Telemark Evangelist Bob Mazarei

The run was dreamy. Shin-deep untracked powder. A bluebird day, crenelated peaks of the Italian Alps towering above. And, perhaps most importantly, a quaint alpine hut at the bottom. “We should stop there,” said Bob Mazarei as we skied toward the hut. “Let’s have a beer.”

For those who know him well, Mazarei’s enthusiasm for graceful telemark turns is unmatched. But his enthusiasm for a cold beer after said turns comes close. So, we stopped. The Peroni in the hut was crisp and refreshing, and we finished our day by skiing down a snow-covered pasture road to the village of Sestriere.

Bob Mazarei may not be a well-known name in alpine skiing. But to the close-knit global telemark community, Mazarei’s passion and reputation are legendary. Based out of Le Châble, directly below Verbier, Switzerland, the 62-year-old has clocked 30-plus years of 150-day ski seasons and skied in 53 countries, including such outliers as Portugal, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon. He’s an unofficial ambassador for telemark skiing festivals across the Alps, including the Freeheeler Open at Hintertux, Austria and Telemark-Only hosted at Mürren, Switzerland. He gigs on bass with the underground aprés-ski band The Lost Guides (anchored by IFMGA guides John Falkiner and Stephan Borgeaud). With fellow Italian telemarker Luka Gasparini, he created the Telemark Journal–an unpaid passion project that attracts contributions from luminaries such as Paul Parker, Allan Bard and Yvon Chouinard.

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