Toutant, O’Brien, Vito and Clark claim 2012 Winter Dew Tour Cup
The third and final stop of the 2012 Winter Dew Tour, Toyota Championships, went down at Snowbasin Resort in Ogden, Utah, over the weekend.
The stakes were high as the third stop did not only offer athletes an opportunity to win the respect of their respective communities, but also get their hands on the coveted Dew Tour Cup in their respective disciplines.
Canada’s Sebastien Toutant had been making an impact in Winter X Games as well as the Ticket to Ride (TTR) Snowboard World Tour for quite some time now, but was yet to add a Dew Tour Cup to his collection. Heading to Utah for the final stop of the 2012 Dew Tour, the opportunity was there for him to end the draught. He had placed second in men’s Snowboard Slopestyle during the first stop of the Tour in Colorado and backed it up with another runner-up finish at the second stop in Vermont.
Making his way into the men’s Snowboard Slopestyle Finals on Sunday, Toutant found himself facing the likes of Sage Kotsenburg, Eric Willett and Gjermund Braaten.
While the rest of the riders struggled to stay on the board while sliding down a course that included three rail sections and two jumps, Toutant put on a solid first run to take an early lead with a score of 90.25. With neither of his rivals managing to surpass his score during their second run, the fate of the Final had already been decided, making the second run a victory lap for the 19-year-old Toutant.
Rather than taking it easy in his victory lap, the Montreal-based rider stepped it up even further and put on a phenomenon run that comprised of a back-side 270, a 59 front 360 and a front board-slide 270 on the three rail sections before pulling off a front-side double cork 1080 and a back-side double cork 1080 on the two jumps. The run earned a 94.50 from the judges, making the victory even sweeter for the Canadian phenom.
Instead of the renowned heavy-weights of snowboarding, it was Dash Kemp who finished in runner-up place while Spencer Link rounded out the podium.
The women’s Snowboard Slopestyle Final saw another Canadian, Spencer O’Brien, dominate the course to take home the win as well as the 2012 Dew Cup. The 24-year-old O’Brien put on a solid Run 2, which comprised of a switch board-slide to fakie on the cannon box, switch back-side 540 mute on the first hit and a front-side 720 on the second hit to earn a decisive score of 94.50, the same score that had carried her compatriot Toutant to victory in the men’s field.
With her victory in the Snowbasin event, the Canadian sensation also took home the 2012 Dew Cup.
Finnish Enni Rukajärvi was nothing short of impressive during the course of the event and especially the Final, but eventually had to settle for runner-up place after finishing with a best-run score of 86.50. American Joanna Dzierzawski completed the podium after scoring an 80.25 off her best run.
While the Canadians dominated the snowboard slopestyle contest in Utah on Sunday, it was the Americans who dominated the men’s and women’s snowboard superpipe discipline respectively.
In the men’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final, Louie Vito dropped down into the halfpipe to land an outstanding run that comprised of a double crippler, double Michalchuk, front double cork 1080, Cab double cork 1080, front-side 1080 and Cab 720. The run earned a record score of 98.00 to seal the fate of the contest in his favour and allowed him to take home the 2012 Dew Cup.
Switzerland’s Iouri “I-Pod” Podladtchikov breathed down Vito’s neck throughout the Final, but eventually one point short of him and thus was forced to settle for runner-up place. The third place went to America’s Spencer Shaw who scored a 90.00 off his top run.
In the women’s Snowboard SuperPipe Final, the queen of pipe Kelly Clark bounced back from third place to secure the highest spot on the podium as well as the overall 2012 Dew Cup. Her Run 2 comprised of a huge front-side air, back-side 540, front-side 1080, cab 720, front-side 540 and a back-side air. The run earned a 95.00, putting her in first place and giving her enough points to clinch the 2012 Dew Tour crown.
Her compatriot Gretchen Bleiler had looked deadly during the Final and enjoyed the lead with her best-run score of 94.25 for quite some time before losing it to Clark. China’s Cai Xuetong scored an 89.75 off her top run to finish in third place and thus complete the podium.
Both male and female riders put on some of the most memorable performances during the course of the event, giving the 2012 Dew Tour a perfect finish. The three-stop series may have come to an end for now but the riders will hardly get any time to relax as their shift their focus towards the TTR events as well as the 2012 Winter X Games Europe 2012.
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