Douglas Potter is carving his life out of a snowboard.

The 19-year-old won the USA Snowboarding Association boardercross national championship (men's 18-22-year-old division) April 4 at Northstar-at-Tahoe, as he prepares to make a run at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

To free up time for training, the 2006 Nevada Union graduate is choosing his career based partly on keeping his winter schedule clear.

"I'm going to Colorado or Alabama to get certification to operate heavy equipment," Potter said. "The biggest bulldozers and excavators.

"My brother is in that business; my head coach is in that business. My head coach gets the whole winter off, and my brother gets the time off that he needs (for snowboarding). I saw that, and I see a great potential for income. My brother just turned 21, and in two weeks he'll have his own house.

"And I have a fractured vertebrae and bulging disc in my back, so I need to keep in shape."

Potter's brother, Chris, also competed in the USASA National Championships, where he finished fifth in the giant slalom, 12th in the slalom and 20th in boardercross.

Douglas took third in both the slalom and giant slalom; his older brother, who graduated from NU in '05, is doing his best to catch up to Douglas while holding down a full-time job.

"(Chris) keeps saying to me, 'You're gonna have to watch out, you're gonna have to watch out,'" Douglas said. "A couple times in giant slalom and slalom races, he beat me. I could tell him why he beat me.

"But it's great to have my brother with me."

The brothers qualified by taking the top two places in the North Tahoe Series (Douglas first and Chris second).

Douglas said he had hoped to make the most of his last year of eligibility for the Junior Olympics, but he competed in the wrong meets to qualify.

When it comes to the 2010 Olympics, though, he said his sights are locked.

"Between now and the next Olympics, I'm gonna train as hard as I can and do everything I can to be up there with the other guys," Douglas said. "I'll be there."

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To contact Sports Writer Jeff Miller, e-mail jeffm@theunion.com or call 477-4247.

What's boardercross?



An Olympic sport, boardercoss is a competition in which four to six racers take on jumps, banked turns and each other to finish first.



Douglas Potter's take on boardercoss: "In the rule book, it says you can't hit anybody, you can't push anybody, you can't do anything physical. But a lot of it doesn't get seen."