Aaron Blunck moved away from his family to get better training after his freshman year of high school. It paid off, as he will compete in the skiing halfpipe competition in Sochi.
Photo courtesy of USA Snowboarding/Sarah Brunson
It was about the sixth grade when Michael and Lisa Blunck began to realize that raising their son the traditional way was no longer an option.
By that point, Aaron Blunck's skiing ability appeared to be cresting. He was significantly more advanced then all his childhood buddies in the mountain town of Crested Butte, Colo., and as it turned out, he was merely scratching the surface of his ceiling.
The Bluncks understood their son's meteoric rise, which will reach its precipice Tuesday morning when the 17-year-old competes for the United States in the Olympic ski halfpipe competition, meant mostly good things. But there also was one drawback, and it was a gargantuan one.
With his ability to the point that intensely specialized training was the only way to continue to separate himself from the pack, a sophomore-aged Aaron said goodbye to Crested Butte High School and was off to the Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy in Minturn, a good three-plus hours from home.
Aaron Blunck as a child.
Photo courtesy of the Blunck family
"It's been a challenge," Michael said. "When he first moved over to Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy, his mom and I almost felt like we had given our kid away. That was tough."
The parents, though, have found time to spend with him when he's at the academy and have stayed involved with his schooling and his upbringing. He'll turn 18 on April 12.
"We've made it work the best we could in terms of him not living with us for the last three years," Michael said.
"We go over there as often as we can to go see him and fit in his schedule," Lisa added. "It's oftentimes very hard, but he's doing what he wants to do and what he loves, and that makes it all OK."
Aaron attended
Crested Butte (Colo.) as a freshman, but the move to the academy and its heavy dose of online-based curriculum freed him up to pursue his skiing ambitions. He lived with a teammate as a sophomore, on his own as a junior and has shared housing with instructor Alana Chase this year.
While his absence from home has been difficult, it has been outweighed by the rewarding tradeoff for the Blunck family, which also includes older brother Nolan, a sophomore at Montana State.
See the MaxPreps "From Students to Sochi" homepage, with links to more Olympics content"The best way I've been able to describe it is: The word proud doesn't really describe it," Michael said. "It's incredible. Watching your kid live his dreams at such a young age is one of the most rewarding feelings you can have as a parent.
"A lot of us go through life and never achieve our dreams. His first dream was to ski in the X Games. He did that when he was 16. And then the whole Olympic thing was going on, and the next year he's skiing in the Olympics."
The Bluncks planned to travel to Sochi, Russia on Feb. 14, arriving in plenty of time to see their son compete. Both the qualifier and the finals for the male Olympic ski halfpipe event will be Tuesday. Lisa operates a floral business, but for very apparent reasons, it is not handling Valentine's Day this year.
Prior to his departure to Sochi, Aaron posted a message to his fans on his Facebook page, saying: "Stoked to have a few days to train and rest but even more stoked to leave for Russia soon!!!! Still can't believe this is actually happening! Went from dreaming about the Olympics to actually getting to go."
Aaron Blunck
Photo courtesy of USA Skiing/Sarah Brunson
He might not have realized such grandeur was about to unfold as a sixth-grader, but that's when outsiders legitimately began to take notice of his abilities.
At that point, he was skiing the open class of some Crested Butte-based competitions. As a 12-year-old, he was winning those competitions. He was ousting 20-year-olds and students from nearby Western State College at halfpipe and slopestyle skiing.
But it was even earlier in his adolescence when the family realized they might have a future daredevil in the making.
"Ever since he was 2 years old he loved to jump," Lisa said. "He'd be going down the road with his little harness on and he would just jump out of the middle of nowhere. And that was when he was 2 and didn't know any better."
His parents' lone wish for him throughout the process was to keep it fun, keep it light. As he continued to progress, they'd tell him that skiing is a recreational activity, after all. So keep it enjoyable, don't make it a stressful job.
He has heeded that advice, and now he's in Sochi with fellow Coloradoan halfpipe skiers Lyman Currier (Boulder) and Torin Yater-Wallace (Aspen). He's prepared to throw down tricks such as the double-cork 1260 and others with equally puzzling names to anyone not in the genre.
Aaron, a 2012 Youth Olympics bronze medalist, and Currier were the final two to nail down automatic berths on the U.S. Olympic Team in January. Now, Aaron and pals will have the luxury of performing precise, ultra-aggressive tricks for the whole world to see.
"I'm always nervous about it," Lisa said. "But he knows what he's doing. I just want him to land on his feet."
