Dew Tour recap: Olympic freeskiing qualifier

By Published On: December 16th, 2013Comments Off on Dew Tour recap: Olympic freeskiing qualifier

1519732_10151910076989102_1917280448_oThe annual Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships carried a little more weight this season, serving as the first of five U.S. Freeskiing and Snowboarding Olympic qualifiers. Eight events total — men’s and women’s ski and snowboard halfpipe and slopestyle — were held over four days in Breckenridge, Colo. with Olympic hopefuls making a statement across the board and raising the level of intensity in this historic season.

 

Men’s Ski Halfpipe

Two-time X Games gold medalist David Wise, of Reno, Nev., led a full-throttle U.S. sweep of the first-ever halfpipe skiing Olympic qualifier under the lights in Breckenridge Saturday night. Rising star Crested Butte’s Aaron Blunck and Boulder’s Lyman Currier secured the sweep after battling it out for second and third.

davidwise“I was just really having a fun time tonight skiing, so to come out on top is a huge honor. I was just glad to put down a few solid runs. It’s amazing seeing this level of skiing this early in the season,” said Wise. “It definitely takes some of the pressure off. If I had fallen tonight then I would have been going even more pressured into the next one. Coming down with the win tonight and getting 100 points is just an amazing start to a season.”

“This is going to give me so much confidence going into the next event,” said Blunck. “Hopefully Copper will go well again and everything will work out for Sochi. Since July I’ve put in so much hard work and to have it pay off right now is so big. I couldn’t be happier.”

Lead qualifier Torin Yater-Wallace (Basalt, Colo.) sat out the final after a crash in the practice round, while 10-time X Games medalist Simon Dumont (Bethel, Maine) also sat out the final round after crashing hard, hitting his head, in practice.

Wise’s winning run consisted of a switch right 900, switch leftside double cork 1080, rightside double cork 1260, leftside double cork 1260, alley-oop flatspin 540 and leftside cork 900.

Selection to the Olympic freeskiing team will be made from athletes who have two top three finishes against the entire field in the selection events. Those athletes will be ranked with their best two of five qualifying events using World Cup scoring (100 point scale) comparing only USA athletes.

Men’s Halfpipe Results

 

Women’s Ski Halfpipe

Lake Tahoe’s Maddie Bowman, Washington’s Angeli VanLaanen, and California’s Brita Sigourney set a high point standard with their U.S. sweep of the women’s halfpipe skiing final at the Dew Tour iON Mountain Championships, the first-ever Olympic qualification series for halfpipe skiing.

IMG_0671-M“It feels good. It definitely relieves a lot of stress. These times can be pretty stressful, so I’m happy to be proactive. It’s the first event of the season that I’ve done finals in and it’s great; and for it to be the first Olympic qualifier is even more is awesome. I’m just on top of the clouds right now,” said Bowman. “The girls really killed it and I’m so happy to be on the podium with Angeli and Brita. It’s just great. I love them.”

X Games gold medalist Bowman elevated the level of competition for the first event of the qualification series and put herself in a strong position to be selected to the first U.S. Olympic Freeskiing Team.

To qualify for the Olympics, freeskiing athletes must secure two top-three results, with tiebreakers going to the athlete with the best individual result.

Women’s Halfpipe Results

 

Men’s Ski Slopestyle

Indiana’s Nick Goepper sealed the top spot and took home the Dew Cup at the first-ever slopestyle skiing Olympic qualifier final at the Dew Tour in Breck on Sunday.

Canadian Alex Beaulieau-Marchand and Australian Russ Henshaw rounded out the podium, mastering the massive features and unpredictable winds on the giant kickers.

Goepper_Nick-M“I’m not focused on Sochi yet. I’m focused on the next event,” said Goepper. “Honestly, it’s hectic but I try not to think about it. I just take it one day at a time. I’m just trying to relax, trying to stay cool and calm and confident for the rest of the year.”

Local favorite Bobby Brown, Tom Wallisch and Alex Schlopy were the next best U.S. finishers in fourth, fifth and seventh, which puts them in prime position going into the next qualifier at the Visa U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain.

Goepper’s winning run included a 270 on pretzel 270 out of down-rail, lipslide on backside 450 out of the wall, switch leftside double cork 1080 Japan, switch double cork 900 double Japan, 180 on switch 540 out of chicken coop, K-Fed on rainbow rail, double cork 1080 mute-double Japan and leftside double cork 1260.

“I kind of squeaked by today. There’s a lot of talent out here,” said Goepper. “There were 11 Americans in the 16-man final today so it’s definitely going to be a tight race for the U.S. Team.”

Men’s Slopestyle Results

 

Women’s Ski Slopestyle

Three-time X Games medalist Devin Logan, of West Dover, Vt., sealed the victory Saturday in the first-ever slopestyle skiing Olympic qualifier. U.S. Freeskiing rookie Maggie Voisin, hailing from Whitefish, Mont., also made the podium, which also happened to be her 15th birthday, making her just barely age-eligible for the Olympic Winter Games.

DevinLogan-LLogan was the only female to have qualified for both halfpipe and slopestyle finals in the Dew Tour. She finished sixth in the halfpipe final. All eight women in the final battled with the stiff, cold winds that made tricks off the kickers difficult and unpredictable.

“I definitely wanted to come out here and do well,” said Logan. “It takes a little stress off my shoulders going into the next couple qualification events. But there are four more qualifications, so anything can happen. Hopefully this will be a nice practice event for the next one in Copper.”

U.S. Freeskiing athlete Ashley Battersby from Park City fell and was injured during the final.

Women’s Slopestyle Results

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