Skiing Park

            Over the past decade, the skiing scene has shifted from racing down the mountain in between slalom gates to flying over jumps and sliding down rails.  What is “cool” now is to ski the terrain park, where such jumps and rails can be found.  It is unlikely that father will want to join son in the adventure known as “skiing park” so despite the wonders of a father and son skiing together, if son wants to ski park, splitting up is sometimes necessary.

            Flying down the slopes at 70 miles an hour is undoubtedly thrilling but learning new tricks to throw in the terrain park is the new thing among us young skiers.  It’s risky, exhilarating, and maybe most importantly to this generation, it looks cool.

            Throughout the day, my dad and I ski together the majority of the time but my dad is 54 and he doesn’t have the endurance that I have.  Sometimes he’ll take a morning or afternoon break and go inside for a hot chocolate and to rest up.  That’s when I head to the park to join all the other youngins on the mountain.  It’s a great environment for improvement, with everybody pushing everyone else to get better.

            Of course a dad is a son’s biggest fan so when my dad, rested and ready to return to the slopes, comes back out, he loves to come see me ski the park (he can even film me with the helmet cam I wrote about in a previous post!).

            Father-son ski trips are undoubtedly awesome but as a dad it’s nice to give those old bones a rest every once in a while and as a son, it’s nice to meet kids your age in the park.

An AWESOME Video of My Favorite Park Skier (Tom Wallisch) Skiing Park at Breckenridge, CO
[my favorite trick begins at 1:15]