If there’s a way for a sophomore in high school to be considered “polished,” Alex Rose of Livermore Falls has found it.

In school or out of it, if there’s snow on the ground, you can rest assured Rose is thinking about his next run down a ski hill somewhere.

“He’s really dedicated to his skiing,” Livermore Falls and Jay ski coach Jason Ouellette said. “It’s pretty much his life in the winter.”

Rose this year blazed his way to dual state titles in the Class C state meet, including a three-second win in the slalom and a two-second triumph in the giant slalom races. He also won the GS in the MVC race, and likely would have been at least second without a DSQ in that event’s slalom runs.

But that’s only the tip of what makes Rose such a solid skier.

“He does a lot of skiing outside of high school racing,” Ouellette said. “Just being on skis seven days a week – I don’t think he takes a break – helps him out a lot.”

That drive and intensity, and his undeniably solid results have earned for Rose the title of 2009 Sun Journal Boys’ Alpine Skier of the Year.

“He definitely deserves something like this, too,” Ouellette said. “It’s a good confidence boost for him. He’s always looking to improve himself in any possible way, just to make up that little, tiny bit.”

His performance in the state meet exceeded even his coach’s expectations, not because he didn’t think Rose was good, but because of the way the meet unfolds every year.

“We race against a lot of schools we really don’t get to see all year,” Ouellette said, “and they usually bring some really good skiers in with them.”

The strategy, Ouellette said, was simple.

“I pretty much just tell him, ‘just ski how you know how to ski,'” Ouellette said. “He pretty much doesn’t fall.”

Except for once this season, of course.

In the MVC championship slalom race, after blazing the course in the first run, Rose clipped a gate and was disqualified in Run 2. He was in a dead heat with training partner Max Couture of Jay at the time.

“Once in a blue moon he’ll fall, and if you look up all of our races, if he wasn’t in first, it was almost always be cause he fell,” Ouellette said.

The future, Ouellette said, is bright for Rose.

“He’s an amazing skier,” Ouellette said. “I don’t really see him racing high school level races the rest of his career, honestly. He definitely is looking down the road enough to skiing in college, too.”