New member from Minneapolis/St. Paul

[Gentry]

Hey all,

New guy here. Quick and dirty backstory: started skiing at very early age with my parents and sister, mostly around Buck and Hyland Hills and eventually did some trips to Big Sky and Winter Park in my teens. Took about 10 years off during college and my 20s. I'm now in my 30s and getting back into the sport in a big way. I was a little worried I would lose all my skills from my youth but thankfully it was like riding a bike and I feel pretty confident on the slopes (maybe a bit too confident).

Even with the time off from the sport I consider myself a intermediate to advanced skier. My skiing style tends to be a bit "aggressive" in that I like to go fast with hard cuts and quick stops. I'm trying to dial that back and learn how to be a smoother skier.

I tend to get bored with the runs around the Twin Cities area, so if anyone knows of any especially challenging runs, secret routes or even some hidden backcountry spots let me know.

- Gentry

 

[Philpug]

Welcome. If you don't want to be bored, get yourself some SL skis and start rounding out those turns to become that smoother skier you want to be.

 

[focker]

Welcome Gentry. I am also from the MSP metro, residing in Blaine. We have a good group of TC residents here you'll find.

We also have a specific thread for MN skiers:

https://pugski.com/threads/minnesota-17-18-season.6831/

My advice to your specific question on how to make skiing around here more interesting is to join a local racing 'beer' league. They usually race once a week on a weeknight and are very fun. I think all the local hills have them.

The other way to make it more fun is to get a pass to Welch, easier the best skiing in the area.

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

Welcome. Buck was my home bump as a kid. Alton Alps got some run too. Good times.

 

[rcc55125]

Welcome @Gentry from another twin cities skier.

Take Philpug's suggestion and get some slalom skis and work on round turns.
When you can go down skiers right on slope 2 at Afton slowly without changing speed top to bottom you'll have nice round turns.
Pivot slip all the way down Sallys Valley without moving left or right and you'll have good pressure control and good rotary movement.
Afton has open race practice for the general public on Tuesdays, it's called All You Can Eat Gates. The entry also includes coaching.

There's lots of things you can do at a midwest ski area to make the time interesting. You don't have to go fast all the time, in fact going slow can be more challenging.

Welcome back to a great life time sport.

 

[Gentry]

Welcome Gentry. I am also from the MSP metro, residing in Blaine. We have a good group of TC residents here you'll find.

We also have a specific thread for MN skiers:

https://pugski.com/threads/minnesota-17-18-season.6831/

My advice to your specific question on how to make skiing around here more interesting is to join a local racing 'beer' league. They usually race once a week on a weeknight and are very fun. I think all the local hills have them.

The other way to make it more fun is to get a pass to Welch, easier the best skiing in the area.

Awesome. I'll look into those Beer Leagues. Agreed about Welch, I was there this past weekend and was definitely impressed, much more varied terrain than Afton, which I got bored with pretty quickly. I plan on getting a pass there next season for sure. I live in Apple Valley so it's also a fairly short 40-45 minutes from my house which is a +

 

[crgildart]

Welcome. Buck was my home bump as a kid. Alton Alps got some run too. Good times.

Same here.. Lived on Parkwood Drive from 72-82. Skied on the Freestyle Team from 79-82 and worked in the ski school my senior year of high school.

I miss having that place less than ten minutes from my driveway, but don't miss shoveling that driveway every week or more..

 

[Dwight]

@OldJeep is a racer in the area too.

 

[OldJeep]

@OldJeep is a racer in the area too.

Yeah, i race at welch in the wed night league.

Welch has public nastar most friday nights on dans dive.

 

[focker]

Yeah, i race at welch in the wed night league.

Welch has public nastar most friday nights on dans dive.

Troll does this on Sunday's from 11-1. $10 gets you unlimited runs on the course which are all timed and saved and can be viewed on NASTAR's website after the fact. IMO this is a great way to improve your skiing. You can take the course again and again and make subtle changes to improve your times.

I ran the course 12 times yesterday at Troll, which was enough to make me tired and head out for some free skiing runs. I love it. Racing on Tuesdays and Sundays now... Tuesday is Troll beer league night.

 

[PisteOff]

Welcome to Pug. Being from MI I certainly can relate to the little hill blues.....

 

[whitefeathers]

Hello fellow MN folks! I moved north of the TC before I got into skiing. ..Where's Afton ?
Ive been at Giants ridge Spirit Mountain and Lutsen so far since Ive moved. Do they have any of these race leagues mentioned?

 

[PisteOff]

Hello fellow MN folks! I moved north of the TC before I got into skiing. ..Where's Afton ?
Ive been at Giants ridge Spirit Mountain and Lutsen so far since Ive moved. Do they have any of these race leagues mentioned?

The Midwest Masters is big in that region....

 

[whitefeathers]

Ahh thank you. I will look into them.

 

[midwestfabs]

Hello fellow MN folks! I moved north of the TC before I got into skiing. ..Where's Afton ?
Ive been at Giants ridge Spirit Mountain and Lutsen so far since Ive moved. Do they have any of these race leagues mentioned?

Afton is se of woodbury. Depending where u live n of tc, trollhagen or wild mtn might be closer.

 

[OldJeep]

Spirit mountain was pretty empty yesterday. Wind blowing straight up the hill. This morning it was - 14 without the winchill.

 

[whitefeathers]

. Yuck. The thermometer here at home said -27°F. The day I went to Lutsen you would get blown backwards standing at the top of the hill. You really had to try hard to get started.

 

[midwestfabs]

Besides the ton of racers afton was hosting the hill was empty yesterday. Lot of unskied areas.we cherry picked for our mens academy class where we skied. Not too bad in the am, but by noon even the instructors were ready to go on. Snow was great and sure it will hold up well with the weather forecasted.

 

[PisteOff]

Yea, Midwest Masters race a lot at Afton Alps, Lutsen, Granite Peak and a couple others that escape me at present.....

 

[whitefeathers]

I see they have one coming up at Spirit Mountain next month Thats a doable drive. An hour and a half.