SLOUGHHOUSE, Calif. — Rancho Murieta resident Jax Allen is only twelve years old, but he is a nationally ranked sponsored competitive snowboarder in the USASA Olympic feeder program. He was last ranked in 2018 before Covid cancelled the USASA National Championships in both 2019 and 2020, and he hopes to get back on track in his advancement this season. Jax is under the coaching direction of Olympic Coach Bud Keene, who coached Shaun White to Olympic gold many times. Keene was also the US Team Coach, Chinese Coach, and most recently the New Zealand National Coach.

Jax’s home mountain was Sierra at Tahoe, although the Caldor Fire forced him to relocate to Northstar this season, but he has also trained at a state-of-the-art private facility in Truckee where there is an artificial surface that closely resembles on-snow conditions while allowing landings on an airbag. Coaches film each drop and give Jax immediate feedback.

Jax has been snowboarding since 2015, and his favorite discipline is slopestyle. His snowboarding inspiration is Hannah Teter, but also gives thanks to Coach Mike for teaching him how to ride, Taylor from Woodward Tahoe for helping him stay safe in the air, and his mom and dad for helping him chase his dreams. Jax’s goal for this season is to “land a 720, clean backie, and a cork 7” (if you’re not a snowboard afficionado, you will have to ask Jax what those are), but his long-term goal, of course, is to be part of Team USA! When not on the slopes or training jumps, Jax enjoys mountain biking, fishing, surfing, and studying martial arts. What is his best piece of advice? “Always find a way to get back up, and stay humble.”

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.