Turtles Rock Bear Valley Tele Fest 2008
Attendance back up for 12th Annual Festival

They love to watch her strut!

Story and photos by Craig Dostie
Telemark Skier 24feb08

Once again, the stars were in alignment, the snow was deep, and so were the lines at the pasta feed and dance Saturday night at the 12th Annual Bear Valley Telemark Festival.

The Blue Turtle Seduction rocked the house, with at least 100 folks shaking to the rhythm the Turtles were churning out. Good beat, and a great sound, seductive even. The power went out for a few minutes. I think it was an aftershock from the power outage that afternoon at the resort. Some town down in the valley blew a fuze and Bear Valley had to resort to the sweet aroma of diesel power. Thankfully a generator wasn’t necessary to keep the party going. The power came back, but the hanging Christmas lights were off from then on, so maybe the Turtles were consuming up all the power and transforming it in music.

Over 270 folks took clinics over the three day weekend, with courses ranging the gamut. I like the course Paul Petersen gave on hunting powder at Bear Valley when it’s 50 degrees in the sun at the demo village. He found some, much to my surprise, and we farmed it the rest of the afternoon, with a few exercises on the groomer thrown in.

Blue Turtle Seduction. Good vibes.

All the regulars were there, the Marmots, Adventure Sports Journal, Backcountry (moi), Ian Ried, Geoff Clark, Urmas Franosh, Paul Petersen, Aaron and Kimi by a miracle, Dave Lane, K2, Karhu, 7tm, Hammerheads, O1’s, some lonely NTN rigs, Crispi, Scarpa, Garmont, Clif Bar, Rossignol, Black Diamond, New Belgium Brewery, some Marmots, and of course, about 300 tele heads. Definately fun to be a part of the scene, and great to always be able to see someone dropping the knee from the vantage of the chair.

Urmas Franosh preparing egos for the criticism (desired) to follow.

Any who, here’s some photos of the fun. It’s just the illusion of fun, but trust me, there was real fun behind these illusions.

Jammin'.

Leslie Ross puts motion to the free heel feeling at the costume "parade."

Paul Oelerich harvesting corn on Mt Reba with Mokelumne Reservoir in the background.

Don’t miss it next year. Same time-ish, February 6-8, 2009, and the same place—Bear Valley—at the end of the 40 mile cul de sac called Hwy. 4 (in winter).