On Saturday, March 11, 2023, Jake Blauvelt’s namesake banked slalom, Blauvelt’s Banks, returns to Bolton Valley for the third time, bringing together the East Coast community in Northern Vermont for a day of turns, berms, and friendly competition.
On the advent of the third year of the event, we thought we take a look at the 2022 race, which was beset by notoriously New England conditions–though no one seemed to mind, in even truer New England fashion. The fastest times were rewarded with special Blauvelt’s Banks maple syrup, which is a heck of a trophy–maple syrup isn’t cheap!
Enjoy the photos, taken by Peter Cirrilli, and if you’re in Vermont this weekend, wax your board and get to Bolton Valley.
“We’ve had two years now with Blauvelt’s Banks. Our first year was 2020, and then we took a year off for the pandemic and had our second race last year. Going into the first year, my main motivation was that I’ve always had so much fun at any banked slalom I’ve ever been to, but the two in particular that stand out are the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom and the Rat Race with Drink Water up at Hood. Banked slaloms always bring out the best in the shred community because there’s no debate on who won or who lost. It’s not a style thing. It’s just straight time and it brings out that competitive nature within everybody, which is really fun.
Overall, everyone is always so stoked when they’re at these events. I wanted to bring that to my Northern Vermont/East Coast community at a mountain that’s really special to me, Bolton Valley, where I learned how to ride in the after-school program. So it was really just to bring everyone together and have a super good time. Then at the same time, I wanted to raise money for a really legit cause. The first year we donated to Protect Our Winters, and then this past season, and for every winter until we see it through, we’re donating to Waterbury Vermont Skatepark Project. We’re hoping to raise enough money to be able to build a concrete skate park in Waterbury, Vermont. Out West, concrete parks are everywhere, but on the East Coast, especially in Northern Vermont, there are very few of them. Burlington has one, the A Dog Park. I grew up in Waterbury and we never had a skatepark. We got kicked out of everywhere we went. So to be able to bring the community together and raise money for an awesome cause for future generations, it’s a win-win. I just wanted to be able to use my platform and the support from all the brands that I work with to do something better for our community.” – Jake Blauvelt, an excerpt from his interview in Snowboard Magazine, issue 19.2
