 2003, I thought, this has about no chance of ever happening. I can’t recall everything that was on the list, but it sure seems to me the bindings emerging right now are very close to giving us a number of legitimate choices in achieving that dream.

Without Mitch giving the market a very loud voice that was impossible to ignore, so much of this could have been abandoned at the prototype stage, if not the back of an envelope. Without Mitch, telemark would not be what it is today.

Mitch creating this community—a community that inspired an industry to take on the challenging mechanical requirements of the telemark turn for a niche market and a singular skill that is not exactly easy to learn—foreshadowed the best of what we see in social media today.

The power of social media to create a movement and spread an idea like a virus fascinated him. He and I talked a lot about Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point and Gladwell’s idea that it takes three types of people to make an idea spread: connectors, mavens, and salespeople. I always told him he was all three.

Mitch went to all the big competitions as he took his van on numerousTelemarktips.com World Tours of North America. He posted trailers for all the smokin’ tele freeskiing videos and featured the rising stars in the sport, as well as us, the members of the community, prominently in his videos and front-page pictures. Let’s not forget that the venerable Powderwhores got their start on Telemarktips.com.

We telemarkers are now an outsized source of influence in the ski industry and we have a lot of dedicated people to thank for making sure the industry knew that telemark skiing was alive and very cool. Mitch was an absolutely necessary bridge between the market and the gear makers. We are all grateful to him for all that he’s done. But my favorite thing about Mitch is his humanity. He could see the best in everybody and tried every day through his example to bring out the best of our community. That and the times we skied together and his hair are what I will remember best.

I toured Saturday with Dostie and though we didn’t know at the time, I felt like my skiing was just a little bit off. It was a great day with perfect deep powder, little wind, and many face shots. But something was just missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I wasn’t quite on top of my skis. I even tried to blame the equipment Dostie was letting me test. More likely there was a connection in the ether shaking loose, something close but unseen in the spiritual world adjusting. All I know is I will carry a piece of Mitch with me every time I go skiing from now on. I won’t let that connection waver ever again. My condolences go out to all family and friends of Mitch Weber. He was truly one of a kind and I’ll miss him forever.

© 2016