Saturday at Dew Tour Copper 2024 saw sunny skies and big air to start the day with Men’s Ski Superpipe Final. Great conditions made for a fast pipe and provided the perfect platform to celebrate 20 years of Dew Tour.
Five of the eight skiers in the event were returning from 2023, all podium placers accounted for. The format allowed each athlete three runs with only their best run ranking them at the end. Judges were scoring based on overall impression on a scale of 1-100.
There was a sixth familiar face at the top of the course, though not typical for this field.
Nick Goepper returned from Slopestyle retirement to compete in Superpipe, and so far this season he has been impressing. Nick was the second to drop in and opened with doubles in three directions before ending his run with a switch boned 540 mute grab spun inte fourth direction. The rotation was a bit of an homage to Justin Dorey Noah Bowman, but Goepper has made it all his own. A solid introduction with room to grow.
“I was so happy the sun came out today, it makes everything better,” said an elated Nick at the bottom of the pipe. Following an interesting morning, Nick nearly missed the event due to a crash on the highway when he was forced to walk along the interstate. Prepared to hitchhike his way to Dew Tour, Nick ended up getting a ride from a state patroller and fellow Indiana native.
Rocking denim jeans and red helmet with flames, Nick was looking like an entirely new man. But his air awareness and variety of grabs have been brought over from his Slopestyle career and appear to be giving him an edge.
“I think experience is an advantage. I’ve done a lot of these tricks a million times, just on jump so it is a minor adjustment to do them in the pipe. But, you know, Ferreira has about 10,000 hours in the pipe and I’m at about 500. I have a lot of time to put in.” Said Goepper in response to being asked what advantages he may bring with his background in slopestyle. “It’s such a pleasure to ski with all these guys. I’m really looking forward to the next couple years: I’m playing chess, not checkers.”
Last year’s defending champion, Brendan Mackay’s opening two hits at the top of the pipe had the judges talking. Switch alley-oop double cork was the highlight trick which then set him up for a switch down-the-pipe double, and ultimately two more doubles in a row.
When the athletes re-racked for their second attempts in the pipe, Alex Ferreira was the standout. Starting with switch left 1080 tail grab, into rightside double cork 1620 safety grab, to leftside 1080 tail grab to set up for a switch right double cork 1080 Japan grab and finishing with a second 1620 spinning left 1080 grabbing safety. With two 1620s spun in different directions, Alex jumped straight to the top of the leaderboard after spinning his poles at the bottom.
With a perfect contest season so far, Alex was looking hungry to add to his accolades. His last Dew Tour win in the ski Superpipe came back in 2021, last year he finished just off the podium.
As the runs continued, Alex’s Run 2 score held strong. In fact, most of the field had their best result on Run 2. Goepper and Mackay each increased their scores but not enough to shake up the leaderboard and overtake Alex.
On Alex’s third run he attempted a left 1800 double cork, a NBD in ski Superpipe competition. Though he scrubbed the landing, it was a progression pushing highlight all the same. With his second run score still holding the top of the leaderboard, Alex was holding his breath until the final run from Mackay.
Ultimately, the podium order set after Run 1 held throughout the event to leave Alex, Nick and Brendan taking home trophies.
“Today is by far the best day of my life,” said Alex with full sincerity in his eyes. “This is the perfect season. Seven for seven events was my goal at the beginning of the season. To be able to do it in real life is unbelievable feels like my dreams are unfolding in front of my eyes. I’m the most thankful and grateful person in the world right now.”
“I really wish I would have landed [the 1800], it would have been that much more beautiful. But there is stuff to work on over the summer. It keeps me hungry and I’m excited for that,” said Alex, reflecting further on his day at Dew Tour. “I would like to say thank you very much Dew Tour. Thank you very much Copper Mountain. Thank you to everyone who supports me and halfpipe skiing. It’s much appreciate. Much love!”
A few other standouts deserving of mention are Hunter Hess and Jon Sallinen. Deemed the standout trick by the judges, Hunter’s misty 540 on the final hit was enough to impress but not enough to crack the podium. Jon, similarly, rode well and left the judges pleasantly surprised to see double corks spun in three directions.
Dew Tour 2024 Men’s Ski Superpipe Final Results
- Alex Ferreira (USA) Run 2: 94.33
- Nick Goepper (USA) Run 2: 91.00
- Brendan Mackay (CAN) Run 2: 90.33
- Jon Sallinen (FIN) Run 2: 88.00
- Hunter Hess (USA) Run 3: 87.33
- Tristan Feinberg (US) Run 2: 76.00
- Andrew Longino (CAN) Run 3: 74.66
- David Wise (USA) Run 2: 50.00
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