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Dew Tour Day 4: Results from women’s and men’s freeski and snowboard slopestyle

New Zealand's Jossi Wells competes in the men's Dew Tour freeski slopestyle on Dec. 13 at Breckenridge.
Phil Lindeman / Plindeman@summitdaily.com |

What a weekend.

No matter what happens to dew tour next season — event organizer Alli Sports of NBC will no longer exist after this month — foremost action sports soda and about 150 athletes (plus 75 Olympians) put on one hell of a show in flat light, driving snow and, finally on Sunday, a stunning bluebird day.

In other words, it was a pretty typical December weekend in Breckenridge, all amplified by thousands of spectators who came out to catch those elite skiers and snowboarders in their element. And those elements were constantly changing — from a power-packed halfpipe for finals on Saturday to the pristine slopestyle course for the final day of action. It was the sort of weekend when athlete interviews included some question about the snow, as in, “Will you get the chance to ride and powder after you’re done hucking 1080s and taking straight airs 20 feet out of the pipe?”



Or something along those lines.

Point is, Dew Tour is the first large-scale competition of the season, and, like all of us anxious powder hounds, the pros were just as stoked to get back on the snow. Stoked was the word of the weekend, whether it came from 15-year-old Chloe Kim after her second place finish in snowboard pipe or Kelly Clark, the 32-year-old third place finisher, when talking about her and Kim’s plans for powder turns after the podium.



Every last one of those athletes love what they do, and just about all of them agree that Dew Tour is the best way to get back in the swing of winter.

Here’s to the season.

Men’s ski slopestyle

Of all the competitors this weekend, the slopestyle athletes definitely had the luck of the draw. After qualifying in less-than-ideal conditions on Thursday — it was gray and dreary and a little slow — the men’s ski field came out at 11 a.m. yesterday to throw down under a cloudless sky.

And man, did they throw down. Just about everyone had a mix of inverted 1080s and 1260s, plus a handful of switch 10s on the final hit within viewing distance of a jam-packed patio at One Ski Hill.

When all 12 competitors have dizzying spins, the results come down to style and pure energy. Gus Kenworthy had it all, putting together a nearly flawless first run to score a 92.20 to take first place early. He stayed there throughout, leaving room for fellow Olympic veteran Jossi Wells in second place with a 90.00 and Fabian Bosch of Switzerland just barely behind him with an 89.40.

Men’s snowboard slopestyle

Like the ski slope, the snowboard event was dominated by multiple spins with style to spare. Mark McMorris is a bit like Kenworthy’s equivalent on a snowboard: young, powerful and unpredictable, the sort of creative ripper who takes the rail line no one else wants to touch and might even invent his run as he goes along.

McMorris did it all and more on Sunday, scoring a 94.40 for the highest finals score of the weekend. Behind him in second was Norwegian monster Stale Sandbech and in third was Darcy Sharpe.

Women’s ski slopestyle

Ski slopestyle was postponed due to nasty weather on Saturday, and one day was all it took for 13-year-old Kelly Sidaru of Estonia to set her heart on a win.

She came out with a purpose early yesterday morning, sliding past a collection of five athletes (all international up-and-comers) to take first with a 90.80. That makes her one of the youngest Dew Tour champs in history, even younger than Chloe Kim when she was making waves on the scene.

In second was Tiril Sjastad Christiansen with a 86.00 and in third was Emma Dahlstrom with an 83.40.


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