Evo shop employee Aaron Van Dyke competed in last weekend's Jeep Terrain Park Challenge at Steven's Pass, WA. Although the competition was tough he says he respected all the other riders and thought that they were all good. He ended up placing 2nd and he says he doesn't even know what he won because he was taking laps in the park while the winners were announced.

Van Dyke has competed in other contests taking 2nd place in a slopestyle event at Mission Ridge and participating in a few rail jams. The most notable challenge of last Saturday's competition was that Aaron was sick the whole time. His stomach trouble started right when they arrived to the hill and for a split second he thought about withdrawing his competitor status, but he decided to push through after going through a few practice runs in the park.

Van Dyke started skiing 6 years ago at age 13 stating it was always something he wanted to do, but never had the chance until then. He loved it once he tried it for the first time. In the beginning he went up to the mountain with snowboarders, but he ended up choosing skiing because he wanted to do something different and the tricks looked cool. He built up his confidence for heights by practicing tricks in the deep pow and when he worked up the skill he transitioned into the park revealing that most tricks are based off a 360 rotation or a backflip.

Van Dyke first started working at the Evo store in Fremont, Seattle, in November with a motivation to keep entering competitions to eventually get a spot on the Evo Shop Team, but mostly just to keeping having fun because for him, it's all about the fun.

Aaron's Set-up:
-'O5 K2 Public Enemy
-Look P10 Bindings (which he says are trashed)
-Salomon 180 Boots
-Oakley A-Frame Goggles
-Helly Hansen Pants & Jacket
-Giro Bad Lieutenant
-NO POLES!
-Favorite place to ski: Whistler, BC