Burr Ridge, IL – Registration is now open for the third season of the Winter Dew Tour and the list of pre-qualified ski and snowboard athletes has just been released, highlighted by Olympian snowboarders and defending Dew Cup champions.nThe three-stop Tour kicks off at Colorado’s Breckenridge Ski Resort for the Nike 6.0 Open, Dec. 16-19, continues on to Vermont at Killington Resort, Jan. 20-23, and concludes with the Toyota Championships at Snowbasin Resort in Utah, Feb. 10-13. Top snowboard and freeski athletes will compete in slopestyle and superpipe disciplines for the coveted Dew Cup awarded at season’s end and for a total of $1.5 million in prize money.
The men’s freeski athlete roster is highlighted by defending Dew Cup champions Jossi Wells of New Zealand in superpipe and Norway’s Andreas Hatveit in slopestyle. With stiff competition from the likes of Simon Dumont, of Bethel, Maine, and France’s Xavier Bertoni in superpipe, and Bobby Brown of Breckenridge, Colo., and Pittsburgh, Penn.’s Tom Wallisch in slopestyle, it promises for a dynamic season with numerous contenders for the Cup.
“Last season was unbelievable for me, and I couldn’t have been happier to end it as the Dew Cup champion,” said Wells. “The level of talent and competition is going to be insane this year. I’m so stoked for the Tour to start again!”
All eyes will be on Olympian snowboarders in both men and women’s superpipe disciplines this season. Defending Dew Cup champion JJ Thomas of Breckenridge spotlights the men’s pre-qualified list, along with two-time gold medalist Shaun White, of Carlsbad, Calif., and his Vancouver teammate and bronze medalist Scotty Lago of New Hampshire. In women’s superpipe, top contenders include Olympic bronze medalist Kelly Clark, from West Dover, Vt., and Kaitlyn Farrington of Sun Valley, Idaho, who holds the 2009-10 Dew Cup title.
“I’m really excited to compete on 22-foot superpipes this year on the Winter Dew Tour,” said Thomas. “Breck is an awesome mountain to ride, and I’m proud to call it my home mountain. There’s not a better way to kick off the winter season than with the Winter Dew Tour at Breckenridge.”
In snowboard slopestyle, 16-year-old young gun Sage Kotsenburg of Park City will defend his Dew Cup champion status against the likes of Norway’s Torstein Horgmo and another 16-year-old, Tyler Flanagan of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on the men’s front. Jamie Anderson, of South Lake Tahoe, Calif., will defend her 2009-10 Dew Cup status in women’s slopestyle, while athletes like Britain’s Jenny Jones and Spencer O’Brien, the 2008-09 Dew Cup champion from Canada, will be vying for the top spot at the end of the season.
The upcoming season will also feature expanded women’s freeski slopestyle and superpipe competitions at the Nike 6.0 Open in Breckenridge, Colo. and again to close out the season at the Toyota Championships in Ogden, Utah. Although not a Dew Cup discipline, the women’s freeski events will include full athlete fields competing in both preliminary and final rounds of competition.
Athletes are pre-qualified based on their 2009-10 Winter Dew Tour rankings. Athlete registration for the 2010-11 Winter Dew Tour season is currently open and the full, final roster will be announced prior to each event. As a way to continue growing winter action sports and spotlighting new talent, the Winter Dew Tour will hold Open Qualifiers at the Nike 6.0 Open in Breckenridge to allow spots for emerging talent on the Tour. The first round of confirmed athletes for the Nike 6.0 Open will be announced on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010.
WINTER DEW TOUR 2010-11 PRE-QUALIFIED ATHLETES:
Men’s Snowboard Superpipe
- JJ Thomas
- Steve Fisher
- Danny Davis
- Dylan Bidez
- Jack Mitrani
- Brennen Swanson
- Zachary Black
- Scotty Pike
- Elijah Teter
- Ross Baker
- Broc Waring
- Scotty Lago
- Roger Kleivdal
- Shaun White
- Scott Moline
Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle
- Sage Kotsenburg
- Torstein Horgmo
- Tyler Flanagan
- Charles Guldemond
- Eric Willett
- Brandon Reis
- Sam Hulbert
- Ulrik Badertscher
- Halldor Helgason
- Nick Poohachoff
- Ian Thorley
- Andreas Wiig
- Yale Cousino
- Nick Julius
- Nate Kern
- Tim Humphreys
- Madison Ellsworth
- Wyatt Caldwell
- Shaun White
- Cody Boan
Women’s Snowboard Superpipe
- Kaitlyn Farrington
- Kelly Marren
- Kjersti Ostgaard
- Queralt Castellet
- Elena Hight
- Jamie Anderson
- Madeline Schaffrick
- Sarka Panc
- Kelly Clark
- Summer Fenton
Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle
- Jamie Anderson
- Jenny Jones
- Spencer O’Brien
- Kjersti Ostgaard
- Janna Meyen-Weatherby
- Megan Ginter
- Lynn Neil
- Kimberly Fasani
- Taylor Owen
Men’s Freeski Superpipe
- Josiah Wells
- Simon Dumont
- Xavier Bertoni
- Mike Riddle
- Tucker Perkins
- Justin Dorey
- Kevin Rolland
- Peter Olenick
- Banks Gilberti
- Matt Duhamel
- Dan Marion
- Antti-Jussi Kemppainen
- Colby West
- Tanner Hall
- Torin Yater-Wallace
Men’s Freeski Slopestyle
- Andreas Hatveit
- Bobby Brown
- Tom Wallisch
- Sammy Carlson
- Alexis Godbout
- JF Houle
- Josiah Wells
- Elias Ambuhl
- Philip Casabon
- Charles Gagnier
- Sean Jordan
- Alex Schlopy
- TJ Schiller
- McRae Williams
- Ian Cosco
- Elvis Eidsvold Harsheim
- Anders Backe
- Banks Gilberti
- PK Hunder
- Steffen Hamre