Dew Tour Day 4

Words & photos by Alli Sports

Tom Wallisch is making it a habit to bring excitement to the final minutes of Winter Dew Tour freeski slopestyle, achieving the highest Winter Dew Tour freeski score ever and the top spot on the podium with his second run. Wallisch tore through the rail section, starting with a switch lip slide 270 on blind 270 out on the top down rail, a right foot forward switch-up blind 450 out of the flat-down and a switch on front 450 out of the cannon rail. He then hit the jumps full force, pulling a left double cork 1260 mute grab, a switch left double cork 1080 japan grab and a switch right double cork 1080 japan grab.


“I’m trying to convince myself that I’m a second run skier,” said Wallisch. “I get a good mindset, picture myself at the bottom and let my body do the work.” Today’s result, coupled with a win at the Nike Open in Breckenridge, puts Wallisch in first place heading into the Dew Tour Toyota Championships in Snowbasin. “I’m so happy. I’m in such a good mood,” said Wallisch. “There’s a lot of pressure for me to keep skiing well.”


Hot on Wallisch's heels in second was Bobby Brown with a score of 93.00, followed by rising star Nick Goepper in third with a 91.25, who also picked up his second podium finish in a row on this year's Winter Dew Tour.



On the women's side of things, Kaya Turski made it look easy after struggling on her first run of the day. The Montreal native kept it stylish and technical starting off with a front switch-up on the down bar, into a switch disaster to the down box, to a 180 on the cannon and switch 3 off. On the jumps, she started things off with a switch 5, into a 5, and finished with switch 7, scoring a 92.25 on her second run to unseat Devin Logan, who was leading at the time.



It looked like Logan, who ended up in second with newcomer Emilia Wint in third, had all but locked up the first major women's slopestyle podium of the season, until Turski dropped in last to take the lead in the race for the Dew Cup. The pressure was on, but you couldn’t tell by Turski’s performance.

 
"I have my whole family and friends here with me just trying to keep me calm," Turski said. "I tried not to think about the first run, and tried to keep it together. It was a new run, so I was all in."


 
All of the competitors will have the option to sign over their winnings as a contribution on behalf of freeski icon Sarah Burke. “Sarah was a friend and an idol,” said Maddie Bowman, following her win in Women's Ski Superpipe Finals yesterday. “She was so kind hearted, and we’re skiing for her always. She’ll never be forgotten.”  For more information, please go to www.giveforward.com/sarahburke.

 
Click here to watch more of the final runs from today’s top finishers, and tune into the NBC Sports Network this evening to watch today's competition. This concludes the second stop of the Winter Dew Tour in Killington, Vermont. Stay tuned for the third and final stop, the Toyota Championships, which takes place February 9th - 12th in Snowbasin, Utah. For more information on the Dew Tour, check out www.AlliSports.com, and to see how this event affects the AFP rankings, go to afpworldtour.com.