Squirrel girl: Young Meredith snowboarder will represent Granite State at nationals

MEREDITH — Known on the slopes of Gunstock Mountain Resort as "Squirrel Girl" for the stuffed rodent — "Frosty Nuts" — atop her helmet, Alexa Mailhoux of Meredith will be competing in the national championships sponsored by the United States of America Snowboard Association (USASA) at Copper Mountain, Colorado at the end of the month.

Alexa, who began snowboarding when she was six and will turn 13 this summer, posted the highest mark among 12 and 13 year old girls in New Hampshire in the slopestyle discipline and is ranked 17th in the country in her age group by the USASA for the event. Her ranking reflected her performances in competitions at Attitash, Loon and Ragged mountains this season. She will be joined in Colorado by Tucker Johnson of Dover, who topped the rankings among the boys her age.

Alexa said that slopestyle consists of completing a course marked by natural features and punctuated with obstacles like jumps and rails. Like figure skaters, contestants are judged on the degree of difficulty of their run, height of their jumps, and execution of their tricks. "My specialty is the jumps," she remarked, explaining that mounting sufficient speed entering the jump to clear the flat and land past the "knuckle", where the down slope continues, is the key to success.

Rails, Alexa said, are more challenging. "I over think things," she confessed.

Riding the rails, she noted, requires evenly distributing weight and maintaining balance while navigating the obstacle.

Alexa's mother Jen, a state champion high school gymnast and trainer at the Laconia Athletic and Swim Club, said that Alexa inherited her athleticism from her parents, adding that her father Adam was a state champion high school wrestler. Alexa, she observed, has the "body control" competitive snowboarding requires.

Above all, Alexa is passionate about her sport. "I'm hyper and happy snowboarding," she exclaimed. After suffering a mild concussion in a fall, she recalled thinking "of course, I'm going to get back on the mountain." She works out with the Gunstock Free Style Academy under the direction of Patrick Morrison on Saturdays and Sundays as well as gets to the mountain after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the winter. In the summer she takes to a skateboard.

The competition at Copper Mountain promises to be a test. Her mother said that Alexa's performance will determine the next steps in her career.

"I would love to try the half-pipe," said Alexa, who has begun working on tricks like grabs and spins in anticipation of moving beyond slopestyle to other disciplines.

At Copper Mountain, Alexa will be competing in a field of 30 girls in her age group. "We'll see how it goes," he mother said, "then begin to think about what to do when the snow is gone."

At the mention of summer camps in the western states, where the snow lingers on the slopes through June, Alexa's eyes lit up and a smile crossed her face. "I'm so passionate about snowboarding," she said.