MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Skiing is best known as a winter sport, but Grasski USA owner Chad Buehler doesn't think the warm weather should put the sport on hold.

Grass skiing, a warm-weather alternative to alpine skiing, is popular in parts of the world, but Buehler and his son are trying to bring some of that popularity a little closer to home.

"So, it's pretty much just the excitement of skiing, the love of skiing," Buehler said. "Something we pretty much spend every day of our lives on skis in the winter months, and this just looked like a way that, if we could get the sport moving forward in the United States, we would really have a cool opportunity to stay on skis and really develop our skills, and have a lot of fun also in the Summer months."

Chad's son, Beau, spent most of last Summer training for grass skiing in Europe.

"I visited Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Austria, and I spent a lot of time over there skiing with a lot of people who race in world cup grass skiing, and staying with them, and being coached by them," Beau said. "So yeah, it was a really amazing opportunity."

The Buehler's biggest goal for the sport of grass skiing is to get it popular enough here in the United States that the country sends a team over to represent in the World Championships. The best way they think they can accomplish that is by getting current alpine skiers to join in.

"Yeah, we just need to keep pushing and letting people that are already alpine skiers know what grass skiing has to offer," Buehler said. "Once people get to see the sport, and kind of embrace it, they'll be able to, I think that we'll be able to get the popularity that there is in Europe to be over here in the United States."