This year's contest season has been unbelievable to say the least. You hear it all the time, "the level of riding just keep getting crazier," but this season (and it's only February) has been simply insane on both ends of the spectrum. The Dew Tour season is come and gone and the final stop at Snowbasin, Utah for the Toyota Championship was the most memorable one yet.
First, let's begin with superpipe. Kelly Clark landed the first 10 by a chick in competition at the X Games a few weeks back, and during the Dew finals stuck it again cleaner and bigger, earning her first place and crowning her overall Dew Cup Champion.
In case you're confused by the whole Dew Cup thing, there are three Dew Tours throughout the season. The riders accumulate points during each (the higher they place, the more points they earn) and the one with the most points at the final stop wins the Cup.
Kelly's winning run had a frontside 7, cab 7, frontside 10, cab 3, frontside 5 and backside 5. Her performance and results were probably the least surprising because of her overall consistency.
Luke Mitrani | Photo: Alli Sports
On the men's side, Louie Vito looked to make it three for three, but couldn't quite nail a solid run during the two run final. Ending in seventh overall, Vito still won the Cup due to his past two wins. Landing the most impressive run and winning the Toyota Championship crown, was 20-year-old Luke Mitrani. During his final run, Mitrani put together a double Michalchuk, frontside 9, backside 5, front 10 and cab double 10, scoring a 97 out of a 100 (the highest Dew Tour pipe score ever) and first place honors.
Luke's really came into his own this season, going bigger, getting more tech and making podium at most of the big events. His score did bump his bro, Jack, from the podium. There's nothing like a little sibling rivalry to enhance the drama. Other highlights included Olympian and Nike 6.0's Greg Bretz landed both of his runs flawlessly, but on his second earned a 95 with three 1080 variations including back to back double corks. Breck team rider, Steve Fisher finally nailed his frontside 10 double cork earning him third.
On the slopestyle side, on a near perfect Sunday afternoon, it was 34-year-old legend Janna Meyen-Weatherby who stomped a banger run including a 5050 on the top rail, 5050 to boardslide on the A-frame and cab 5 mute to a backside 360 stalefish. Janna held tough after getting stitches from a fall during prelims and ended up showing the "rookies" who's still boss scoring a 96. The Twitter response to Janna's win says it all. Miss Jamie Anderson, who was favored with two prior wins, ended up in second at Snowbasin, but still reclaimed her Dew Cup title.
The men had one of the most impressive finals of the entire Dew Tour. The contest started with Chas Guldemond stomping an impressive first run and scoring a 91.25. Breckenridge's Eric Willett and Canadian Mark McMorris have been super consistent on the circuit this season giving leader Torstein Horgmo, a run for his money.
After finishing in second at the last Dew stop in Vermont, Willett upped his own first run with a score of 97.25, placing first at the Championship. Tricks included a 5050 to backside lipslide on the first rail, boardslide switch up frontside boardslide on the A-frame, switch backside 12 double cork to frontside 10 double cork.
Although he fell on his first run, 17-year-old McMorris was all smiles after landing in second overall with a score of a 95. Torstein has been fighting injuries through the contest season, but you couldn't tell by his second run complete with a cab double 10 to a switch backside 9 on the two jumps. His score of a 93.75 was enough for third and enough points for his first Dew Cup. What a season it was. And there is only one way to go, and that's up…literally. Congrats to all of the riders who slayed it all season.
Complete Results:
Men's Slopestyle Final Results | ||
Rank | Name | Score |
1. | Eric Willett | 97.25 |
2. | Mark McMorris | 95.00 |
3. | Torstein Horgmo | 93.75 |
4. | Chas Guldemond | 93.00 |
5. | Torgeir Bergrem | 87.75 |
6. | Spencer Link | 85.00 |
7. | Nick Julius | 75.00 |
8. | Cody Boan | 70.00 |
9. | Justin Morgan | 49.50 |
10. | Eric Beauchemin | 39.25 |
11. | Jeremy Thompson | 29.25 |
12. | Brandon Reis | DNS |
Men's Superpipe Final Results | ||
Rank | Name | Score |
1. | Luke Mitrani | 97.00 |
2. | Greg Bretz | 95.00 |
3. | Steve Fisher | 92.00 |
4. | Jack Mitrani | 89.00 |
5. | Spencer Shaw | 84.50 |
6. | JJ Thomas | 80.75 |
7. | Louie Vito | 73.50 |
8. | Ben Watts | 60.25 |
9. | Matt Ladley | 48.75 |
10. | Brett Esser | 30.00 |
11. | Zachary Black | 24.50 |
12. | Scotty Pike | DNS |
Women's Slopestyle Final Resluts | ||
Rank | Name | Score |
1. | Janna Weatherby | 96.00 |
2. | Jamie Anderson | 95.00 |
3. | Spencer O'Brien | 91.75 |
4. | Jordie Karlinski | 89.00 |
5. | Rebecca Torr | 48.75 |
6. | Nicki Slechta | 39.00 |
Women's Superpipe Final Results | ||
Rank | Name | Score |
1. | Kelly Clark | 95.75 |
2. | Kaitlyn Farrington | 91.00 |
3. | Soko Yamaoka | 86.25 |
4. | Hannah Teter | 74.75 |
5. | Querait Castellet | 70.00 |
6. | Ellery Hllingsworth | 65.00 |