BRAINERD — Jim Ruttger is the reason there is an Alpine skiing program at Brainerd High School.
He’s quick to praise those who helped the program’s development, but it’s safe to say he is the rescuer of a program, which he competed for as a Brainerd High School student until his 1973 graduation, and one disbanded until he resurrected it in 1988.
His efforts to build not only a program, but a platform for that program to be successful are why he and fellow coach Ann Stenglein, activities secretary Michelle Hilborn and former student-athletes Allison Kosobud, Jason Howard and Mitch Feierabend are the 2025 Brainerd Athletic Hall of Fame inductees. The group will be inducted Monday, April 28, during the Brainerd Warriors All-Sports Banquet at the Gichi-Ziibi Center for the Arts. A meet and greet is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., followed by the 6:30 p.m. banquet.
Ruttger’s commitment to the program needs to start before he ever petitioned for its rebirth. He was a three-year varsity skier before he graduated in 1973. He was a two-time state participant, but while at college at Bethel University, the program disbanded because of a lack of consistent practice facilities.
He returned to Brainerd in 1978 to find his home away from home, Mount Ski Gull, in need of help. He volunteered for the board of directors for Gull Lake Recreation, the for-profit entity that owned Ski Gull. By the second meeting, he was appointed president of the board. During the next 10 years, he served as the last president of Gull Lake Recreation, Inc. and the first president of Ski Gull, Inc. Under the newly formed non-profit corporation, he led the board in securing the necessary funding to redesign and re-contour the hill, build an addition to the chalet, add a chairlift, and construct the needed snowmaking system.
As Ruttger put it, “It was a build it and they will come situation.”
“You have to go back 10 years before we started and I didn’t think Ski Gull was going to be able to be open,” Ruttger said. “I just wanted the same experience for my kids growing up that I had. I wanted to do what I could to make sure Ski Gull survived. I’m not going to take the credit. It’s a credit to an amazing board of directors when I first got on the board. There was a lot of work involved there. We needed to restructure the former for-profit organization into a non-profit. We took advantage of the charitable gambling that had just been introduced and used that for the initial funding for putting in a chair lift and snow-making capability. When we knew we would have a viable ski location, we approached the school district about creating the program.”
With the tools to house an Alpine skiing program, Ruttger approached former activities director Ron Stolski about recreating the Alpine skiing program. Stolski said if Ruttger could generate enough interest, the program was a go. The first year, Brainerd rostered eight boys. The following year, the Warriors added the girls’ program.
It was Stolski who broke the news about Ruttger's induction.
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“I got the call about the hall of fame from Ron saying he wanted to be the one to tell me,” Ruttger said. “I was surprised and certainly honored. It’s not something I ever anticipated. I was very much appreciative of the honor.”
35 years later, Ruttger and his program have amassed 192 regular-season invitational victories. Those wins included first-place finishes in all three of Minnesota’s largest regular-season high school races.
Brainerd has won six section titles and advanced 12 teams to the state meet and a total of 138 skiers.
Brainerd’s 2015 girls team shocked the state by winning the state title and most recently, the Warrior girls placed third in 2024.
He was named the Minnesota Alpine Ski Coaches Association Coach of the Year after this season. He was quick to brush off any personal accolades.
“The head coaches tend to get all the ink, but it is truly a collaborative effort from our entire coaching staff,” Ruttger said. “Our assistant coaches are so passionate about ski racing and seeing each athlete grow to their potential. I know that our current staff is the envy of many programs.
“Tom Burton has been with us forever and is passionate about skiing. There is never a skier or coach on the team who has more skiing days per season than Tom.
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Andy Rangen, David Ude and Eric Charpentier have been so innovative in bringing amazing technology and video review into our training. They're always testing out new ideas with our team, they use for national collegiate events and we've been the beneficiaries of some cutting-edge technology related to video feedback and timing.
“I also think of former assistant Mike Stone, who raised the bar so much with promoting and running early-season training camps in Colorado and Wyoming.”
Stone’s daughter, Savannah Nelson, learned a lot from Ruttger’s teachings. There are things she uses as the head coach of the Pequot Lakes Patriots state champion girls' golf team.
Stone was a member of Brainerd’s 2008-2013 teams.
“He was supportive and always out there,” Nelson said. “My first year on the team in eighth grade, his daughter was on the team. My dad was a coach and he was a coach, so we had the all-family feel. With him having three kids on the team, he was just like a dad out there. He was great.
“Each athlete is their own athlete. So, being flexible in your coaching style to match the kids is what I learned from him. He supported me and my sister, racing outside of the school season, and he was very flexible with that. I bring that to my coaching as well. Just taking in every single kid and figuring out how they learned the best and taking what they needed to be successful is what I’ve tried to bring to my program.”
Ruttger’s accolades are known statewide, but his local program development will be felt for generations to come, including his grandchildren. He coached his first grandchild last season.
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“We had all of these kids skiing at Ski Gull, and so we had this feeder program in place,” former Brainerd co-head Nordic ski coach Mary Claire Ryan said. “So Jim approached the high school. Jim’s approach to Ski Gull was the same as mine. He was out there teaching kids how to race and ski. Part of the longevity of Ski Gull is due in part to Jim’s involvement with teaching the youth and rebuilding the facility. It’s not a destination spot, Mount Ski Gull, but we’ve produced a lot of great skiers.
“With any coach, nobody really knows all that they do if they have a passion for it and certainly Jim does. He’s surrounded himself with a lot of great people over the years, but he’s the backbone and main driving force. And look, on a little tiny hill, they’ve produced a lot of great skiers and won a state title. We are the only non-profit ski hill in Minnesota.”
He was the second recipient of the Mary Claire Ryan Award, given by Mount Ski Gull, recognizing those who have provided significant contributions toward its success. He introduced the idea of a sixth-grade “Learn to Ski” program to the Mount Ski Gull Board of Directors as a way to create a new generation of skiers. That program, which was adopted and later implemented under the leadership of Ryan, has now taught skiing to over 40,000 local area sixth graders. On April 28, Ruttger won’t be thinking about himself, but he will be honored.
“I’ll probably choke up a little bit,” Ruttger said. “It’s not the end game you get into it for. In my 1973 Brainonian, it should likely say least likely to be inducted into the Brainerd Athletic Hall of Fame. I was not an athlete in high school. I skied and that was about it. I did ride a bike across the country my senior year. I wasn’t known as an athlete, but I loved to ski. I spent almost every waking hour at Ski Gull. I just lived across the lake, so I could get there on a snowmobile. Just to be able to continue to do that is gratifying and then to bring my three kids into the mix. They were all three state qualifiers and that was huge and now I have a grandchild on the team and to get that third generation is just awesome.”
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 218-855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop .
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