Maine Outdoor Journal

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Seth Wescott crosses the Carrabassett River while mountain biking last month near his home. Wescott kayaks, surfs and bikes to help keep in top condition. On Sept. 12, he placed second in a World Cup competition in Argentina, the first step toward securing an Olympic berth for 2010.

Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

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“We are lucky to have him,” Carrabassett Valley business owner John Beaupre says of Wescott, who helped build Sugarloaf’s snowboardcross course last winter. Wescott has built a home in the town that sits below Sugarloaf and looks out over the Bigelow range.

Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

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MAINE GOLD MEDAL OLYMPIAN SETH WESCOTT

• 2009: Second in snowboardcross World Cup standings.

• 2007: World Championship silver medalist in snowboardcross.

• 2006: Olympic gold medalist in snowboardcross at the Turin Winter

Games.

• 2005: World Championship gold medalist in snowboardcross.

• 2003: World Championship silver medalist in snowboardcross.

SOURCE:

United States Ski and Snowboarding Association

Making the 2010 U.S. Olympic Snowboard Team

• Up to two men and women will be selected from individual events at

five World Cup qualifying competitions to make the U.S. Olympic Snowboard Team.

• The first World Cup event was on Sept. 12 in Chapelco, Argentina. The

other four World Cup qualifying events are on Dec. 19 in Tulluride,

Colo; on Jan. 10, 2010 in Bad Gastein, Austria; on Jan. 15 in Nandaz,

Switzerland; and on Jan. 21 in Stoneham, Quebec.

• Having placed second in snowboardcross at the World Cup

competition in Argentina, Wescott is well positioned to secure a spot

on the U.S. Olympic Team bound for Vancouver, Canada.

CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Biking beside the rocky Carrabassett River or helping a friend shingle a home before winter are not what you'd expect to find a guy doing as he prepares to defend his Olympic gold medal. Yet in the midst of these activities Seth Wescott is where he needs to be, and that doesn't just mean in Maine.

The Vancouver Olympics are less than three months away, a fact that is foremost in Wescott's mind. But while the rest of the U.S. Snowboarding Team trains in Park City, Utah, Wescott, the reigning gold medalist in snowboardcross, is preparing in the woods of Maine.

The western Maine mountains are not only his home since grade school and where he recently built his first house, they are where he feels peace. And Wescott said his Olympic preparation is a mental journey as much as anything.

"There are 120 days until the opening ceremony," Wescott said a month ago at his new home. "I love my teammates. But it would mean months living in a hotel with people."

Relaxing in his living room before a mountain bike ride, Wescott spoke about playing golf at Sugarloaf, driving to Waterville with his dad to buy wood and sorting through photographs to decorate his home.

"I've always been in other people's homes. This is my home now. The (Sugarloaf) access road is 200 yards away; the shuttle service takes me to the gym," said Wescott, 33.

His life here is understated and unassuming. He drives a Volkswagen Passat he bought used and has a cat named Little. Wescott moved into his mountain house a few months ago, but it remains unfurnished and in a state of mid-construction.

The deck is stacked with lumber, the kitchen counter nonexistent. The staircase consists only of subflooring.

There's nothing here to suggest this guy is focused on cementing his place in alpine history.

In the living room the neatly folded American flag provides a single clue to what's at stake here. High on the immense stone fireplace and standing out in a room of light hues and renewable material is the flag Wescott draped over his shoulders after winning the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Now as he counts the days leading up to the Winter Games, he looks to the flag for inspiration.

"It was my grandfather's service flag from his time in the Army during World War II. My Dad had brought it to Italy in hopes that if I made it to the finals I would have a flag with special meaning to celebrate the moment with," he explained.

Ben Wescott, a hunter and woodsman, was a role model. His hunting map hangs on Wescott's bedroom wall, and the skin of a black bear he shot in North New Portland covers the floor there. But the American flag stands apart. And as its rich colors fill a bare room, it serves as a reminder of its last journey, and the one ahead.

Just 82 days to go...

DEEPLY ROOTED

Growing up in rural Maine, Wescott rowed on a lake in Vassalboro as a child and biked the snowmobile trails in Farmington as a teenager. Now he rides in Carrabassett out toward the Bigelow range to strengthen his legs to vie against the world's best, of which he is one. The quest to make the Olympics and perform well lies before him.

He has been consistently ranked in the top 10 in the world in the past year, a place he didn't find himself before the 2006 Games in Turin. But while all the cardiovascular and leg strength training can be done anywhere, the mental preparation needs to be here, Wescott said.

On Sept. 12, after weeks preparing in Maine, Wescott met his teammates in Chapelco, Argentina, stepped onto the snow of a South American winter and went on to place second in the first Olympic qualifying event of the season, sending him well on his way to securing an Olympic berth on the U.S. Team. He credits his time in Maine for keeping him fresh.

"Last year 75 percent of my finishes were top-three finishes," Wescott said. "That's a huge change. Mentally, I'm kicking myself in the butt. I'm much more prepared and focused."

At home Wescott kayaks, heads to the ocean to surf, or mountain bikes on forest trails or carriage roads. His new mountain house that is his training base is not tucked away deep in the woods, but sits below Sugarloaf, which is exactly where Wescott wants to be.

When he's not training, he works on his home, helps at his restaurant, The Rack, or volunteers his time helping this active ski town plan its next recreational upgrade. Wescott said staying busy with different projects helps him "find that kind of mental fire."

Carrabassett Valley business owner John Beaupre, who plays golf with Wescott, said he has an easy, unassuming way about him.

"He could live anywhere. He could live in Vail or Europe. But he's very humble. He keeps his roots right here," Beaupre said. "It's fun having him around. Anytime anybody need his time, he is always perfectly willing to give it up. We're lucky to have him."

AT HOME AND ON TASK

Wescott is an active, welcome part of this small town, said Town Manager Dave Cota. And, of course, he helps at Sugarloaf, his playground for more than 20 years.

Two years ago Wescott signed a 10-year sponsorship agreement with the ski area to involve him in the future planning. Many professional athletes forge such deals. Wescott brought more of a hometown touch to his.

Last winter he spent more than 30 hours in a Snowcat, shovel in hand, helping to build the mountain's snowboardcross course, said Sugarloaf terrain park manager Tim Norton.

"In his agreement, he's part of the planning here. But definitely there is nothing written down anywhere that says he has to ride in a Snowcat for two days or shovel snow," said Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin. "That is totally of his own accord, and we're obviously psyched that he's very passionate."

However, Jonathan Warren, Wescott's best friend since fifth grade, said Maine may just help Wescott more than he helps his hometown. In Carrabassett Valley, away from the Olympic media buzz, Warren said, his friend can prepare better for the goal ahead.

"It's important to him. His friends are here. When he's here, there is that sense of normalcy around him. His daily life is normal," said Warren, the manager of the snowboarding shop at the base of Sugarloaf.

Eric Webster, director of the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix and Wescott's coach from Carrabassett Valley Academy, said Wescott always had a gift for knowing how to stay focused, and now more than ever Maine is a big part of that.

"Seth just loves Sugarloaf. Being comfortable in your surroundings is important. It wouldn't do him any good to be in a foreign place. He's at home. He's comfortable," Webster said.

While the front of Wescott's home looks out to the Bigelow range, the sunny southern side opens up to pine trees looking in like neighbors. Yet this mountain home in Maine's woods is not hidden from the small town here – only the rest of the world.

"I've known everyone here since I was a teenager," Wescott said. "They respect my privacy. They're very supportive. There is a lot of positive energy from the community."

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com