Tom Wallisch Wins Freeski Slopestyle Finals and Tanner Hall Wins Freeski Superpipe (Sun, 22 Feb 2009 Posted at 11:30:00 AM)
NEW YORK – February 21, 2009 – Tom Wallisch won the freeski slopestyle competition Saturday in the Winter Dew Tour Toyota Championship, his first tour event after missing the first two stops because of injuries.
The 21-year-old Wallisch, from Pittsburgh, had a few wobbles on his first run, but executed a flawless second run to score 92.83. Canadian Alexis Godbout was second at 91.83, and New Zealand's Jossi Wells was third at 90.50.
"I haven't been in too many big competitions, let alone live TV,'' Wallisch said.”I got a little overexcited and went a little too big at first, but I went back up and just tried to focus on what I was doing and just put it all into perspective. I just skied through the course like any other day in the park and I was able to ski through it and it worked out.''
His winning run began with a 270 on to pretzel 270 out on the box and a blindside misty 630 out on the cannon rail. He continued with a rodeo 900 with high mute grab into a switch tails over 270 disaster. He finished with consecutive switch 1080's on the last two jumps.
PK Hunder, of Norway, finished sixth in the event, but won the Dew Cup season title in freeski slopestyle.
"It means a lot,'' Hunder said.”I got injured last year so I was hoping this would be my comeback year so winning the Dew Cup is probably one of the biggest things out there, so I'm really stoked.''
Later in the day, Tanner Hall won the freeski superpipe competition and he also earned the Dew Cup season title.
Hall, of Kalispell, Mont., displayed consistency and amplitude on his second run which included a 1260, consecutive 900’s, an alley-oop flatspin 360 to a switch 900. He scored 93.75 points.
Simon Dumont, of Bethel, Maine was second at 92.50 and Colby West of Breckenridge, Colo. was third at 87.00.
“When I went down on my last run I knew I was either going to be first or second, and that’s always a good feeling,” Hall said. “It gave me confidence to just go out and lay it all on the line for that last run.”
As the Dew Cup champion, Hall supported the concept of the inaugural series.
“For the overall winner it shows a natural progression and a sign of consistency to the winners,” Hall said. “For all three stops you got to be on your game if you want to come out on top at the end, and I think it’s great.”
The four-day competition is the last of three stops on the tour that features men’s and women’s freeskiing and snowboarding disciplines. Sunday’s action features the men’s and women’s snowboard superpipe finals.
Winter Dew Tour Toyota Championships at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort
Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009
Truckee, Calif.
Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Finals
1. Tom Wallisch, Pittsburgh, 92.83. 2. Alexis Godbout, Canada, 91.83. 3. Josiah Wells, New Zealand, 90.50. 4. Sammy Carlson, Tigard, Ore., 89.83. 5. Charles Gagnier, Canada, 89.17. 6. Per-Kristian Hunder, Norway, 89.00. 7. Simon Dumont, Bethel, Maine, 85.67. 8. Nick Martini, Winchester, Mass., 85.50. 9. Mike Riddle, Canada, 83.00. 10. Bobby Brown, Breckenridge, Colo., 82.83.
Men’s Freeski Slopestyle Points
1. Per-Kristian Hunder, 230. 2. Alexis Godbout, 220. 3. Bobby Brown, 205. 4. Josiah Wells, 205. 5. Sammy Carlson, 185. 6. Henrik Harlaut, 170. 7. J.F. Houle, 165. 8. Simon Dumont, 146. 9. Charles Gagnier, 137. 10. Nick Martini, 136.
Men’s Freeski Superpipe Finals
1. Tanner Hall, Kalispell, Mont., 93.75. 2. Simon Dumont, Bethel, Maine, 92.50. 3. Colby West, Breckenridge, Colo., 87.00. 4. Kevin Rolland, France, 86.50. 5. Xavier Bertoni, France, 84.25. 6. Matthew Philippi, Breckenridge, Colo., 83.75. 7. Matt Margetts, Canada, 80.25. 8. Tyler Peterson, Sandy, Utah, 78.75. 9. Mike Riddle, Canada, 67.00. 10. John Strenio, Burlington, Vt., 62.75.
Men’s Freeski Superpipe Points
1. Tanner Hall, 280. 2. Simon Dumont, 260. 3. Justin Dorey, 220. 4. Duncan Adams, 169. 5. Colby West, 160. 6. Mike Riddle, 144. 7. Kevin Rolland, 135. 8. Xavier Bertoni, 135. 9. Taylor Seaton, 126. 10. Peter Olenick, 124.
The complete 2008/09 Winter Dew Tour schedule is as follows:
Event Date Location
Stop 1 Dec. 18-21, 2008 Breckenridge, Colo.—Breckenridge Ski Resort
Stop 2 Jan. 8-11, 2009 West Dover, Vt.—Mount Snow Resort
Toyota Championships Feb. 19-22, 2009 Lake Tahoe, Calif.—Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort
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