Alpine skiing: Blake brothers turn sibling rivalry into revelry

Neither brother can pinpoint exactly when it happened. But somewhere on the slopes of Buck Hill, or Marquette, Mich., or Mount Hood, Ore., the sibling rivalry between Peter and Michael Ankeny melted away.

Michael, a sophomore at Blake, chalks it up to the maturing process. Peter, a senior at the same Minneapolis private school, said he thinks it came from a sense of mutual respect, of realizing they could learn from each other.

According to their father, Chuck, it was a little more complicated than that. When Michael began winning national races in his age group at 10 years old, Peter couldn't understand why he wasn't faring as well despite working just as hard.

"It was an issue," Chuck said. "What we finally got through his head was: 'Peter, you've got an opportunity here. Don't look at it as an adversarial deal. Michael's got a gift, and you get to train with him all the time. Take advantage of it. You guys can push each other.' "

Today, the Ankeny brothers are two of Minnesota's top high school Alpine skiers. They helped power Blake to a boys' state championship last year, and hope to do it again Feb. 15 at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Each brother is shooting for an individual state title, although Peter's quest has been complicated by a knee injury that he suffered over the summer.

"I'd love to have all my skiers have that as a goal, and in their case it's attainable," Blake coach Bob Teslow said. "It might be a bit more of a hurdle for Peter. But it's really neat. There's no friction between the brothers. They are out there really supporting each other."

Peter and Michael, born 18 months apart, do just about everything together. Years ago, they were on the swimming team. They play tennis with each other. They will spend hours in the backyard bouncing on the trampoline or kicking a soccer ball around.

They also took up skiing together, at ages 7 and 9, signing up at a local school called Ski Jammers. Two years later, they began to compete, and discovered they were good.

Michael began winning locally, and then nationally. At age 10, he was one of only six American boys from his age group to represent the United States at the Whistler Cup in British Columbia -- the junior equivalent of the World Cup. He made it to Whistler the next three years as well, finishing second overall last year in the giant slalom.

Peter, considered by some to have at least as much raw talent as his brother, has finished in the top 10 percent of most regional United States Ski Association races, and began to come into his own recently. He finished third individually at last year's state meet. Later, he won the Junior Olympics regional giant slalom title in his age group, and finished second in slalom.

After spending part of the summer at a ski camp in Switzerland, Peter learned several ways to smooth out his technique and hoped to continue that momentum when he got back. Two weeks later, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a water sports accident.

Peter's absence from the slopes earlier this winter was hard on both brothers.

"It's been weird, like a void. He's not there," Michael said.

Said Peter: "Every once in a while, he'll complain that the skiing was terrible, and I'll think, 'How can you complain?' "

Meanwhile, Michael has improved greatly in the past year. After he grew 4 inches (he's now 5-11) and gained 25 pounds over the summer, Peter no longer towers over him. The added bulk has enabled Michael to take a faster line down hills, and he's also been willing to take more risks.

Peter just returned to the slopes last week, and will need to wait a couple more weeks before he can work on gates. Still, the senior is hopeful that he will be able to compete in sectionals and state.

Michael, meanwhile, wants to make up for last year's disappointment at state, when one of his ski tips hit a gate early in his first run of the individual competition. Although that took him out of the overall running, he gained a measure of solace by logging the fastest overall time in the second run. He also finished first overall in the team event.

Despite his own injury, Peter has been happy for his brother's subsequent international success.

"He's figured out he can ride on the coattails," Chuck said of Peter. "And that's not such a bad place to be. And Peter knows when he comes back, he'll be Michael's biggest competition."

Pam Schmid • 612-673-4565 • pschmid@startribune.com