While I had an amazing time in Colorado, a lot has happened since my last post! For those of you who weren't watching the craziness go down at the X Games last weekend there were some pretty epic moments. Vail was surprisingly quiet, most likely due to the higher traffic in Aspen to watch the games. We were very lucky to arrive shortly after Vail received over a foot of snow, and the second day of my trip it snowed another 8 or so inches which meant they were finally able to open all of the bowls. We were able to find some good powder stashes, yet in some areas the limited coverage was more obvious with an unusual amount of exposed rocks and stumps.
Stuck in powder
It was also frightening to hear about the high number of avalanches that have occurred recently due to the extremely unstable snow pack. Sadly one young boy was even killed in bounds the week before our arrival and many of the woods areas were closed off due to high avalanche risk. Despite this, we enjoyed the areas of fresh snow we could find and made a point to keep a closer eye on each other. The trip was a success but coming home to a bare east coast was rather depressing. Friends here reported warm, rainy weather and a few local mountains even closed for a day to save snow.
With all the money spent on snow making this season and the overall lack of business this will be a tough year on the books for a lot of mountains. Killington is hopeful that the after effects of the Dew Tour a few weeks ago will see increased turnouts to the host mountain from those who want to ride the same terrain as the pros. They also believe that the national coverage will help show those still suffering from backyard syndrome that there is actually a good amount of snow at the mountains, even if it's not in their yard. After the awful effects of Irene on the area, the town of Killington really needs the business: check out this Transworld Business article to learn more.
Why so afraid little buddy?
Although Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow yesterday, I'm
doubtful many of the mountains around here will even make it another 6
weeks. I still maintain some hope that we will get a late-season dumping
as we have in years past. Last year I was riding at Sugarloaf on May
8th and though I'm skeptical that I'll be able to stretch my season as
long this year I still look forward to spring riding in a t-shirt and 60
degree weather. I would simply prefer that wasn't already happening in
February!
Yesterday saw the finals of the slopestyle event. The snow was coming down pretty heavily coating features. The riders still charged the course, but some were thrown off the slick conditions and suffered lower scores for it. Slopestyle veterans Chas Guldemond and Mark McMorris sent less than stellar runs and getting enough speed was clearly an issue for many of the riders.
Seb Touts commented: "It was tough conditions today since it was snowing and the speed was
really bad. The first run I put down wasn’t a perfect run, but at least I
got an 85.50 to help me hold onto second place. I missed my second rail
on the second run, but it’s all good because with two second places I’m
first on the overall Dew Tour.” (Allisports.com) Seb scored second yesterday and Justin Morgan scored third with an 80.25.
Eric Willett took first again, stomping the competition and the course at Killington. Willett Scored a 91 with a front 270 on the down rail, gap front lip 270 out on the gap down, front board switchout on the cannon into a a switch back 10 double, cab 9 double, and finishing out on a front 10 double on the three jumps.
Today is the last day of the Dew Tour at Killington and the much awaited Snowboard Superpipe Final. Big hitters like Jack and Luke Mitrani, Scott Lago, Louie Vito, Danny Davis and I Pod will be coming out and will no doubt be busting out some huge air and big spins. We'll see if Matt Ladley will continue to dominate the pipe like he has the past few days, it's definitely going to be some great competition! If you can't be there in person watch it live on NBC.
Yesterday provided us viewers with some truly sick runs to watch in both slopestyle and superpipe. These athletes are really stepping up the game and the Dew Tour is bringing out a lot of lesser know young guns looking for their chance to really break in and grab their place in the sun. Check out a few of the highlights from day 2:
Day 3 is all about the Snowboard Slopestyle finals. The riders have been pulling out all the stops to throw down some really gnarly tricks on this massive course and it's all leading up to today. The current top 5 on tour are:
Gjermund Braaten, Sebastien Toutant, Charles Reid, Chas Guldemond, and Mikkel Bang. Only 9 out of 32 riders will advance from yesterday's semi-finals to today's finals with Eric Willett taking that top spot.
Winter Dew Tour VIP Party featuring RAC DJ at the Wobbly Barn
9:00-11:00 p.m.
Results are in from yesterday's Snowboard Last Chance Qualifiers for Superpipe and Slopestyle. Ville Uotila took the top spot in slopestyle with a run of a 270 front boardslide into a backside lip and 50-50 backside 180,
followed by a cab 720, switch backside 900, capped with a frontside 1080. To put it in perspective watch the following run through of the course, pretty sick.
In the Superpiper LCQ's Tore Holvick took first throwing down a backside air into frontside 1080 and cab 720, then a frontside 900 followed by a backside rodeo.
Amazing to see the progression the sport has made over the years- watching these riders push the limits on every possible trick is inspiring. However, I'm disappointed that the Dew Tour has cut Women's Snowboarding from the Killington stop this year. They site lack of athlete turnout last year as the reason for the cut which is unfortunate because competitions like this are only going to grow the pool of high-caliber female athletes and raise the level of competition, both necessary things before we head to the Olympics in 2014.
Today marks the start of the second of three Dew Tour stops and it's being hosted from the 19th-22nd by Killington. The four day long event showcases some of the top athletes in the sport throwing down everything they've got in a massive 22-foot superpipe as well as a truly intimidating slopestyle course. If you've never been to the Dew Tour it is one of the largest events in the East and is worth going just to experience the booths, parties and raucous crowds. There are lots of freebies given out by sponsors in the "Festival Village" and the weather the next few days could make for some fun riding in between viewing events.
Here is the schedule for today:
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Festival Village open from 9:30 a.m.-3:45 p.m.
Womens Ski Slopestyle Practice
8:00-8:45 a.m.
Womens Ski Slopestyle Qualifier
8:45-9:50 a.m.
Mens Ski Superpipe Practice
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Mens Snowboard Slopestyle Practice
9:50-10:50 a.m.
Mens Ski Superpipe Last Chance Qualifier
10:30-11:30 a.m.
Mens Snowboard Slopestyle Last Chance Qualifier
11:05 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Mens Snowboard Superpipe Practice
11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m.
Mens Ski Slopestyle Practice
12:45-1:45 p.m.
Mens Snowboard Superpipe Last Chance Qualifier
1:30-2:15 p.m.
Mens Ski Slopestyle Last Chance Qualifier
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Womens Ski Superpipe Practice
2:15-4:15 p.m.
Womens Ski Superpipe Qualifier
4:30-5:30 p.m.
pics from Dew Tour on Facebook
STE will be following up with coverage on these events as well as spotlights on some of the key riders to watch. Check back for updates soon.
