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Wells, Kenworthy combine to win Atomic inaugural Dew Tour Team Challenge title

Volkl team rider Nicholas Goepper on the middle section of the Dew Tour jib course at Breckenridge. Goepper and teammate Alex Beaulieu-Marchand combined to take second overall at the debut freeski Team Challenge on Sunday.
Phil Lindeman / plindeman@summitdaily.com |
Dew Tour Team Challenge — freeski finals Final standings
  1. Atomic — 183.66
  2. Volkl — 176.99
  3. Head — 171.33
  4. K2 — 167.66
  5. Armada — 162.66
  6. Faction — 149.66
Jib finals, round 1
  1. Atomic (Gus Kenworthy) — 90.00
  2. Volkl (Alex Bealieu-Marchand) — 85.66
  3. K2 (Sean Jordan) — 82.00
  4. Head (Jesper Tjaader) — 80.33
  5. Armada (Quinn Wolferman) — 78.00
  6. Faction (Tim McChesney) — 72.66
Jib finals, round 2
  1. Atomic (Jossi Wells) — 93.66
  2. Volkl (Nicholas Goepper) — 91.33
  3. Head (Evan McEachran) — 91.00
  4. K2 (Joss Christensen) — 85.66
  5. Armada (Henrik Harlaut) — 84.66
  6. Faction (Tim McChesney) — 77.00

BRECKENRIDGE — It pays to be an Olympian at the Dew Tour Team Challenge.

On Sunday afternoon, two Olympic champs — Sochi slopestyle finalist Jossi Wells and silver medalist Gus Kenworthy — combined to bring their ski sponsor, Atomic, its first-ever Team Challenge title. Kenworthy was scheduled to compete on the jib course and Wells was supposed to handle the big-air jump, but the weather had other ideas and organizers were forced to cancel the jump portion earlier the same morning. That made things interesting: both skiers ended up competing on the jibs, with Kenworthy up first in the morning and Wells second in the afternoon.

If Wells was selected for his jumping prowess, he quickly proved why he’s a slopestyle monster with the highest score of the day — ski or snowboard — at 93.66 on his second run. He and Kenworthy wowed the small crowd with pinpoint spins on and off rails, locking into grinds better than the rest of the field to impress the judges. Wells had the smoothest trick of the day with a 450 onto the down-flat tube and switch out. It wasn’t as jaw dropping as the underflips Head team skier Jesper Tjaader brought to the day, but looks can be deceiving, and the judges panel knew just how difficult it can be to stop spinning and land backwards, with no flailing or falling.



Behind the Atomic duo in second was the just-as-stacked Volkl crew, Alex Bealieu-Marchand and Sochi bronze medalist Nicholas Goepper. Third went to the Head crew, Evan McEachran and Jesper Tjaader. Swedish powerhouse Henrik Harlaut, fresh off a victory in the men’s ski slopestyle finals the day before, couldn’t tap into the magic again and ended in fifth overall with Armada teammate Quinn Wolferman.


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