Reader Athlete

JAKE BLAUVELT RETURNS TO HIS ROOTS

Age: 34 Lives in: Waterbury Center Profession: Professional Snowboarder Family: Wife Kristin and two daughters

Jake 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.

Back home in the backcountry, Jake chops through his woods. Photo by

Nathanael Asaro

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 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 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

Why did you choose Protect our Winters?

I support Protect Our Winters because they are involving the community in taking active steps to fight climate change. I want to be able to use my platform to help spread their message that we all need to start taking action, big or small. I think climate change and living sustainably are things that everyone needs to have in the back of their minds.

What else do you do to promote sustainable living?

I was fortunate enough to grow up in Vermont which is known for local food. My parents grew their own food so it’s second nature for me to do that. We bought this place in Waterbury Center six years ago and it already had a greenhouse and outside garden beds. We grow plenty of veggies and raise meat birds. I think eating good food is almost more important than training or working out. I do those things too, but there can be such a disconnect between people and the food they eat.

Will there be a Blauvelt Banks in 2021?

We’re hoping to hold a second one this year, but we’re not sure how we’re going to do it. We will probably make a decision in January with the goal of holding it in March. We’ll have to scale it back quite a bit and it might end up being virtual with the course at Bolton open for everyone to ride. This year we’re hoping to raise money to build a skate park in Waterbury and the event would be a good catalyst for a fundraiser. Hopefully we can start construction of the park in the summer of 2022.

Let’s talk about your progression from lift-served ski areas to the backcountry.

After my start with the Bolton afterschool program, I began competing in USASA (United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association) contests on the East Coast. I won Nationals when I was 14 and got some sponsors and kept competing until I won the U.S. Open at 19. That let me make a name for myself and get more sponsors, but I wasn’t having that much fun competing and I wanted to get creative. I was watching videos of my heroes in the backcountry and I told my sponsors I wanted to switch to filming backcountry videos with their equipment and they agreed. There is a learning curve on how to access the backcountry safely and effectively via splitboard, helicopter, or snowmobile. My sponsors stuck with me [Eds. note: adidas even has a signature Jake boot] and I learned how to navigate effectively and safely and that’s what speaks to me the most – looking at terrain and being creative with it. I’m not interested in being a stuntman or doing the craziest tricks, but in being creative with what’s out there.

Can you tell us about the 2013 film Naturally.

Normally, when pro snowboarders make a film there are anywhere between five and a dozen riders. Each one has, on average, a three-minute part in the movie and you spend the whole winter filming to have it boiled down to that. I felt that I was riding well enough and was confident that I could select just a couple of my friends and film a video about my travels. That’s how it came about. I asked my sponsors, such as Oakley if they were willing to have a movie just about me and they were okay with it. That was my first and only fulllength film. Since then I’ve gone back to filming smaller parts with others or doing shorts like Full Circle which is available on Vimeo. [You can see both at vtsports.com/Jake-Blauvelt-at-home.}

Riding on a curve at the inaugural Blauvelt Banks competion at Bolton Valley. Photo by Nathanael Asaro

I believe Atmosphere is your most recent short.

These days I’ve been doing more of those ten-minute movies. That’s what people have the attention span for. Packing the best of the best into a ten-minute edit is the formula we’ve been using, and the most recent one was Atmosphere. We worked with Gabe Langlois who films, produces, and edits my films. We filmed for seven days for that project but we had to fly back from British Columbia when Covid hit. We generally just go wherever the snow is good which ended up being interior BC and Pemberton.

Tell us about the creative process for making the films. What comes first?

It’s best to have a concept first and then match the imagery but sometimes you just start filming and the concept comes later. In Atmosphere we wanted a lot of audio mixed in with the imagery so you really feel like you’re there. We wore microphones and it ended up being a lot to carry with the avalanche beacons and transceivers but there’s the sense that you’re right there on the mountain with us. You can hear the edge of the board as it slices through ice or powder.

What is the secret to your continued joy in riding after all these years?

I’ve been filming video for the last ten to fifteen years. When I was younger, I was filming tricks and lines in the backcountry because I thought other people wanted to see that. When I got older and began burning out I realized I wanted to feel inspired and to do that, I needed to do what makes me happy on the board. It was similar to when I got burned out racing. The secret is to be creative and do what makes you happy. Sometimes it’s not about building the biggest jump but going out and feeling grateful for all the places you can go with a snowboard. It’s an amazing life where I get to live where I live and do what I do and call it a job. —Phyl Newbeck