BY RYAN O’CONNOR
Dillon Irish may be only 13 years old, but he is already a national competitor in alpine snowboard racing.
Irish, a seventh-grader at Bow High School, recently traveled to Northstar Mountain in Tahoe, Calif., to compete in the world’s largest snowboarding event – the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) National Championships.
He finished 17th in slalom, 32nd in giant slalom and 22nd overall for his age group, which consisted of 50 competitors.
“The unique thing for Dillon is the fact that he was ranked 50th in the country going into the competition,” said his mother, Christina. “So we went to nationals with him at that ranking thinking that’s where he would come out, but for him to place 17th was a huge jump, which was so impressive.”
Though he didn’t win an event this year in New Hampshire, he came in fourth place in each event, earning him the trip out West to compete against other snowboarders from around the country.
“It was a lot warmer than I thought it would be,” he said. “The only places that had snow were the mountains, and even the mountains didn’t really have very much.”
Dillon has been snowboarding since he was 7 years old, when he began taking ski trips at Bow Elementary School.
He competes mostly at Loon Mountain in Lincoln as part of the New Hampshire division of the United Sates of America Snowboard Association.
“I just like the speed,” said Irish. “But when you’re at the top of that hill, looking down, you start to feel a little shaky.”
But for his mother, the speed of the race is what’s most nerve wracking.
In fact, she said, watching him compete on the national level only increased her anxiety.
“There were a lot of injuries at nationals and a lot of kids left on backboards, so at one point I said to myself,” he’s got four runs in this competition and all I want is for him to make four clean runs,’” said Christina Irish. “Because the conditions were so bad, I communicated up to Dillon’s coach to tell him if he can make it down without falling, he’s already way ahead of the pack.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Christine either as Dillon’s younger brother, Griffin, 11, competes in freestyle snowboarding, which involves flying off high jumps, pulling tricks such as flips, twists and grabs, and landing on the other side.
As far as Dillon is concerned, he says he still has greater aspirations including going back to nationals next year and finishing even higher.
His coach at Loon Mountain, Sean Smarz, who also coaches at Holderness Academy, said he has no doubts Dillon will continue his progression as a competitive snowboarder.
“His work ethic has been virtually unmatched,” said Smarz. “In fact, his work ethic even surpasses his natural ability, which gives him the potential to be top 10 to top five snowboarder in the USASA nationals.”