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The other day, we decided to clean out our wallets.
Here's what we found:

Grocery store receipts from four different countries, crinkled redemption value slips (which will once again be a problem at the cash register...), about 15 business cards, and... a lift ticket. So it's a wonderful, warm and sunny summer day and we are standing here with a lift ticket our hands. It was a so-called "storm ticket" from the Stubai Glacier. If you decide to buy a multiple day pass and the lift company has to shutdown the gondola for the rest of the day because there's too much wind, they give you a storm ticket instead, which is worth a full day pass for another time you return to the resort. Frequent Stubai skiers will know this very well - especially during the autumn months: stormy days... mean storm tickets. It really sucks when you get therein the morning with all your gear and... nothing happens. But since - even if the gondola would be operating - nobody really wants to ski at 80 km/h winds and felt -25ï¿½Centigrade, it's not that bad after all. And come on, our sport is an outdoor sport: not everything always works according to plan, and that's actually just fine. But discovering this ticket and knowing that the first ski day this season will be for free diverted my thoughts from this wonderful summer day and made me dream about temperatures near freezing point.

We hope to give you some winter inspirations with this issue of Freeheeler magazine. This issue is a truly European magazine: for the first time, we publish it in four languages and it will be an insert to the most important ski and mountain sports magazines in Germany, France, Italy, and Norway. Telemark skiers around the world: Unite!

Olof and Martin from Sweden also had to deal with storms; if your goal is to ski down the Seven Summits, you shouldn't be too squeamish. How it feels to ski down Mt Everest? Read their story on page 28. It also takes some courage to get into telemark skiing for the very first time. All of you who already know how to ski will certainly remember the first attempts at the telly turn and how painful it was. You fall, you get up, you try again... and then your muscles are so sore... If you are a beginner and you want to avoid some of the most typical mistakes, you should read our little instruction manual on page 36.
Whether you are a beginner or an expert: if you are planning to buy a new pair of skis this winter, the ski test by telemarkfriends will be a great guide for you. More new gear can be found in our news section - in addition to new movies and some gossip... freeheel gossip that is.

If everything mentioned cannot get you into the right mood for winter, maybe a rather unusual destination can. Patrik Droste went to the Caucasus and brought back some inspiring material. The trip was not necessarily easy, but you can read and see why it was worth all the troubles on page 38.
If you like excitement, but prefer to ski local, you should consider signing up for one of the competitions that are part of the Telemark Masters Series. No worries, you don't have to be a pro to race - especially the telemark women could use some recruitment. Anyone with advanced skiing skills is welcome to join in. And with a little luck, you can make it to the podium and take home some very attractive prizes!

We hope that Freeheeler can reduce the waiting time and add to the excitement. Always remember: the first snowfall will come sooner or later. And then it's time to hit the mountain and make some turns. We hope the season will be great! And we will check right away whether our storm ticket is still valid...

Have a great winter!

Your Freeheeler Team