James Woods tops slopestyle semifinal at Dew Tour

First heavy snowfall. Then pockets of sunshine. Then heavy snowfall. Then a hint of sun. So it went today here in Breckenridge. Despite the variable conditions, nearly thirty skiers dropped into the slopestyle course gunning for 12 available spots in tomorrow’s final. Each skier had two chances to stomp a run—best run counts.

A handful of skiers fell victim to the slow snow today (especially during the first runs, which saw more constant snowfall than the second), coming up short on the jumps. From my vantage point in the warming hut at the base of the course—where many gathered to avoid the snow, and to watch on TV—a collective “awww, sh#t!” sounded throughout the room anytime a skier slammed into the knuckle of a jump.

Most of the athletes fared just fine, however, managing to stomp technical top-to-bottom runs. Jibbing insanity, double corks galore… it was quite the show given the less than optimal conditions.

‘Twas none other than Tom Wallisch who led the pack after run #1. Tom’s 270 on, pretzel 270 out of the flat-down rail up top, coupled with a trip to the top of the wall ride, a 450 out of the c-box situated mid-run, and four classic T-Wall airs was looking tough to beat. The rest of the boys came out strong in run #2, however, ultimately bumping Wallisch into the 5th spot. Wallisch failed to complete his second run.

Logging the highest score of the day (94.50) was the UK’s James “Woodsy” Woods. Woodsy’s run consisted of a switch on, frontside switch-up, pretzel 270 out the flat-down rail up top; a disaster lipslide 270 to switch on the down-flat-down rail; a switch left corked 720 method; switch right 1080; switch on, switch-up blind 270 on the iON cannon; a left double 10 and a switch rightside double 12 to close ‘er out. It was Woodsy’s second run.

Rounding out the top three were Nick Goepper and Andreas Håtveit, respectively.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast calls for more snow, so I imagine we’ll be seeing a similar show. The final result might just come down to who’s rocking the best wax. Surely skiers, coaches and technicians will be strategizing tonight, and throughout the morning prior to finals, looking to get those boards running as fast as possible. Good luck, gents.

Checking in with Nick Goepper and James Woods post Dew Tour slopestyle semifinals

Be sure to keep tabs on our Instagram feed for behind-the-scenes snapshots from Dew. For a daily event schedule, plus a listing of TV broadcast times, follow this link.

Fantasy Freeride players will be eager to see if any of their drafted athletes advanced to tomorrow’s final, putting them in contention to earn valuable FFL points. For all things Fantasy related, check out fantasyfreeride.com.

Dew Tour Slopestyle Semifinal Results

1. James Woods — 94.50
2. Nick Goepper — 93.63
3. Andreas Håtveit — 93.50
4. Russ Henshaw — 93.13
5. Tom Wallisch — 93.00
6. Henrik Harlaut — 87.50
7. Alex Bellemare — 87.00
8. Gus Kenworthy — 86.25
9. Sean Jordan — 84.75
10. JF Houle — 83.25
11. Matt Walker — 82.00
12. Aleksander Aurdal — 81.25