Oliver Guarnieri's talent and ability in snowboarding apparently knows no limits.

The 11-year-old sixth grader from Boxford has only been competing for two years, but has already shown he belongs among the sport's elite in his age group.

Since he started taking part in the USASA (United States of America Snowboard Association) New Hampshire series a year ago, he has ascended to a first place ranking.

This past weekend, Guarnieri became the 2012 East Coast Junior Freestyle champion, besting more than 300 other athletes at Waterville Valley. He captured bronze in Aerials on the first day of competition, captured silver in Mogul on the second day and wrapped up the weekend event with his best performance of all: taking gold in Slopestyle, rails, boxes and big air. That gave him a score of 90 out of a possible 100 to earn Guarnieri the overall gold medal.

Because he has performed so well all winter, Guarnieri has been invited to compete in the USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain in Colorado that begin on Saturday, March 31.

"I've been going up to New Hampshire every weekend since the end of November to train and race," said Guarnieri, who also loves to skateboard, wakeboard, do gymnastics and practice his tricks on the trampoline. "It is going to be a lot of fun in Colorado, and I know the competition will be very good."

Guarnieri is a star at Loon Mountain, where he trains under freestyle coach Devon Gulick and boarder cross coach Scotty Patterson.

There is no question in Guarnieri's mind which event he likes best.

"My favorite is slope style," he said. "I'd rather do hard tricks than just race. Half pipe is really fun, too. I just did a 720 off a 30-foot jump; that's two 360s and grab-the-tail. I can also do backward and front flips.

"I was surprised to find out I was No. 1 in New Hampshire," he added, "but at one of my big competitions at Waterville Valley I got 1,100 points, which helped."

Guarnieri is ranked ninth in the country in his age division, which is called menehune. This season he competed in three slope style competitions and won the gold medal in all of them, beating out the top contenders not only from New Hampshire but surrounding states.

In three half pipe events Guarnieri was also unbeatable, and in his last competition in three boarder cross events he came away with a goal and a silver medal. He was first in slope style, half pipe, and boarder cross at the end of the racing season.

Guarnieri became interested in snowboarding when he was six, but didn't start competing until last year.

"He qualified for nationals a year ago, but was so young we didn't go," said his mother Christine. "He's had an amazing year, and there were so many kids he had to beat.

"Oliver is only at Loon on weekends while many others are there all week because they go to the Academy there. Everybody was asking about him and where he came from because he was beating those kids."

While Guarnieri is a natural on the board, he also works very hard to better himself. His mother drops him off at 8:30 a.m. every weekend picks him up at 3:30 that afternoon. He spends the entire time training under the supervision of his coaches, with only a half-hour lunch break.

"He comes in absolutely exhausted," his mother said. "Oliver gives it his all, and his coaches love him because of his positive attitude and exuberance. If he doesn't get something right away, he keeps trying until he does."

The USASA Nationals — where Guarnieri will represent New Hampshire — are run like the Olympics in that there are opening and closing ceremonies and the competitors march in wearing their state shirts. Copper Mountain is located an hour from the Denver airport, and each day there will be a different event in the weeklong competition.

Guarnieri is looking forward to taking on the best in the country. Who knows; maybe someday he will represent his country at the Winter Olympics.