John Oates, telemark skier, the box set and the bomb

Ski Channel: Do you hang with Mike Kaplan or Chris Davenport?

John Oates: Those guys are great. Mike got me a cat for a thing with Ski Magazine last year and Chris is a really inspiring guy. My buddy helped him write the 14’ers book.

Ski Channel: You are a telemark skier. Obviously, a little more challenging - how did you become one?

John Oates: In the 80’s I had a bunch of friends who were doing it and they kept pushing me. Finally I tried it and I liked it. I would go back and forth between alpine and telemark until the winter of ’93. That winter, I just decided to go for it and only telemarked for the whole season. That is what got me over the hump and I have been doing it fulltime ever since.