Loucy 8th in National Snow Board Competition

Jack Loucy placed 8th in the slalom in a national snowboard competition held at Copper Mountain in Colorado.

Jack Loucy, age 11, entering 6th grade in the fall has been snowboarding for 5 years. This April, Jack was invited to attend a national snowboarding competition in Colorado, where he placed 8th in the nation in his event, the slalom. “This was an incredible feat considering he was one of the youngest in his division and the only top ten finisher without a sponsor," said Jack's teacher Amy Johnson of he MES Einstein team. "We are very proud of Jack!”

Jack began skiing in the Catskill Mountains in New York at the age of 3 but according to dad Mike Loucy, Jack “was always fascinated with snowboarding - he'd ride the lift and constantly watch and comment on the snowboarders. After his continued interest in snowboarding we got him a lesson for his 6th birthday and that was it. When he finished with the lesson Jack stated that he was all done with skiing and he has never looked back.”

Not long after Jack began boarding, the family relocated to Vermont and joined the Smuggler's Notch Ski and Snowboard Club (SNSC) where Jack trained with a team every Saturday until two years ago when he started competing and training every weekend from the beginning of December through the middle of March.

“It's a pretty demanding schedule as he's up early, trains for 6 hours and never complains about it,” said Mike. 

To qualify for the competition in Colorado, Jack had to be one of the highest ranked boarders in the nation. The United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) governs all the local and national amateur contests. The athletes are registered and their results are compiled from sanctioned events and used to determine regional and national rankings. At the end of the competition season, a National Championship is held where the highest nationally ranked athletes in a given discipline are invited to compete. There are 5 snowboarding disciplines - slalom, giant slalom, boarder cross, half pipe, and park. In Jack's age group, the 10-11 “Menehune”, a name taken from surfing, over 100 athletes across the U.S. competed throughout the year with the top 45 earning an invitation to the Nationals. Over the past two seasons Jack has qualified in boarder cross, slalom and giant slalom. He particularly enjoys boarder cross which is a combination of roller derby, downhill and an obstacle course where multiple riders simultaneously race to the bottom.

“It's not about speed but strategy,” said Mike.

Jack plans to continue snowboarding in the future as this is one of his favorite things to do.

“It's just really great fun and I like the competition,” he said.