Aspen’s Alex Ferreira remains undefeated, wins Dew Tour ski superpipe
Maddie Mastro wins first snowboard superpipe competition in 5 years
Liz Copan/For the Summit Daily News
Copper Mountain Resort was the place to be on Saturday, March 9. Not only did skiers and riders pile into the ski resort’s parking lots for the 4 inches of new snow that fell in the last 24 hours, but guests also arrived to watch professional athletes perform on the second day of the 2024 Winter Dew Tour.
Prior to the action beginning on Saturday morning, the men’s ski streetstyle competition ended the first day of competition on Friday night.
Men’s ski streetstyle
Park City, Utah’s Colby Stevenson led the men’s ski streetstyle competition, successfully advancing out of his heat and all the way to the final round of three athletes, which consisted of Tucker FitzSimons of Hood River, Oregon and Alex Hall, also of Park City, Utah.
For the second Dew Tour in a row, the three American skiers faced off against one another under the bright lights shining upon the terrain park. In uncanny fashion Stevenson, FitzSimons and Hall not only competed against each other in the final round of the streestyle competition, but also finished in the same exact order.
Stevenson put on a show, scoring 96 to win the competition two years in a row, FitzSimons placed second (90) and Hall took third (84).
Men’s ski superpipe
Under bluebird skies on Saturday morning, the men’s ski superpipe final led off Day 2 of the Winter Dew Tour. With eight freeski athletes lining up at the top of Copper’s 22-foot superpipe, Aspen’s Tristan Feinberg was the first athlete to smoothly drop in over the icy halfpipe wall.
Feinberg, 20, looked decently smooth on his first run, flying out of the pipe and scoring 50 on his first of three runs.
Feinberg was soon followed by fellow Aspenite, Alex Ferreira who looked to return to the Dew Tour podium after finishing in fourth last winter.
Undefeated so far this season, Ferreira did not hold back on his first run, landing two 1620s — a full 4.5 rotations in the air — to earn the top-run score of 92.66 after the first round of runs.
Trying to match Ferreira’s score in the 90s was Dew Tour defending champion Brendan Mackay of Canada and the blue-jean-clad Nick Goepper of Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Mackay scored 90 with multiple double corks to rank second while Goepper sat in third with a score of 87.66
The trio of experienced skiers worked to separate themselves further from the rest of the field on their second runs.
After a stressful morning of
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The run pulsed energy into the crowd and awakened Goepper’s hunger to challenge Ferreira for the top spot.
Ferreira made Goepper’s pursuit for a Dew Tour title a little bit harder on his second run, perfecting his run to jump his top score to 94.33.
Heading into the final round of runs, it was Ferreira, Goepper and Mackay in the three podium spots. Goepper and Mackay both tried to land runs that were diverse and skilled enough to overtake Ferreira, but they could not match the firepower of the 2022 Olympic bronze medalist.
Finishing off his perfect, undefeated season, Ferreira won the Dew Tour with a top-run score of 94.33.
“It started with a dub, and it ended with a dub,” Ferreira said. “I can’t believe it. It is the most unbelievable feeling I have ever had. This is sincerely the best day of my life. I could not thank anyone and everyone that has been on my side. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
After winning seven out of the seven competitions he lined up for this season, Ferreira will now enter the offseason eager to chase more podiums over the next two winters.
“The biggest goal is still coming, and that is 2026 Olympic gold,” Ferreira said. “I am going to work my ass off every single day. I am going to go to the gym, go train and have a beautiful time doing it —enjoy every second of it.”
Despite not being able to top Ferreira, Goepper finished in second with a score of 91, and Mackay took third with a score of 90.33.
Feinberg placed sixth with a top run score of 76.
Women’s snowboard superpipe
Following a competitive men’s ski superpipe final, women riders took to the massive halfpipe for the women’s snowboard superpipe final.
Lining up against seasoned veterans, California’s Maddie Mastro, Japan’s Mitsuki Ono, and 12-year-old Summit resident Patti Zhou dropped in to lead off the competition.
Despite being younger than the rest of the field, Zhou once again proved she belongs in the halfpipe, putting together a backside 540, frontside 720, cab 720 and backside 720 to get on the scoreboard with a first run score of 70.33.
Zhou — who competes for China — was followed by Spain’s Queralt Castellet, who returned to the Copper superpipe after taking a major slam at the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper back in December.
The five-time Olympian pushed past her fears of another fall to score a 25 on her first run.
Mastro soon dropped into the pipe and got huge amplitude over the halfpipe walls and ended the run with a front 540 crippler. Mastro scored 80.33 to trail Ono in first (90.33) and China’s Jiayu Liu in second (85.33).
Sitting right off the podium heading into her second run, Zhou tried to clean up her run on her second go at the pipe. With style and confidence, Zhou controlled herself down the pipe, but scrubbed out on one of the final hits of the wall.
Meanwhile, Mastro tried to drastically improve upon her first run, landing an inverted 720, but came up a little bit short on her signature double crippler.
With a top score of 90.33, Ono continued to lead the competition heading into the field’s third and final runs.
Zhou made an attempt to crack onto the podium, but came up a few points short, falling on her final run while trying to land a backside 900. Zhou finished in seventh with a top run score of 70.33.
Trying to pull closer to Ono, Liu put everything on the line, putting another strong run together. Liu scored 86.33, which was not enough to top her second run score of 88.
Still maintaining third, Mastro went huge on her final run, singing down the steep slope and stomping the double crippler on the final hit of the superpipe wall.
The run shot Mastro past Ono with a score of 92.66, which was enough to defeat Ono for the Dew Tour title.
“It has been amazing,” Mastro said. “I haven’t even won a contest in five years. I have kind of been that second-place, third-place girl for a while, so I am very grateful to end that five-year streak and land on the podium again.”
Ono took second (90.33) and Liu finished in third (88). Additionally, Castellet finished in fifth (77) and Avon’s Zoe Kalapos placed eighth (58.33).
The Winter Dew Tour will conclude on Sunday with finals in women’s ski superpipe and men’s snowboard superpipe. China’s Eileen Gu will be featured in the women’s superpipe, which is slated for 9 a.m.
For a full list of results and a schedule, visit DewTour.com.
