North American Skiers, Riders, to Converge in Minnesota

I'm a member of the North American Snowsports Journalists Association, which holds an annual meeting in, as you might expect, a snowy place. These meetings are great occasions for meeting with other people who share a passion for sliding on the snow and writing about it. Though it's obviously open to snowboarders, I would say that 95 percent of its members are primarily skiers, though some both ski and ride.

The annual meetings have been held in Sun Valley, Crested Butte, and Vail, among other places. But they've never been held in the Midwest. This year, that's going to change: NASJA is coming to the Midwest.

Midwestern skiing and riding? Pfft!

If that's your attitude, I understand. I live here, and the 300, 400 or 600 vertical feet we play on may not even qualify as a bunny hill in other regions.

But we Midwesterners definitely make our contributions to skiing and riding. Roughly 20 percent of the "skier visits" within the U.S. ski industry are to places in the Midwest, and the region regularly produces top-notch riders and skiers who compete at the highest levels.

When you consider terrain and off-mountain options, the best Midwestern spot may be at Lutsen, Minnesota, where NASJA will hold its 2009 meeting.

Fellow NASJA member Martin Griff visited Lutsen in late 2007, and wrote a few blog entries about it. He wrote, in part, "The runs are short by Rocky Mountain, Adirondack or New England standards, but several runs have steep drops and there are options for long, easy cruising between mountains."

Lutsen's marketing director, Jim Vick, hopes that journalists will enjoy the skiing and riding, to be sure. But "it's not just the skiing," that should interest the convention-goers, he says, "it's the winter lifestyle in northern Minnesota."

And that lifestyle means embracing the winter for all its worth. The writers who attend the meeting can participate in several other activities before the main event starts. One option is a three-day dog-mushing expedition into the wilderness, complete with two nights of camping. Another, for those who favor indoor lodging, is a three-day snowmobile trip. Finally, a more sedate option is to take a class in making your own Nordic skis.

Tahoe in the Midwest

It's late in the Midwest season for snowboarding, which means that it just may be time to head to Lutsen, along the shores of Lake Superior. It isn't Tahoe, but it does have this in common with it: get in the right position and you can slide with a great view of water right in front of you.

In this case, Lake Superior is the largest (by surface area) freshwater lake in the world.

Here's a clear shot of the lake, though taken with a disposable camera:



And a photo with better resolution, though not showing the lake nearly as much:

Ski Clutter

You may read about clutter on the slopes--that is, a lot of snowboarders and skiers. But how about the clutter of equipment near the lodge? Here are some photos I took at Moose Lodge, at Lutsen, Minnesota, earlier this year.

Despite the tattered reputation that snowboarding sometimes suffers under, nearly all the clutter I saw on this trip was ski clutter. Then again, most of the customers I saw were skiers, too.