At just 17 years old, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club snowboarder Walker Overstake is still finding ways to manage his nerves while competing on the world’s biggest stage. 

Overstake was one of five SSWSC athletes to compete at the 2024 Snowboard Alpine Junior World Championships in Lachtal, Austria, and alongside his Minnesota teammate, Grace Domino, came home with a silver medal in the mixed team parallel slalom event on Sunday. 

Overstake puts a lot of emphasis on breathing exercises as well as a good night’s sleep and staying hydrated to feel his best and most confident entering any race. With a few early stumbles in the individual races at the start of the world championships, Overstake said he became disheartened and unmotivated. 

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“I still need to work on it, keeping myself calm,” Overstake said. “That is part of the battle of competing at such a high level at such a young age, but I am learning and getting experience and I’m super grateful to have such great coaches, teammates and role models like Cody Winters to teach me.” 

Despite the falls, Domino selected Overstake to compete with her on the mixed slalom team. She recognized his talent and knew together they had the ability to land a podium at the most elite level of junior snowboarding competition. 

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“Grace picked me and I was just super grateful to have her as my teammate,” Overstake said. “She is a super strong rider and just a great person. I couldn’t have done it without her.” 

In the mixed team competition, one boy and one girl represent a team. The boys go head-to-head and drop down the slope first. Once that boy crosses the line, the girl’s gate opens and she can begin her run. First girl to finish is the winner of the race. 

Overstake had the weight of the world on his shoulders and knew Domino relied on him to go fast and give her as much of a time advantage as possible. It worked in the opening round of the top 16, where the tandem from the U.S. managed to defeat the Korean team to advance. 

The pair continued to run through opponent after opponent, taking down Italy, Canada and finally Ukraine to reach the Big Final against Germany. Overstake crossed the finish 1.21 seconds behind his German opponent in the final, leaving Domino with just not enough time to catch back up. The pair became silver medalists. 

Overstake attributes his success this year to his early season training. He worked diligently on technique and line, among other components of the sport. SSWSC coach Thedo Remmelink and others helped Overstake ride more upright with stronger legs and work on his physical fitness with strength training all season. 

Overstake has one more opportunity to showcase his riding this season at the Snowboard Alpine National Championships at Copper Mountain this weekend. He is excited to compete in lower-stakes competitions like nationals where the intensity is lower. 

To this point, earning a podium at a Junior World Championship is the highlight of Overstake’s career. Something he had dreamed of for over a decade. 

“It was so relieving,” Overstake said. “I just worked so hard and that was one of my main goals since I was a little kid. Other than the Olympics, that was probably my favorite goal to achieve. It meant a lot to me and to have my parents and grandma there to see it was awesome as well.” 

Other SSWSC athletes to compete at junior worlds include Mike Smith, Nick Pierce, Sam Carpenter and Linda Jachova. Taggert Carr qualified but did not compete due to injury.