Snowboarding in Afton Alps

 February 17, 2001  Posted in Uncategorized

Bill Northrup (aka Wilson Northrup) comes to visit for a snowboarding adventure in Minneapolis. We went to Afton Alps with my friends Makoto Nakamura and Shinobu Usui. Believe it or not this is probably the 4th or 5th time Bill had been on a snowboard…

Bill at the snowboard – rental counter…
My buddies Chika, Makoto, and Shinobu. I have been boarding on and off with Makoto and Shinobu since 1996, at this same exact slope, Afton Alps.
The birthday boy (a few days ago), Bill.
First Bill tells us that he can not navigate the snow too well…

Then pulls off a tail grab at the snowboard park… What the…!?!?!

Afton Alps, located just at the border between Minnesota and Wisonsin. It’s not exactly Vail, Snowbird, or Whistler, but it’ll do for me and my friends in Minneapolis.
From left to right – Bill, Chika, Makoto, and Shinobu
Bill carving the snow.
Makoto finishing off his 360 spin off a jump.
It’s not easy to make snowboarding look smooth, but Makoto always seem to pull it off…
This is probably the last time I will be able to snowboard with Makoto in Minnesota, as he is headed back home to Hiroshima, Japan in the next few weeks. It’s been a lot of fun meeting you, Mako-chan!
Left to right – Chika, Makoto, Shinobu, and myself, schlaulau.
After deciding we will only go down ONE LAST TIME, we decided to go all out on the last run today…
I decied to do a simple ollie off the jump…
Makoto with an Indie (picture was taken before he grabbed)

Shinobu with an Indie grab as well…

Now, for the finale, Bill’s 180 action sequence. Believe it or not, this is Bill’s 4th (or 5th) time snowboarding!!!