Winter Dew Tour 2009 Northstar at Tahoe Halfpipe Report
By Jon Burham
It was a pretty brutal day with the weather, rain and snow during the whole contest. Ended up causing a lot of crashes. But spite the weather Mason Aguirre threw down an amazing run to take the win. Steve Fisher took third, with Shaun White taking third and with placing first in Slopestyle gave him enough points to win the Dew Tour. Mason’s run included back-to-back 10’s and ending up with a switch ally-oop backside 7 that sealed the deal for the win. Although Scotty Lago finished in tenth he was throwing down in spite of the weather with probably the sickest and highest tricks of the contest, unfortunately he couldn’t land his runs. The event was a great end to the Winter Dew Tour, tons of people showed up even with the rain and the whole Dew Underground scene they had there was pretty jazzy. They had a lot of good art-work and photography on display and as much Mtn Dew you could drink. Also in women’s pipe Torah Bright took first. Kelly Clark second, and Hannah Teter in third.
New York – Mason Aguirre won the snowboard superpipe competition Sunday in the Winter Dew Tour Toyota Championship and Shaun White earned the Dew Cup season title.
The 21-year-old Aguirre, from Duluth, Minn., began his winning run with a frontside 1080 melon grab into a Cab 1080 nose grab. He continued with a frontside 900 with a melon grab, a backside flat spin 540, an air to fakie and he finished with a switch alley-oop backside rodeo 720. He scored 94.50.
Steve Fisher of Breckenridge, Colo., was second at 87.00 and White, of Carlsbad was third at 81.75.
“Just going into today I was just more focused on me,” Aguirre said. “A lot of times when guys are riding so well in the finals it’s hard not to focus some of your attention on their riding. But today I just tried to have it all be about me and just have a good time. I haven’t won a contest since Australian Open so it was good just taking the top spot today and having it be legitimate.”
This was the second Winter Dew Cup for White, who captured the slopestyle title in Friday’s event.
“I wanted this Cup pretty bad so I knew I needed to just do well today,” White said.
In the women’s field, Australian Torah Bright won the event and Kelly Clark, of West Dover, Vt. earned the season title.
Her winning run began with an air to fakie into a cab 720, followed by a crippler. She is the only female snowboarder who does a backside 360 into a switch backside 720, her final tricks of the run. She earned 95.50.
“Surprisingly the weather is the only bad thing,” Bright said about the stormy conditions. “The pipe is actually in really good shape. It was slow in practice but once they salted it and it got a little colder, then it set.”
Clark was second at 90.00 and Hannah Teter of Belmont, Vt., was third at 83.50.
“For me the season has really been about the basics and the fundamentals of my riding skills,” Clark said.
“So right now to win this series is a bonus because I didn’t set out with any goals of winning any series titles this year, so this is just like icing on the cake for me.”
White and freeskier Tanner Hall tied for male athlete of the year based on the highest overall points, and Clark and snowboard Spencer O’Brien tied for female athlete of the year.
Also awarded on Sunday was the Toyota Go Big Award, which was given to freeskier Bobby Brown and snowboarder Steve Fisher. The award is given to an athlete for their ability to “go big” and stand out from the competition. Both a snowboarder and a skier were recognized for showing remarkable determination, incredible tricks and amazing runs.
On Friday, Olympic gold medalist Shaun White won the men’s snowboard slopestyle Dew Cup with the overall points lead, but was edged to second place by Norwegian Torstein Horgmo.
“I was hoping to be up there with the Dew Cup in hand and drop in and have a fun run, and that’s kind of what happened,” White said. He is the first athlete to win a Dew Cup in both the summer and winter Dew Tours.
White finished with 89.67 points to Horgmo’s 93.50. Charles Guldemond of Truckee, Calif. was third at 88.00.
Horgmo’s winning run included a Cab 270 to fakie on the first rail to a switch boardslide 450 out on the second rail. He landed a frontside 1080 with an indy grab on the first jump, to a gap on the down flat down rail. He finished with a frontside 270, a backside 900 with a melon grab and a switch backside 1260 on the last jump.
“I don’t come here to beat anybody but myself,” Horgmo said. “Even though that run at that moment was better than everybody else’s today, it doesn’t mean I’m a better snowboarder than those guys. It’s cool to be up there with my friends today and be able to put down and see them ride hard. It was a good day.”
In the women’s field, Jamie Anderson of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. won the snowboard slopestyle event with a score of 87.50. Canadian Spencer O’Brien placed second at 87.17 and clinched the Dew Cup based on her points lead. Janna Meyen-Weatherby of Bend, Ore. was third at 81.50.
Anderson’s winning run began with a boardslide to switch out on the rail, to a cab 270 switch out on the second rail. She continued with a switch backside 180 to a boardslide switch out, a switch frontside 540, a cab 540 and finished with a backside 180.
“I was stoked to win here,” Anderson said. “My family was out here rooting me on so that’s always good moral support. I had fun at the last two Dew Tour events I went to. I’m stoked for Spencer.”
O’Brien said she was thrilled to be the first athlete awarded a Dew Cup in the inaugural Winter Dew Tour series.
“It’s pretty amazing,” O’Brien said. “I’m so stoked. This whole series has been really awesome and just so much fun. I was really nervous coming into this one, but to clinch the Cup has been awesome.”
- To the dew tour halpipe northstar at tahoe
- Steve Fisher boosting
- Scotty almost double corking this frontside nine, probably would have placed but he fell on this one.
- Dew Art: One of the paintings on display in the Dew Underground tent.
- Shuan starting his run of with his classic frontside rodeo’s.
- Ipod
- Ipod showing his style off hear getting corked with a switch frontside 900
- Scotty claimed by the pipe.
- Greg Bretz sending a huge air in at the bottom of the pipe, just one of the many who had problems with the weather.
- Iouri Podlachikov aka “Ipod” starting his run off nicely.
- Standings: This is how it ended up.
- The podium of the Men’s Halfpipe at Northstar.
Men’s Snowboard Superpipe Finals
1. Mason Aguirre, Duluth, Minn., 94.50.
2. Steve Fisher, Breckenridge, Colo., 87.00.
3. Shaun White, Carlsbad, Calif., 81.75.
4. Jack Mitrani, Stratton, Vt., 77.00.
5. Jarret John Thomas, Breckenridge, Colo., 73.75.
6. Ross Baker, Reno, Nev., 72.25.
7. Louie Vito, Bellefontaine, Ohio, 71.75.
8. Elijah Teter, Belmont, Vt., 70.25.
9. Michael Goldschmidt, Truckee, Calif., 58.25.
10. Scotty Lago, Seabrook, N.H., 56.00.