PERU, VT—Bill Pammer is seen here just after crossing the finish line at the 27th annual Kare Anderson Telemark Ski Race at Bromley Mountain in Vermont on Sunday, February 26, winning the gold medal in the Telemark Masters Expert Category. Pammer, a resident of Bethel, NY and Sullivan County Planning Commissioner from 2004 to 2009, won in the Masters category and placed fourth overall in the entire experts category.

Unlike alpine racing, telemark racing requires the heel to be unrestricted when making curved turns. While the sport is relatively young in the United States, telemark, which was invented in the 1850s by Sondre Norheim in the Telemark region of Norway, was the original style of skiing before the advent of alpine skiing. In addition to speed, competitors are judged based on ability to execute the telemark turn.

Pammer, who recently served as the consultant for the Town of Tusten’s landmark zoning rewrite, will be competing in the 2012 U.S. Telemark Nationals in March at Gunstock Mountain in New Hampshire.