DAVE TREADWAY COMBINES BIG SKI SKILLS WITH OLD-SCHOOL ENDURO TO WIN RED BULL COLD RUSH

Athletes choose Treadway as first-ever winner of multi-discipline competition that combines slopestyle session, summit approach, and big mountain descent

Next up… People’s Choice Award via online vote at http://www.rip.tv

Rossland, BC (Feb. 10, 2008) – What drives today’s ski world? Sledding out to shred the biggest backcountry peak, dropping massive cliffs, terrain parks or a little old-school hike and ride? This weekend at Red Mountain Resort in Rossland, BC, Red Bull Cold Rush proved it isn’t the format that matters, but the talent. 18 of the sports elite competed for the title of most versatile and best all-around skier, first hitting a natural cliff zone for a slopestyle session, followed by a freeski big mountain component, and finally a summit approach to make sure the athletes are well… athletic. So who is the king of all disciplines? According to a video-judging session conducted by the athletes themselves, it’s Golden, BC, resident Dave Treadway.

By weekend`s end, Treadway was undoubtedly the most consistent performer, taking first place in the big mountain descent of Mt. Robert, eighth place in the slopestyle session, and showing that sometimes it pays to leave the sled at home, Dave posted the fastest time in the summit approach at one hour and 11 minutes. The multi-skills on multi-disciplines earned Treadway a winner-take-all purse of $5,000.00. Points were awarded for each component: Summit - maximum 20 points; Freeskiing – max 40 points; Slopestyle – max 40 points.

15-year-old Sean Pettit of Pemberton, BC, showed why he’s widely regarded as the next in skiing, taking home $500 for his first place showing in the slopestyle session. Pettit also recorded a second in the big mountain freeski to finish second overall. JP Auclair performed consistently all weekend to earn third overall.

With the athlete’s choice determined, all that’s left is for the people’s voice to be heard. Ski fans everywhere can vote for their favourite athlete performance by logging onto http://www.rip.tv and voting for the Red Bull Cold Rush People’s Choice Award. Voting opens Feb. 12 by 11:59 pm PST and closes March 1, with each voter automatically entered into a draw for a free pair of skis signed by the ultimate People’s Choice winner.

Featuring the top emerging and established talents in skiing, the athlete roster for Red Bull Cold Rush featured Whistler wunderkinds Sean and Callum Pettit, icons of the sport like JP Auclair, and a collection of other talents such as Andy Mahre, Dana Flahr, and Anthony Boronowski …just to name a few. Hosting the action will be one of the world’s foremost big mountain playgrounds, Red Mountain Resort. Located in Rossland, BC, Red offers a labyrinth of underground abandoned mining tunnels for the history buff, and 3,000 vertical feet of mountain surface detailed by chutes, glades and big lines – a perfect environment for mining the skills of today’s most progressive skiers.

Additional supporters of this event include Diamir, Colltex, and Red Mountain Resort.

For a full athlete roster, additional information on Cold Rush, and post-event images and video, please visit http://www.rip.tv or http://www.redbull.ca/coldrush.