Greg Rides Trails: Ski Day 2: Progression. Lutsen, MN

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Ski Day 2: Progression. Lutsen, MN

Click here to read about our first day of skiing on this road trip.

Photo: Bryce.

Our second day at Lutsen was at least as incredible as the first. Temperatures stayed warm, so spring conditions persisted. Using the knowledge gleaned from the previous day, we were able to work the different aspects of the mountain to get the best snow all day long. AJ kept stepping it up and threw down big on the jumps, the trails, and hucked a decent cliffs several times.

I continued to recover my lost skills, and by the end of the day had aired out all the jumps in the terrain park, thrown in several tricks and grabs, and ridden some of the box rails. Bryce skied in style all day, and showed how far he has come since we last skied together. Brent did what Brent does: ski super solid, really fast, and really big. All four of us skied with enough skill to earn the prized compliment of “you guys are f***ing insane!” from a watching snowboarder.

Skier: AJ. Photo: Bryce.

The theme of the past two days has been progression. I have constantly been impressed by how far AJ (as well as Bryce) has progressed since I graduated high school. The first year I was away at college, our skiing skill sets began to diverge, with AJ, Bryce, and Nathan (who hasn’t skied with us yet) going to the park in classic Midwest style. It has paid off. While Bryce has progressed significantly, my little bro AJ has been seriously stepping it up. I have seen video footage of some of the gnar that has been thrown down, and now have seen it with my own two eyes.


Skier: Greg. Photo: Bryce.

AJ’s new area of expertise is the park. He’s ridden twin tips all day the last two days, and I’ve seen 360’s, 180’s, grabs, tricks, and big airs out of him. Compared to the level of park skiing as a whole, he may still have a ways to go to reach what I’d consider an advanced level, but his skills are growing in leaps and bounds.

Park skiing is only a small part of the picture. AJ is skiing so much faster than he ever used to, and he now attacks the hill and terrain features with a quick skill and precision that I greatly admire. He skis the mountain much like I did 2 years ago. What’s so impressive about that? None of my friends could really attack the hill quite as hard as I could 2 years ago. I lead the group. And out of all of the guys who made up our group of skiing buddies, AJ was not second to me. He may have been last or second to last in terms of skill (from a totally objective perspective).

Skier: AJ. Photo: Bryce.

I’m sorry if this sounds as if I view this whole trip as a sort of massive competition. It really is not, I assure you. Yes, I have am naturally very competitive. Because of that, it is an even a bigger compliment for me to say how much I notice and admire where these guys have taken their athletic abilities. I am really impressed and really proud, and seriously look forward to watching where they take things over the next couple of years. It is going to be an awesome ride!