The GB Freeski and the British Freestyle Snowboard Teams showed the rest of the world they mean business as they stamped their mark on the Dew Tour last week in Breckenridge, Colorado, with a series of world class performances.
The Dew Tour is one of the most significant and toughly contested events on the freeski and freestyle snowboard circuits, with Olympic Qualification points up for grabs for US athletes and a key prep competition for the US Grand Prix and FIS events.
Four British athletes invited to compete all came away with Top 10 results.
In the women’s competition, Aimee Fuller (@aimee_fuller) came 7th in the Snowboard Slopestyle event against a very strong field. This was Fuller’s first Dew Tour Finals, having missed last years through injury during qualification. In her first run she rocked a cab under flip and backflip followed by a second backflip to back 3. She could have finished even higher up the field had it not been for a small mistake on the landing of a front 3 to backside 720 on her second run. Her overall score hit 53.80.
In the women’s Freeski Halfpipe new kid on the block Rowan Cheshire (@Rowan_C_) raised more than a few eyebrows with her huge amplitude and solid spins, qualifying for the finals in a world class crowd with an impressive 80.60. A powerful first run locked in a total of 64.40 and a second, slightly slower pipe run not picking up enough speed to improve standings, but a strong performance overall to take 7th place. Her performance overall cements her firmly in the top 10 world ranking and is an outstanding start to the season for the Sochi 2014 hopeful.
James ‘Woodsy’ Woods (@JamesWoodsy) rode well in the men’s Freeski Slopestyle event, pulling a second run switch right dub 9 to left dub 10 on the last two tricks to come 6th with a total of 86.80 amongst a world class field, just a week before the first FIS Freestyle World Cup in Copper Mountain, Colorado.
And although Jamie Nicholls (@jamienichollsuk) missed out on a spot in the Dew Tour Snowboard Slopestyle, being first alternate, he did compete in the rail jam where he came second and confirmed that he is one of the best rail riders in the world at present.
Great Britain Park and Pipe Programme Manager Lesley McKenna said: “All four of our Park and Pipe athletes who competed in the Dew Tour did themselves proud in a very strong field across both the ski and snowboard competitions. It was a solid performance for Woodsy ahead of the World Cup in Copper Mountain next week and Jamie Nicholls was impressive in the rail jam. Aimee rode very well and could easily have finished further up the field. As it was, her 7th place finish in a very strong field is a great way to start the season. Ro Cheshire’s performance really stood out and her 7th place finish really has shown that she is a serious world contender.”
Up next is the start of the US Grand Prix series, Copper Mountain WC from Colorado this weekend.
www.gbfreestylesnowboard.com / www.gbfreeski.com