FEATURED ATHLETE
JAKE BLAUVELT RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS Age: 34 Lives in: Waterbury Center Profession: Professional Snowboarder Family: Wife Kristin and two daughters ake Blauvelt was only 19 in 2004 when he won the US Open in Stratton for Slopestyle. Not long after that, the rider who grew up in Waterbury Center, Vt. headed to the Pacific Northwest and made a name for himself as backcountry snowboard video star. In 2009 and again in 2010 he was named one of Snowboarder Magazine’s Top 10 Riders of the Year.
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Why did you decide to come back home to Vermont? I spent 12 winters out West, with the majority of them in Washington state near Mount Baker and some in California, but I came back because Vermont is my home and always will be. I’ve been basing out of Vermont for
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the last five years. It’s where my family and my wife’s family is from and where we are raising our two girls. It’s great to be raising them so close to their grandparents. I will do a few trips to the Mount Baker area this winter when the snowpack is stable but Vermont is my home.
Tell us about the Blauvelt Banks competition at Bolton Valley. I started snowboarding at Bolton Valley in their after-school program so it was great to be able to return there. Banked slalom courses where the fastest time wins have gotten really popular in the snowboard world in the last five to ten years. Some of the famous ones are the
Back home in the backcountry, Jake chops through his woods. Photo by Nathanael Asaro
Mount Baker Legendary Banked Slalom and the Rat Race at Mount Hood. Every one that I’ve been to has had a great crew of individuals with everyone grinning from ear to ear and really stoked. It’s a great way to bring people together and raise money for a good cause which last year. for the inaugural Blauvelt Banks, was Protect Our Winters. We were really happy we were able to pull it off last
