Feb 22, 2009
Author: sbcskier.com
Northstar-at-Tahoe – Tanner Hall wins the Tahoe Dew Tour pipe event and clinches the overall 2009 Dew Tour Pipe Championship title. Hall (pictured in photo on right) finished just ahead of Simon Dumont and Colby West in an American podium sweep at Tahoe. The top Canadian was Matt Margetts in 7th. Fellow Canadians Mike Riddle and Justin Dorey finished 9th and 11th respectively.
Hall won it on his second run which included a 1260, consecutive 900’s, an alley-oop flatspin 360 to a switch 900.
“When I went down on my last run I knew I was either going to be first or second, and that’s always a good feeling,” Hall said. “It gave me confidence to just go out and lay it all on the line for that last run.”
Despite his 11th place finish in Tahoe, Justin Dorey still scored
enough points to take 3rd overall for the three event 2009 Dew Tour
Pipe Championship!
Check out this video of Simon Dumont's 2nd place pipe run!
Now check out this video of Tanner's winning run!
Here's the full Pipe low down from Justin Broglio, Dew Tour
In a loose scenario not unfamiliar to the freeski community, Tanner Hall and Simon Dumont battled it out for not only the Toyota Championship Superpipe Final, but for the coveted Dew Cup itself, here at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The final was crammed with skiers both illustrious and relatively up-and-coming; unfortunately, the unknowns for whom everyone was rooting weren't able to execute the monstrous tricks required to knock out Hall and Dumont from their two-man show.
So how did Tanner do it this time? He went to business by nailing a huge 1260 right off, followed equally massive right 900 that lead into an ally-oop flat 360 japan air. Further down the pipe, it was his “disgusting”--as one spectator called it (you know, like "bad", as in "good")--switch 900 with a grab. A run like this is pretty much the superpipe equivalent of grabbing the judges' lapels and shouting, "Hey! Anybody Home?"
Throughout the night, Dumont--who failed to podium in the Men’s Slopestyle Final earlier in the day--pitted pure determination against what had to be sheer exhaustion. Atop the pipe, when asked how the flat light conditions were affecting him, Dumont mumbled an answer as he shouldered his skis while unloading from the snowmobile shuttle.
After crashing numerous times during practice runs and continually battling some sort of head-cold/flu mix, Dumont managed to throw down a solid run the first time around, but a sketchy landing out of a massive right 900 forced him to turn a 1260 mid pipe into a 900. His score remained stuck at 88.25. In his second run, Dumont followed up with the same run again; this time he dialed that 1260, bumping his score to a then-high-score of 92.50. It was around this moment Dumont actually smiled for the first time of the day. Lingering at the bottom of start-order, however, Tanner Hall saw to it that Dumont's score wouldn't stay at the top for long.
After the awards ceremony, Dumont, dog-tired and clearly disappointed, said he was glad to be done with the whole thing. “I don’t even want to talk about it anymore," he said, adding it was just another day. "I laid down what I could and now I want to go home and get some sleep."
As for the rest of the field of world-class pipe-riders...
Canada's Justin Dorey, who entered the final as a pre-qualifier and clearly the crowd favorite, tried for one of the biggest tricks of the night: a double flip on the first hit and another on the fourth hit. On the first double he lofted well over 18 feet above the lip of the superpipe before smashing down to the deck--leaving over 2,000 fans (myself certainly included) horrified he’d broken bones. Undaunted, Dorey righted himself, waved his hand in the air, and took a snowmobile ride to the top before giving it another go. In his second run he dialed the first double but sketched out on the second.
“I had to go for it, it’s the last stop of the Tour,” Dorey said, who landed the trick in practice. However, the young skier's efforts did not go unnoticed.
“Let’s give it up for Justin Dorey,” Tanner Hall yelled from the top of the podium during the award ceremony. “Now there’s the future of pipe skiing.”
Mike Riddle also threw down his beautiful cork 900--the same one which earned him the top spot at Thursday’s Prelim--but it wasn’t enough at tonight's final.
Xavier Bertoni, who qualified just behind Riddle in the Prelim, boosted way out of the pipe, spinning both ways with a left 900 into right 900 before finishing with an ally-opp flat 360. Xavier landed in fifth place with an 84.25.
TAHOE DEW TOUR MEN’S SUPERPIPE FINAL
1 Tanner Hall, USA (Red Bull, Armada, Oakley) 93.75
2. Simon Dumont, USA (Red Bull, Salomon, Oakley) 92.50
3. Colby James West, USA (Monster, Technica, Giro, Empire) 87.00
4. Kevin Rolland, FRA (Rossignol) 86.50
5. Xavier Bertoni, FRA (Rossignol, Giro) 84.25
6. Matt Philippi, USA (Volkl, Marker, Technica, DNA, Bolle, Level) 83.75
7. Matt Margetts, CAN (K2, Orage, Smith) 80.25
8. Tyler Peterson, USA (Scott) 78.75
9. Mike Riddle, CAN (Smith, DaKIne, Skull Candy) 67.00
10. John Strenio, USA (Line, Scott) 62.75
11. Justin Dorey, CAN (Dynastar, Scott, Lange) 48.00
12. Matt Duhamel, USA (Dynastar, Smith) 40.00
Tanner Hall. Bridges photo.
DEW TOUR OVERALL MEN’S SUPERPIPE
1 Tanner Hall, USA (Red Bull, Armada, Oakley) 280.00
2. Simon Dumont, USA (Red Bull, Salomon, Oakley) 260.00
3. Justin Dorey, CAN (Dynastar, Scott, Lange) 220.00
4. Duncan Adams, USA (Dynastar, Spy, Spyder) 169.00
5. Colby James West, USA (Monster, Technica, Giro, Empire) 160.00
6. Mike Riddle, CAN (Smith, DaKIne, Skull Candy) 144.00
7. Xavier Bertoni, FRA (Rossignol, Giro) 135.00
8. Kevin Rolland, FRA (Rossignol) 135.00
Simon Dumont (above) finished 2nd in the Tahoe Pipe Final as
well as 2nd overall on the 2009 Dew Tour Pipe Championship. Bridges photo.
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