Shaun White & Spencer O’Brien Win Dew Slopestyle

(December 19, 2008) Yesterdays sideways blizzard cleared out today just in time for the first ever Winter Dew Tour Slopestyle finals. There were no complaints from the riders about this course—the triple set of jumps were big and lofty and very watchable from the top and bottom.

In the men’s division, Andreas Wiig was still coming back from a rolled ankle so he took it easy, opening up a usually reserved podium space for the rest of the field. Mikkel Bang stepped up and consistently flowed with great style and was a crowd favorite all day, and Janne Korpe  beat out the rest of the heavy pack for third with tight, dizzying spins down the course. Shaun White was comboing up 10s and 9s all day, but in classic Shaun style, pulled out his ace card in the final round on the last jump—switch back 12 for first. Daniel Ek’s double backside rodeo 10 on the last hit was a notable highlight as well.

The girls were hitting the same exact course as the guys—no ladies tees here, which made the women’s event one of the best contests on record. These jumps were massive stepdowns, the first jumps of the season for some riders, and they didn’t even flinch. Spencer O’Brien showed her competitive side—when it got to the finals and she saw her chance at first slipping away with Jenny Jones in first and Bev Vuilleumier in second, Spencer just sent it going back 3 to a clean, stylish back five over the big kicker. Jenny wins for consistency, stomping her run, a front 3 to back 3 to front 5 all through practice, qualifiers, and finals, while Bev went front 3 to back 3 to a surprise 7 and put it down for a fresh face on the women’s slopestyle podium.

Dew Tour Slopestyle Winners

1. Shaun White
2. Mikkel Bang
3. Janne Korpe

1. Spencer O’Brein
2. Jenny Jones
3. Bev Vuilleumier

Spencer O’Brien. Switch Backside 180.