NEWRY — Good luck finding a bigger expert on the sport of snowboard cross than Seth Wescott. The Mainer won the first two men’s Olympic gold medals in the event, in 2006 and 2010. He’s been involved with the sport since the beginning. He knows what it takes to succeed in it, and he sees it in Nathan Pare.

In Pare, who recently turned 20, Wescott sees the guy who could win the United States’ first Olympic gold medal in snowboard cross in the 16 years since Wescott did it in Vancouver. The men’s snowboard cross competition is set to begin Feb. 12 at the Livigno Snow Park in Valtellina.

“He is, despite his young age, despite being fairly new to it, he is our most talented guy at this moment,” Wescott said. “Two summers ago, he won World Cup Rookie of the Year, which is no small thing. Especially with some of the super talented young French riders. That was a huge indicator of how truly talented he is.”

To accomplish anything close to Wescott’s resumé would be phenomenal, Pare said. Raised in Farmingdale, Pare moved to Bethel to attend Gould Academy, then spent a postgrad year at Carrabassett Valley Academy.

“Seth is definitely a role model. What he accomplished in this sport, and being from Maine. … For me to hopefully be able to do it again, I’m super honored by that,” Pare said in a recent interview at Sunday River Resort in Newry.

A few days after chatting by the fire in Sunday River’s South Ridge base lodge, Pare flew to China to compete at Dongbeiya in the final World Cup race before the Olympics, which begin later this week in Italy. His third-place finish at Dongbeiya jumped Pare to eighth place in the World Cup rankings. As the highest ranked U.S. rider, Pare’s Olympic team spot was secure.

Pare is ahead of schedule. Two years ago, the goal was see how things go on the World Cup circuit and shoot for the 2030 Olympics — and work hard toward that goal.

That’s the thing about hard work and determination. When it pays off, sometimes it does it sooner than you expected.

“Are you going to go party or are you going to go to the gym? Are you going to take time to focus on your nutrition? Are you going to take time to recover? You can only train as hard as you can recover,” Pare said. “You have to start treating this like a real profession, and it takes a lot of effort. It’s hard to want to do it every single day.”

When his friends were going off to college, Pare doubted his decisions. Then he realized, this is the time in life to go for it, while he’s young.

Pare didn’t go to all the parties. He is going to Milan.

A snowboard cross race is kinetic chaos. Four riders jostling down a run full of tight turns and jumps, working as hard to avoid each other as they are to maneuver the course. At 5-foot-7, Pare is racing against guys not just older, but bigger than him. He’s not going to outmuscle the competition, but he can do his best to outthink them. He’s going to stay calm when staying calm feels like the last thing you can do.

That’s how Pare earned his podium finish in Dongbeiya. He got a late start out of the chute, falling to the back of the pack, before making his move midway through the course to finish in third. Sometimes being at the front early doesn’t work in his favor. Other riders draft off him, Pare said.

“You’re trying to control the controllables: your riding, your game plan,” Pare said. “How much have you run through all the situations that could happen? If rider A does this, what do you do?”

You get three training runs before each event. In those three runs, Pare needs to do enough so that when it’s time to race, he can see every move before he makes it. He needs to feel it in his entire body and eliminate every question.

You have a minute to chase perfection. Often, all the prep isn’t close to enough. There’s more wind than you expected, or a tweak to the course’s condition, or you’re just off.

“I mean, this sport is hard. You’re going to have nine tough times, nine failures, for one success,” Pare said. “The 30 seconds of pride you have at the end of a race is worth it.”

Now Pare stood outside the base lodge after posing for photos with his board. A skier skated by and recognized him.

“Go get, ’em Nathan,” he said.

Don’t worry. He is.