2023 Winter Dew Tour lookback Day 2

I know I’m a year late again. No COVID this time, just life and my neurodivergent brain getting in the way. Anyway, Dew Tour sort of skipped a year because instead of being held in December 2022, the contest was in February 2023. It also got squished to two days since Day 1 again was reserved for practice, not open to the public. Instead of checking out the Dew Tour Experience, which I figured I would have time to later on, I scheduled a snowboarding lesson. That worked out for the best since it dumped in the morning and I got to enjoy powder (even though it’s harder to learn). Click here to see pics from Copper Mountain outside the Dew Tour.

Day 2 kicked off in the morning with Men’s Ski Superpipe finals. Despite the somewhat early start, a decent-sized crowd was there, and we were treated to a mix of freeski veterans like Alex Ferreira and David Wise and newbies like Matt Labaugh and Ben Harrington. Ben in particular won everyone over with his energy; as Chris Coté (who I finally got to meet after a couple of years of being a fan and online friend) said in the broadcast, he was the “people’s champion”. David Wise and Brendan MacKay kept trading places for first and second. The four run format made the battle particularly exciting since you see them go a little bit higher and smooth out their runs over the course of the event. In the end, it was Brendan who got his first Superpipe win.

Getting a solid tailgrab on his double cork 1260s was one of the keys to Brendan’s victory.

Next was Women’s Snowboard Superpipe. The field consisted only of five competitors, which I found disappointing because true equality includes equal opportunities to compete. The absence of heavy hitters did allow everyone a chance to shine. I was stoked that four of the competitors were Asian or Asian-American and that Summer Fenton was holding it down for the non-teens/pre-teens. However, the 11-year-old phenom Patti Zhou blew us all away with her switch backside 900 and sassy responses in interviews. “It’s so easy!” she said after her first run.

2021 Winter Dew Tour lookback Day 5

The final day of Dew Tour was a big one. Snowboard Superpipe finals were going down, and with big names like Shaun White and Chloe Kim looking to cement their spot on the U.S. Olympic team, more people were there than previously. The women’s event was still sparse in comparison, but the crowd was very enthusiastic. The side of the pipe I stood on was in the shade, and several riders seemed to have visibility issues. Maddie Mastro hit the deck in one of the problematic areas and got hurt. Thankfully she was able to walk away, but she did not take her second and third runs. Queralt Castellet, however, had no issues. She threw down the gauntlet with her high-scoring first run that included immaculate back-to-back 900s. Her early lead pushed everyone to bust out their biggest tricks.

Queralt held onto the lead for most of the comp.

Xuetong Cai was another rider who seemed to get better with age. Her opening method was so stylish. Chloe Kim struggled in her first two runs. Just as the pressure mounted, she changed her run to avoid hitting the wall near me, which helped her land bolts and secure the win. Her relief at the result showed how much pressure she felt as the reigning Olympic champ.

2021 Winter Dew Tour lookback Day 4

Learning to snowboard took a lot out of me so I stayed in during the morning to watch the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle finals from my computer. I have to give Annika Morgan props because she came up short on a jump and instead of bailing, she threw herself into a front flip. I brought it up at the Roxy signing after the contest, and she shrugged it off (but was obviously very grateful to have not wiped out). Get the woman into Knuckle Huck!

I rode the Woodward Express to the top of the slopestyle course just as the Men were starting their competition. It turned out that pedestrians got to ride for free. I wish I had known earlier because maybe I would have tried to go up multiple times. It’s still a long and strenuous trek (TV makes the course look deceptively small). Some of the people I passed had the stream on their phones, which is a good way to keep track of results if you have the battery power and data plan. I did enjoy snapping photos of the riders at various parts of the course though.

2021 Winter Dew Tour lookback Day 3

Day 3 had an early start with Women’s Ski Superpipe finals taking place in the morning. The crowd was sparse again, but that was everyone else’s loss since the athletes still gave it their all. Defending gold medalist Cassie Sharpe was coming off an injury and had some tough luck.

It was nice seeing Cassie back in action after her injury.

I was stoked to spot some unfamiliar names, two being Chinese: Kexin Zhang and Fanghui Li. I think it made my parents more interested. American teen Hanna Faulhaber was another newcomer although by how high she went and how solid all her tricks were, she seemed like an old pro. She took home bronze and would definitely be one to watch in the future. Even if the media did hype up a rivalry between Kelly Sildaru and Eileen Gu like they did in the past with Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont, the two women were going to run in to each a lot all weekend, as they were both competing in all three events. Eileen went bigger, and her insistence on always bettering her own runs helped secure the top spot.

2021 Winter Dew Tour lookback Day 2

Yes, I took another year to start recapping my 2021 Winter Dew Tour experience, but in my defense, I caught COVID-19 right afterwards and it’s honestly been a struggle to stay on top of things. I heard some of the athletes got sick, and I really admire that they were able to push through and recover in time for the Olympics. Anyway, lesson learned on being too lax on safety precautions, especially as someone who has health issues. Even now it’s important to stay safe!

Like in 2020, the first day of Dew Tour wasn’t open to the public. It worked out since I was traveling to Copper, and I wound up meeting Mary Walsh of Snowboard Magazine on the shuttle. There weren’t delays with travel, but since there was a good amount of snowfall, slopestyle qualifiers got postponed.

Day 2 qualifiers included Women’s Snowboard Superpipe. Despite not being a morning person, I really wanted to check it out since the women’s events tend to be earlier. I felt frustrated because the lighting wasn’t ideal and there were hardly any people in the crowd. Nevertheless, Maddie Mastro and Chloe Kim fought hard for the top spot with Maddie getting the higher score. It was sick to see Maddie’s double crippler in person.

Haruna Matsumoto just squeaked her way into finals.

Men’s Snowboard Superpipe qualifiers followed, and that’s when people started to show. It might have had something to do with Shaun White making an appearance, as he was aiming to make the Olympic team again. He proved to still have a large bag of tricks and his signature big airs. However, the Japanese riders were ready to dominate, and Ayumu Hirano, Ruka Hirano, and Yuto Totsuka scored the top three spots. Missing from their team was Raibu Katayama who was recovering from an injury sustained the previous week.

Andre Hoeflich’s sick style helped him qualify in fifth.

Conditions proved to be challenging for slopestyle again, and this time qualifiers were cancelled. We spectators didn’t know exactly what was going on besides schedule changes, but Mark McMorris’ Dew Tour video shows the debate going on behind the scenes about whether to run qualifiers or not.

Any drama or stress of the day for the athletes went away in the evening, as it was Boarding for Breast Cancer’s 25th Anniversary Fundraiser. Although it was open to the public, I felt slightly out of place as a non-athlete or industry person. I did run into Mary again briefly and wound up befriending someone who was working the Pacifico booth all weekend, and The Nuns of Brixton provided music to rock out and dance to so I stopped feeling as self conscious. There was also an auction to raise money for B4BC, and I won a Dakine backpack. I learned that Kimmy Fasani was diagnosed with breast cancer, and B4BC was holding a ride out for her. It was cool hearing how B4BC has impacted the lives of many female snowboarders through their support of survivors and advocacy work. Jamie Anderson talked about being involved since she was a kid. Here’s to another 25 years!

The lead singer of The Nuns of Brixton thanked me for dancing when I was leaving the event so I’m happy my talents came into use. Next time I won’t be as self-conscious.

More photos can be found on my Flickr.

2020 Winter Dew Tour Lookback – Day 4

The final day of the 2020 Winter Dew Tour was another jam-packed one. Men’s Ski Modified Superpipe had an early start, and I was a bit late because it was snowing hard (by my Texan standards). The skiers didn’t seem to be bothered by the weather but rather equipment issues, as four of them had a ski come off (and twice for David Wise).

Gus Kenworthy showed off a new trick for him, switch 1260, and held the lead for most of the comp until Noah Bowman threw the run of his life and took the win. Nico Porteous rounded out the podium with an impressive variety tricks.

2020 Winter Dew Tour Lookback – Day 3

Day 3 was jam-packed with events due to the previous day’s cancellation. I also had snowboarding lessons so I missed a chunk of the afternoon. On my way from East to Center Village, I wound up on the shuttle with Tom Wallisch and his friend. I overheard them talking about the Disney Channel Original movie Brink! and whether the aggressive in-line moves named in the movie were actually feasible. I couldn’t help but exclaim how the movie got me into action sports, to which Tom replied, “Us too.”

As Women’s Snowboard Modified Superpipe got started early, there was hardly a crowd so I got a good view at the bottom. With Chloe Kim off for the season, many women were obviously using this chance to show what they’ve got. Maddie Mastro was the favorite coming in, but Jiayu Liu laid down an amazing second run to knock her off the top. Her time apart from the Chinese National Team has allowed her to figure out her own style and really progress. Queralt Castellet also put up a fight, which put her in third.

Sonny Alba was a newcomer who really impressed everyone. She’s just 13 so we’ll be seeing more from her.

2020 Winter Dew Tour Lookback – Day 2

As I get ready to do the 2021 Dew Tour, I’m revisiting my trip to the Dew Tour in February 2020 (and finally editing those photos). It’s hard to believe there was a time before COVID-19 entered our lexicon, but at that time, the biggest worry was the impending winter storm. Events were postponed while I endured an 8 hour Lyft ride after the bus trip was cancelled (someone was a fool and didn’t book the earlier Greyhound bus). Because I arrived at Copper Mountain late at night, I missed the team challenge as well as the Snowboarder Awards.

All of Day 2’s competition, except the Adaptive Banked Slalom which isn’t accessible to foot passengers, got postponed as well. That turned out to be good for everyone since the athletes got to enjoy some powder and I could recover from altitude sickness. Anybody who comes from a flat place like Texas should definitely budget some adjustment time into their schedule.

Despite the postponements, Dew Tour Experience was open. I got to visit a couple of booths, one of which even gave out free socks, and meet Red Gerard.

In the evening, I attended the Newschooler Awards. I felt a little awkward since I’m not a member of Newschoolers or a skier for that matter. However, I wanted to learn more about freeskiing beyond what I see in major contests, and I learned that Taylor Lunquist, Jake Mageau, and Hunter Hess were some to check out.. It was also cool seeing how versatile Alex Hall is. Tom Wallisch walked away with a very well-deserved Hall of Fame Award, the first ever!

More content will come and keep an eye out to my Flickr album for photo updates as I go through each day! Click me for pics.

Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships Tweets

I was wondering how I could recap the iON Mountain Championships without just posting notes or doing another set of awards.  Then I realized that I didn’t have an easy-to-access place to save my Tweets.  The Dew Tour has really embraced social media, and I actually got a Twitter account so that I could participate.  Here’s what I had to say while I was watching last week (with some additional commentary).

Saturday
Spin tricks are impressive, but nothing makes me pause like a big stylish method. – in reference to Snowboard Superpipe

Oh man I can’t tell if my heart was pounding from anticipating Shaun White’s score or my heart meds just haven’t kicked in. – In the Superpipe finals, Shaun fell on his first run and was the last guy remaining who could defeat Greg Bretz.  He had some sick tricks and his usual high amplitude, but he was making mistakes so it was close.

Ladies are really styling in the pipe finals. I think the boys could learn a few things. – This Tweet actually got read on the livestream.  I freaked out when I realized it was me.  It was cool and a little mortifying because I’m not a snowboarder and Jack Mitrani was all “oooh”.  Because I yelled out and my partner rushed into see what was wrong, I missed the commentary. In any case, I stand by my Tweet.

Congrats to Torah Bright and Greg Bretz for their Superpipe wins!

C’mon Kevin, you can do it! – Kevin Rolland is on my Fantasy Freeride League team, and everyone had high hopes for him, but it wasn’t meant to be.

What an exciting end to the Ski Pipe finals. I’m glad I finished work to catch a bit of it.

David Wise, you deserved it for your killer runs. – In reply to his Tweet, “I can’t believe it! Thanks everyone for the support!”

Sunday

Bf was totally perplexed by Nick Goepper skiing with no poles. I told him it happens. 

No poles for a medical reason. That’s a new one. Hope his hand feels better!  – Nick was recovering from hand surgery and the brace prevented him from using poles.

What a gorgeous double flip. Congrats Nick Goepper on your Dew Tour win! – I hadn’t meant to only talk about him, but he was solid even without poles.

Mark McMorris is making me root for Team Canada in the Olympics.

He’s so casual for just having pulled a triple. – Social media asked for it, and Mark delivered.

Thankful that my bf rushed into the room to make sure I was ok after I yelled when Jack Mitrani and Andrew Cannon read my Tweet. – During a break, Andrew and Jack decided to ask viewers to Tweet what they were thankful for.  I had to mention that my shout of glee came out as sounding as though I had dropped something on my foot.  Andrew Cannon was amused by this.

What I would give to photograph Sage Kotsenburg’s Cab 12. That was beautiful! – It was a Cab 12 Japan actually.  So gorgeous, and I agree with the Twitterers who said he was underscored.

Final Thoughts
I want to also congratulate Maddie Bowman, Jamie Anderson, Devin Logan, and Mark McMorris on their first place finishes. With the Olympics coming up, everyone is bringing their A game, but I already have a couple of picks for gold.

Can we please let Greg Bretz have the spotlight? Although I made a comment on my facebook about Shaun White getting dethroned, the headlines featuring him and not Greg, as well as the fuss over him falling, was ridiculous.

I’d like to reiterate how awesome this social media initiative is. It puts fans closer to the pros, and we feed off of one another. I had fun browsing the “dewtour” hashtag, and I hope to do this again.

Winter X injury updates, Dew Tour, and more

Winter X had some scary wipe-outs, and updates on the athletes came sporadically following the Games.  I’ve decided to compile all the info I found on the injured athletes.

• Lindsey Jacobellis (boardercross) – torn left ACL
• Alex Schlopy (ski) – damage to meniscus
• Wing Tai Barrymore (ski) – torn ACLs
• Sammy Carlson (ski) – partially torn right ACL
• Justin Dorey (ski) – partially dislocated left shoulder, contusions and bruising on right leg and both hips
• Justin Hoyer (snowmobile) – broken right arm, broken left tibia and fibia

Caleb Moore (snowmobile) and Duncan Adams (ski) were also injured during practice.   If I remember the commentary, Caleb had a bruised tailbone.  There weren’t any specifics about Duncan’s crash other than that it led to him walking around on crutches during Winter X and sitting out on the last stop of the Dew Tour.

Speaking of the Dew Tour, the final contest in Snow Basin was last week.  Here are the winners of the Dew Cup, as well recipients of special awards.

• Ski slopestyle – Kaya Turski and Tom Wallisch
• Ski superpipe – Devin Logan and Kevin Rolland
• Snowboard slopestyle – Spencer O’Brien and Sebastien Toutant
• Snowboard superpipe – Kelly Clark and Louie Vito
• Ballpark Rookie of the Year – Jake Aaronson (snowboard) and Alex Bellmare (ski)
• Mitch Breakthrough Athlete of the Year – Devin Logan (ski) and Nick Goepper (ski)
• Toyota Athlete of the Year – Kaya Turski, Tom Wallisch, Spencer O’Brien, and Kelly Clark

Even though the two biggest ski and snowboard events have wrapped up, there’s still plenty of action on the slopes.  Red Bull Supernatural will air March 31.  The invite-only contest devised by Travis Rice pit veterans like Terje Haakonsen against rising stars like Mark McMorris (and apparently makes ESPN reference Star Wars).

The Legendary Mt. Baker Slalom also featured old school and new school competitors, as well as Kevin Pearce’s return to competition.  Freeskiiers will have their own back-country event with the Red Bull Cold Rush in a couple of weeks.

If you’ve felt left out when all your friends and co-workers talk fantasy football and basketball, come join me with a fantasy league that’s closer to our style: Fantasy Freeride League.  The site also gives you the latest news in freeskiing.