NEW YORK – January 11, 2009 –Olympic gold medalist Shaun White won the men’s superpipe finals and hometown hero and fellow gold medalist Kelly Clark won the women’s event Sunday in the second stop of the inaugural Winter Dew Tour at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont.
White’s winning run included a backside rodeo 720, a backside 900, back-to-back 1080’s into a 720. He finished with an alley-oop rodeo and scored 96.25.
“The first run was really good but I knew I could go a little bigger than I did in that first run,” White said. “It was a weird run. My glove was kind of iced over and we had to add these marks to my board so I’d make sure I grabbed it. I went through that second run there and it just all fell together.”
Steve Fisher of Breckenridge, Colo., was second at 92.75 and Kevin Pearce of Norwich, Vt., was third at 90.00.
White now holds the lead in season standings in both the superpipe and slopestyle disciplines.
In the women’s event, Clark, of West Dover, Vt., executed a frontside air to a backside 520. She continued with a frontside 720, a cab 360 and a frontside 520. She finished with a backside air and earned 90.75 points.
“I couldn’t be happier coming home to Mount Snow and doing so well in front of all my friends and family,” Clark said. “I really had a lot of fun tonight and it’s great to come away heading into the third event with a first and a second place.”
With this win, Clark secured the lead in overall point standings for superpipe.
Hannah Teter, of Belmont, Vt., was second at 88.75 and Ellery Hollingsworth, of Darien, Conn., was third at 83.00.
On Saturday, Norwegian Torstein Horgmo maintained the lead in a close contest against Olympic gold medalist Shaun White in the men’s snowboard slopestyle finals and Jamie Anderson won the women’s event.
The 21-year old Horgmo took the lead on his first run and the field was unable to best his score of 92.67. His winning run included technical tricks on the rails and the flat box and a cab 900 on the first jump, to a backside 900 on the second jump. He finished with a switch backside 1260 on the final jump.
“This means a lot to me,” Horgmo said. “Winning a contest is fun. I still don’t feel like I beat anybody here today. I’m only trying to beat myself at the contest. I got my win now. I’m super stoked. I don’t think I really realize it yet.”
White, of Carlsbad, Calif. was second at 92.33 and Andreas Wiig of Norway was third at 88.00.
White remains the overall point leader in the race for the Dew Cup based on this event and his win at the first stop of the Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado.
“This was a full-on course,” White said. “We had rails at the top, a rail in the middle, big jumps at the bottom. It was really fun.”
In the women’s field, Anderson, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. made good use of the course with a tail press to a nose press to a pretzel out on the top rails. She landed a switch backside 360 on the first jump to a cab 180 on the box jump. She finished with a frontside 360 to a frontside 520 on the final two jumps to earn 85.67 points.
“I was just having a good day and my body felt good,” Anderson said. “I didn’t really do so many frontside fives in practice, I was kind of just doing backside 180’s so I’m stoked on that part.”
Canadian Spencer O’Brien was second at 81.50 and Chanelle Sladics, of Newport Beach, Calif., was third at 80.67. O’Brien, who won the previous Winter Dew Tour event, remains the overall point leader heading into the season finale next month in California.
Later in the day, Simon Dumont, of Bethel, Maine, won the men’s freeski superpipe finals after taking the lead in his first run and increasing his lead in his second, to finish at 94.00.
His winning run included a cork 900 to a 900 on the right wall. He continued with a cork 1260, an alley oop 720 to finish with a switch 1080. Dumont’s win was redemption from his fifth-place finish in Breckenridge, Colo.
“My self esteem was down a little bit,” Dumont said. “Breckenridge didn’t go my way. Slopestyle didn’t go my way. So, I had one option and it was to come out here and hopefully lay something down. I wasn’t the only one. It was a huge night for skiing. I’m psyched to be a part of it.”
An event highlight came from Canadian Justin Dorey who executed a technical double flip in his second-place run, which scored 91.75. Tanner Hall, of Kalispell, Mont. was third at 90.00.
Dorey and Hall are now tied for first place in the season point standings and Dumont is only 10-points behind in second.
Taking his freestyle rail skills to the slopestyle course, Canadian freeskier JF Houle won the men’s slopestyle finals on Friday.
His fellow competitors embraced and congratulated him at the finish of the course after witnessing his impressive tricks on the rail obstacle. Houle executed a 450-degree spin onto the rail, with three spins as he slid down the rail, to finish with another 450 off the rail. He scored 92.00.
“I’m strong at rail and I just went for a super technical run,” Houle said. “I think it’s never really been done in slopestyle before. So I’m pretty stoked on that. I’m super stoked that finally rail gets some respect in the slopestyle course.”
Per-Kristian Hunder, of Norway, placed second at 86.67 and Alexis Godbout, of Canada, was third at 85.00.
Houle placed sixth at the first stop of the Winter Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado.
“Now with the first place I can’t believe it so I’m just going to be on it for the next Dew Tour for sure, and train hard,” Houle said.
The four-day competition was the second of three stops of the Winter Dew Tour that features men’s and women’s freeskiing and snowboarding disciplines. Approximately 24,800 fans enjoyed the Winter Dew Tour experience at Mount Snow Resort in Vermont. The tour will conclude in February at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort in California.
