Under the bright lights of The Honda Ski Tour, two dozen of the world's brightest ski stars descended on the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain for the halfpipe finals and the culmination of The Tour's first stop Sunday night.
"We saw these guys going for it tonight," The Ski Tour co-founder Steve Brown said. "The night pipe really focuses everything on the athletes."
Of the many talented skiers vying for the sport's richest purse, Simon Dumont, of Bethel, Maine, stole the championship with his signature grace, style, and accuracy—walking away $25,000 richer.
The finals were a sight to behold as pipe legends boosted up to 20 feet above the lip of the masterfully crafted halfpipe. Mountain Sports International, in conjunction with Sun Valley Co.'s crew and equipment, created a near flawless playing field for the world's best.
"The Honda Ski Tour is a really good event for the progression of the sport," said Candide Thovex, of France, the fifth-place finisher. "There's not just the halfpipe. There's the concerts and the ambiance. It's very cool, and I want to do more."
In the finals, Dumont put together a flawless run that included a truck driver 540, rightside mute 540, tailgrab 900, alley oop 500, and culminated with a 1080. His amplitude and smooth style easily launched him into first place ahead of Matt Philippi of Charleston, Mass. When Philippi fell on his second run, he dropped from second to fourth place, sealing the win for Dumont.
Although Dumont had the prize in hand, he held nothing back on his last run of the night.
"I wanted to go big, do a little backflip at the end, get them psyched so they come and watch more of The Ski Tour," Dumont said.
True to his word, his final run was flawless.
Other standouts included Peter Olenick from Aspen, Colo. Olenick is the first skier to successfully land a double backflip in halfpipe competition and was consistent with his signature trick throughout the event. He was, however, unable to put together an entire run and finished in 10th place.
Second-place finisher Mike Riddle, from Alberta, Canada, had a solid second run that catapulted him from sixth place all the way to second place overall. The effort netted Riddle a cool $15,000.
Some may have been impressed at 16-year-old New Zealander Jossi Wells' mere appearance in an event of such magnitude. The fact he then laid down the same line as champion Dumont, and only narrowly missed a grab toward the end, and finished in a very respectable third place among a field of seasoned legends, was in many spectators' eyes simply amazing.
"These people really got their money's worth—of course, it was free. And Simon was just going huge, which was fun for everyone to see," Brown said.
Following the halfpipe finals, the inaugural stop of The Honda Ski Tour received an exclamation point with a VIP mansion party hosted by musician Tommy Lee and DJ Aero. In a field below the mansion, Red Bull's freestyle snowmobile team put on a big-air exhibition.
"I left the party at around 4:30 in the morning, and Tommy Lee still had the place just rocking," local resident and skiercross contestant Zach Christ said.
Halfpipe winner Simon Dumont couples flawless style with pure amplitude in Sunday night?s final event. Photo copyright James Bourret 2007
