Paraiso Bros. of Easton Dominate Snowboarding Races

Easton brothers Charles and Cole Paraiso dominated the snowboard races this year in the Southern Vermont Series of the USASA (United States of America Snowboard and Free-ski Association). They have both earned invitations to compete in the 25th Anniversary National Championship competition at Copper Mountain, Colorado in the disciplines of slalom, giant slalom and boarder-cross.The pair train and race for the Competition Team at Stratton Mountain.

Charles is a 9th grader at Hopkins School. He had placed 5th in last year’s 2014 National Competition in Giant Slalom. This year, he is the top rider in the Youth Men (14 - 15 yo) division in the Southern Vermont Series. He has won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in Giant Slalom and is currently ranked 8th in the country. He has also won 3 gold and 1 bronze medal in Slalom, placing him 13th in the national rankings for this discipline. He plans to continue his success at the National Championship at Copper Mountain.

Cole is in the 6th grade at Christian Heritage School. He dominated the Menehune ( 10 - 11 yo ) division by winning gold in all 10 races in which he had competed. Cole has won 3 gold medals in Giant Slalom, placing him 2nd in the national rankings. He is ranked 3rd in Slalom with 3 gold medals. Cole achieved prominence this year for his performance in the boarder-cross competitions. The race sends four to five competitors down the same course, which includes banked turns, rollers and jumps. The race has an element of roller derby since riders can use elbows to create room for themselves to maneuver around the course while traveling between 30 to 40 MPH. Cole had to survive at least two heats in each race to earn a spot in the final round. In all, he won 11 out of 12 heats to earn four gold medals this year. He is currently ranked 5th nationally in this discipline.  

USASA was founded in 1988 to focus on competitive snowboarding. It is a national association with 30 regional series and an expected 1,200 competitors in six disciplines at this year’s national competition. The organization prides itself in the fact that every US Olympic snowboard competitor had their start in competition through USASA. The Southern Vermont Series has always been known to be one of the most competitive sections. Olympic Gold medalist Ross Powers, Silver medalist Lindsey Jacobellis, Bronze medalist Alex Deibold and Olympians Danny Davis and Louie Vito have not only competed in the Southern Vermont Series but had also trained at Stratton Mountain.

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Submitted by Fairfield, CT

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