Over the last week, a story has made the rounds through the Valley family. When Devryn Valley was 6, he made his first trip to Sunday River with his aunt and uncle, Alison and Alan Valley. Devryn was eager to learn how to snowboard, but not so eager to take a lesson. At lunch, Uncle Alan cut him a deal. They would take the easiest trail on the mountain, and if Devryn did not fall too often he could skip the afternoon lesson.
Approximately every 100 feet down the first run, Devryn fell. Cratered, is how Alan describes it. Skiers passing by checked on the resilient 6-year old and said they felt bad for the snow because it was taking such a pounding. When they finally made it to the bottom, Devryn had come to a realization. He would go back to his snowboard lessons.
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“How far he has come,” Alan wrote in a Facebook note to family members.
Devryn Valley didn’t let that bruising first day discourage him. Now 19, Valley, a West Gardiner native, is one of the top younger boardercross competitors in the country. He will represent the United States at the World Junior Snowboard Championships next month in Yabuli, China.
The competition runs March 8-16. Valley will be joined by four of his Carrabassett Valley Academy teammates, including Katie Wilson, Kristen Venuto, Liam Moffat and Maxim Yudajev. Moffat will compete for Canada, while Yudajev will compete for Khazakstan.
Valley qualified for Team USA with top-three finishes in four NorAm and two International Ski Federation (FIS) starts. At Mont-Tremblant, Quebec on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, Valley earned a pair of first-place finishes.
Valley has ridden competitively since age 13, starting the boardercross at age 15. His reason for picking the event, which features four riders racing down a course filled with twists, turns and jumps, is simple.
“I like to go fast,” Valley said.
Valley’s love for speed came early, when, once he had made it through those lessons, he tried to keep up with Alan and Alison. When he was home in West Gardiner, Valley was still at it. His father plowed a mini hill of snow into the family’s yard. Valley turned it into his own snowboard paradise.
“I was there for hours, on this little plastic snowboard, building jumps” Valley said. “I would stop for food. I would go in and say ‘Mom, I need food.’ She’d give me a water bottle so I could spray and harden the jumps.”
Valley cited two-time Olympic gold medal winner Seth Wescott and Team USA member Alex Tuttle, both Mainers and CVA alumni, as boardercross influences. Boardercross can be described as organized chaos, and crashes between competitors is common. Valley recalled a crash in which he and a teammate ended up hugging each other as they collided and fell.
“The first thing I did was say, ‘Are you OK?’ He said ‘Yeah, are you OK’ I was fine,” Valley said, and the teammates finished the race.
When racing, Valley isn’t thinking of much more than what’s directly in front of him.
“It’s ‘turn, pump, turn again, oh God, that guy is close to me, turn,'” Valley said. “It’s pretty fast-paced.”
Before heading to China, Valley will head to Mont Owl’s Head, Quebec for a competition. His ultimate goal is to represent the United States in at least two Winter Olympics.
“There’s 2018, 2022, and if I’m still in one piece, 2026,” Valley said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykM
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