Last week signaled a bunch of firsts for young Louis Dybvig: his first plane ride, his first time touching down in Colorado, his first time experiencing a Colorado mountain with Coloardo snow. But Dybvig’s first competition on a national stage was, by far, the most rewarding.
Dybvig the son of former Whaleback Mountain owner Evan Dybvig, competed in the USA Snowboard and Freeski Association’s national championships in Coloardo’s Copper Mountain last week, placing 36th in slopestyle among almost 70 snowboarders in USASA’s Menehune age group — consisting of 10- to 11-year-olds from across the country. For the 11-year-old Thetford native, the experience snowboarding on a national stage mixed surrealism, excitement and nervousness, and the takeaway was more or less the same.
Dybvig’s mindset about snowboarding hasn’t changed since the competition. Now that he’s had a taste of the spotlight, the motivation is there to work harder.
“I think it’s pretty unique,” said Louis’ father, Evan Dybvig, a two-time Olympic mogul skier and a two-time national champion who spent eight years on the U.S. Ski Team, over the phone on Monday. “Young kids, and even older kids, get to have this experience at a major snowboarding event. It’s awesome.
“He’s doing it younger than me; my first junior nationals was when I was 12. He’s getting an introduction at a much younger age. Not that we’re pushing it. I’m just following his lead.”
Louis was introduced to snowboarding at the age of 6 after going back and forth between skiing and snowboarding. It was snowboarding’s potential for tricks and individuality that lured the youngster, and his father’s association with Whaleback allowed for his son’s love for the sport to flourish.
“The team that Louis trains with and competes with, we’re really lucky as a community to have Whaleback with night skiing,” said Evan Dybvig, a father of three. “He gets to ride two, three, four times a week, going after school just to be on the hill. Kids are getting to an incredible level of skill and athleticism.”
Louis’ first qualification for the USASA’s national championships last winter took his parents by surprise. This season they prepared for it, both financially and logistically, allowing Louis to get a glimpse into what a higher level of competition the upper echelon of competitive snowboarding might look like.
But the trip was also a chance for Evan to spend some time on Colorado’s famous powdered snow, taking Louis to Breckenridge ski resort and — Evan’s all-time favorite — Arapahoe Basin in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The recreational feel for a competitive trip was done by design, Evan said, to allow Louis to ease into the experience of all-encompassing competition.
“We sort of conciously chose to try a Coloardo experience rather than a high-pressure, nationals experience,” Evan said.
Louis qualified for two events, both the slopestyle and the halfpipe, in last week’s championship event. Louis only chose to compete in slopestyle, though his signature trick — a full midair spin dubbed a 360 — was off the table during his training runs.
“Right before my first run, I crashed really hard,” Louis said over the phone. “Wasn’t really able to show it off.”
There’s always next year, said his father, which is something that Evan hopes will continue as Louis’ love for snowboarding continues to grow. A love for the outdoors has become the ultimate father-son activity for the Dybvigs, coupled with a shared love for the combination of snow and athletics. But Evan doesn’t want to pressure his son into following his footsteps unless Louis continues to show desire. So far, he has.
“I want to keep going to nationals, getting into harder and harder competitions, and I’m hoping to make it into the Olympics,” Louis said. “It’d be really, really amazing if I even made it to the Olympics. … I need to train more, to get on snow earlier.”
It’s a drive and a work ethic that his father recognizes.
“He’ll be in a much more competitive age group next year,” he said. “He’s sort of seen how good other kids are, and I think it lit a fire in him. We’ll see if he really steps up.
“If he wants to do it, I’ll support him. He has said he wants to go to the Olympics, and if he wants to do that, that’s great. Personally, I have misgivings about that because of snow sports, athletics as a career in general. Almost any sport is limited. There’s a lot ot life when that career is over.
“I want him to work hard in school, have a good balance. If he can excel and continue to learn and progress in snowboarding, that’s all up to him.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or at 603-727-3306.